Shameless Self-Promotion

Mike Birbiglia is a comedian, but really he's a storyteller who has more in common with Mark Twain and Garrison Keillor than Ron White. With a few stints on This American Life and now a book deal with Simon & Schuster, what Mike is really great at, in addition to relaying snippets of his ailment-ridden life, is self-promotion (alot of it cheap, or free social networking). In addition to a well-designed Web site and newsletter, Mike is active on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr (he encourages fans to send in photos), MySpace and YouTube. He interacts with fans by email, has a street team and seems really accessible (I'm planning on tracking him down for a phone interview as soon as possible about the writing of his book-do ya hear that, Mike?). I saw Mike in Cincinnati this past week and he did not disappoint.

Take a lesson from Mike and make the rounds if you are a storyteller, whether in film, print, radio or TV. Get your fans involved and they will spread the word!

Mindmapping Your Way to a Book or Film...

Whether you are doing mindmapping the analog (what I consider the 'artsy' way) or whether you are using a mindmapping program, for creative brainstorming and organizing ideas, it's a useful tool. I LOVE mindmapping, though I do generally use a piece of paper and a pencil to do it. I think the process is pretty clear by just look at samples of them which you can do on Flickr via this link. Do a Google image search of mindmaps and some are clearly works of art.

Here's a great article about using MindManager software to layout a book. I'm guessing my filmmakers can see the crossover to developing a film. Stick the working title in the middle and start developing chapters or scenes off of that center.

Alltop has a whole mindmapping section of blogs and you can find a list of software (plenty of it free) here. If any of you have used a mindmap for laying out a book, film, podcast or similar, let us know! I'd love a photo or scan of it.

Life in Perpetual Beta: Film in Progress

Great interview with Seth Godin from Melissa Pierces's documentary in progress "Life in Perpetual Beta". Melissa was one of the inspirations behind this site (I met her briefly and sat in on one of her sessions at SXSW Interactive) for two reasons: I loved the whole concept of Life in Perpetual Beta AND Melissa confesses to knowing nothing about documentary filmmaking-she's learning it all as she goes. She's written a wonderful post about interviewing Seth here, about having balls (my words, not hers) and following forth with a dream despite obstacles. I highly recommend Seth's The Dip for anyone trying to pursue a dream. The interview, her post and his book go nicely together-regardless of whether you are a writer, filmmaker or doodah builder.



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In case you haven't seen it

This has been all over the Web and on Twitter but in case you haven't seen Elizabeth Gilbert's amazing presentation on creativity at TED.com, here's your chance:

New link

Check out: http://bookgroupbuzz.booklistonline.com/category/nonfiction/

Adventure Film School...How cool is that?

Those of us here at TTIS aren't what I'd call physically adventurous. We like the outdoors, but in a more comfortable way. But, we picked up a copy of Outside magazine at the library because it had "weekend adventures for under $500" and we are notoriously cheap! We ended up enjoying the whole magazine a lot, it made us want to go on an adventure and all the people in it are very pretty and healthy. But none of that matters to you, does it? ;-)

There was an article on How to Film and turns out, Outside magazine partners with Serac Adventure Film School to offer week long intensives on "adventure filming". Adventure filmmakers are the one's capturing skiing parachuters propelling off of and skiing down improbably steep slopes, or kayakers careening down waterfalls, or following behind the cast of Survivor maybe? They cover topics like interviewing, lighting, camera angles, pre-production, post-production and much more. Makes me wanna be one of these cool kids...For those of you who are on the adventurous side, this might be right up your alley! Next intensive is October 11-17, 2009 in Santa Fe.

What'd you think of this article? Let us know.

I LOVE BLOGGER!

Pleased as can be to be here!

Herb and Dorothy are Coming!

I was smitten with this couple when I first saw them on 60 Minutes ions ago. Since then, they've become a household name in the modern art world, holding one of the largest individual collections ever and acting as little patron elves to some of the premier modern artists, all of this from a tiny postage stamp apartment on a postal clerk and librarian's salary.

This will be the first feature documentary from producer/director Megumi Sasaki, who has done a great deal of documentary television work in Japan and US. The film is already winning a variety of awards on the film festival circuit and is heading to a theater in most large cities over the summer-premiering in NYC on June 5.

You can follow the couple and the film on Twitter: @herbanddorothy.

TTIS added to Alltop.com!

Received this tweet from Guy Kawasaki: "@truthisstranger I added your feed to filmmaking.alltop and writing.alltop, so you will have lots in common with other leading bloggers :-)"

This is a huge honor and all I can say is "thank you"!

Alltop.com

True Films

Kevin Kelly has an addictive site for non-fiction film lovers (the Brits call these "factuals") . With categories as varied as "Artists at Work" (a personal fav) and "Music Peformances" as well as your traditional narrative documentaries, it's a resource worth bookmarking. Currently he's featuring a film called The Bridge about public suicides (I know, happy topic, eh?).

Why "The Truth is Stranger"?

Welcome to "The Truth is Stranger...", a new blog/site for established and aspiring writers and filmmakers who focus on non-fiction subjects. Whether documentarians, business book authors, memoirists, business podcasters...anyone who wants to know more about the research and presentation of information that is factual is encouraged to hang here!

I was inspired by a couple of books that managed to give me a whole bunch of information without putting me to sleep-that were as fun to read as a novel: A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink and How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand. One about the future of work, the other about the fluidity of architecture. Didn't expect either of these to keep me up at night, but they did.
Secondly, I have several non-fiction pieces swirling in my mind. You probably do too. But knowing how to research, where the best sources are, how to organize my information-well, frankly I tend to freeze at this point.

I also saw a great piece with Elizabeth Gilbert on Oprah awhile back (she is so freakin' charming), showing her big box of 3X5 cards that she was using to gather data for her next book and I thought Eureka! I wish I could ask her some questions...and I wish I had a photo of those notecards.

Then there was Guy Kawasaki at SXSW chatting about converting his blog into book form with printed chapters laid all over the floor, meeting Melissa Pierce who is working on a documentary called Life in Perpetual Beta, following the creation of Handmade Nation (both the book and the film)...all of these have inspired the creation of this site.

You have questions! I want to get the answers!

The plan is to provide resources, videos, a flickr group, interviews, pre-release info and as much as I possibly can. If you have any burning questions, please let me know! Follow us on Twitter: @truthisstranger.

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