News & Events

November 2006

Student Reaction to Workshops with Peter Gilbert

Chris Brannan

“I enjoyed that Peter gave his background, telling us how exactly he got from our position to his.

His philosophy of shooting scenes- and thinking of editing sequences later- was most helpful. By using clips from his films and telling us how he got a variety of shots for the sequence, we were able to see his words in practice.

One aspect that I particularly enjoyed was his down-play of deep, metaphorical themes. To me at least, he seemed to preach the concept of ‘explore any topic of inerest, and figure out the deeper meanings later’ and the affirmation that not every film has to be thematically complex in order to impact the viewer.

I found the screening of his latest work for Turner Movie Classics encourging in that it was rather homely-for some reason I had expected all of his films after Hoop Dreams to be big-budget works, but it goes to show that a good story is the key to good work.”

Jackie Olive and Tre Whitlow


“Our individual meeting with Peter went great! He was incredibly encouraging, generous with his time, and offered valuable advice about how to approach the enormous task we have of paring down our film into a tight and compelling narrative.”

Sarah Zaman


“Peter was down-to-earth and approachable. His feedback on our thesis film was insightful and valuable. His simultaneous involvement with commercial work and documentary films made me realize that you do not have to sacrifice your social responsibility for financial stability – or vice versa.”

Liz Roden

“Peter Gilbert was very generous with his time. He told us how to film with only one camera, yet capture all we’d need to edit a scene. He was also helpful with suggestions on how little you need to show of a character, for an audience to feel a connection to the character. Peter was funny, easy going, and has an amazing amount of energy.”

Kathy Craven

“Peter’s visit was very valuable. He was approachable and seemed genuinely interested in our work. His thirty years of experience in the field afford him the credibility to speak practically about a variety of topics. I especially appreciated viewing clips of Hoop Dreams and listening to his critique of his own work.”

Kimberly Cooke

“His comments and support were invaluable, and he drinks Guinness, what’s not to like!”

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