Which means you want to write for newspapers or magazines and see your work published. Or you want to get a job as a researcher and work on programmes like Panorama or Dispatches or Secret Millionaire. And maybe one day direct a film yourself. But how do you achieve those personal goals?

But before you hit the zoom button on your camera or start writing in your notebook you need to know what you are looking for. And how to research the story or the film.

manyriversfilms is a leading UK independent film production company dedicated to making exceptional high-quality documentaries, dramas, and films. In 2006 our Channel 4 series Cult of the Suicide Bomber was nominated for an Emmy Award. manyriversfilms has made documentaries for Channel 4, Discovery in the US, and the BBC. A full list of all of our productions can be seen on our website manyriversfilms.

Watch these clips from our recent productions.

Channel 4 publicity poster for
The Big Heist

Workshop@manyriversfilms will teach you the key hands-on practical skills you need to become a journalist or investigative film-maker.

New York Times Magazine cover story by Kevin Toolis

Held in ITV studios on the South Bank in London where programmes including This Morning, Ant and Dec, and Friday Night Project are made, you will be learning the real trade secrets of investigative reporting and film making from Emmy-nominated film director Kevin Toolis and award-winning writer Dea Birkett. For more information about Kevin and Dea go to www. manyriversfilms.co.uk. Or just google ‘Kevin Toolis’ or ‘Dea Birkett’

A guest editor or reporter also usually joins the workshop to talk about their life as a reporter or what kind of stories they want to commission.

There are hundreds of media studies courses in the UK but few are taught by working professionals. Even fewer courses concentrate on the day-to-day skills required for professional journalism.

Simple but basic skills like how to track people down. How to use the phone properly. What are the psychological tricks you need to master to persuade people to talk to you. And what kind of questions should you ask. And how to avoid asking the wrong sort of questions.

This one day workshop is a crash course in journalistic survival skills beginning with the fundamental rules of reporting.

The one day workshop is broken into both practical how-to sessions and detailed case studies of how news stories and films are ‘constructed’.

In the afternoon ‘pitching session’ participants will get the chance to test pitch their own ideas and sharpen their story spotting skills.

The workshop ends with a Ten Tops Tips and an open Burning Questions session – when you get the chance to ask all those unanswered queries.

Workshop@manyriversfilms is the first bold step on a new journey.

Investing in Workshop@manyriversfilms is investing in the rest of your life.

The aim of the workshop is to teach each participant basic practical hands on journalism skills whether that’s to get into print or into TV documentaries.

Workshop@manyriversfilms can be the first step to a career in the media and all the glamour, foreign travel, excitement, and hard work, that such a life involves.

View a sample timetable here

But even participants with some experience of print, TV or media studies, find that the Workshop@manyriversfilms helps them hone their skills and enhance their professional career prospects.

You will also have huge fun with a group of like-minded people. We like to call it ‘fun with a purpose’ enjoying ourselves and reaching our personal goals at the same time. By the end of the Workshop participants feel they have taken a significant personal step.

“The course offered a very real look into the world of investigative documentary making. All the advice we were given was practical and realistic. Everything was spoken about in real terms, and any jargon was explained along the way. Suddenly the elusive world of documentaries seemed more lucid and penetrable.” Katherine, workshop participant

“Since the course I’ve had a number of spreads in the Sunday World. I also had a full page in the Daily Mirror. I’ve since got a new job with Yahoo! News as their Irish web editor but will continue to work on longer investigative stuff in my spare time. It was a really motivational day.”  Brian, workshop participant

“I can safely say I have never learned so much invaluable industry information in one day! Josh, workshop participant

“The ten rules of journalism and the pitching tips are things I will remember and use for a very long time.” workshop participant

“I really enjoyed the course. I’ve been lucky to have written a couple of investigative pieces in the past, and the course has given my the impetus to continue doing what I’m doing. So a massive thank you to you!” David, workshop participant

“I contacted Whistledown Productions as you suggested, and have a two week work experience placement! Thanks so much for that tip.” Janet, workshop participant

Here’s a simple quiz to see if Workshop@manyriversfilms is for you:

• Do you want to break into journalism or TV research?
• Have you already had a couple of articles published but want to develop your skills?
• Do you have a pile of ideas that you know would make a great documentary or a front page news story?
• Would you like to learn how to get the best interview?
• Do you need tips on how stories and films are constructed editorially?
• Have your friends or family said, ‘Why don’t you become a writer? Or why don’t you make films?’
• Would you like to explore a career change?
• Do you want to meet professional film makers and reporters to exchange ideas and network?
• Are you a television researcher who wants to get better at your job?
• Would you like to learn more about what editors, TV commissioners and publishers are looking for?
• Do you simply want to learn some of these basic writing and reporting skills and apply them to your profession?

If the answer to any of these is ‘Yes’ then Workshop@manyriversfilms is for you.

Workshop@manyriversfilms is for anyone who wants to be a better writer, researcher or film maker – from a novice to an experienced media professional.

Workshop@manyriversfilms is held at ITV’s London studios on the South Bank, where programmes including This Morning, Parkinson, South Bank Show, Ant and Dec, and Friday Night Project are made. The Workshop takes place on the 14th floor, with astounding views across London and along the river. Bring your camera as well as your pen!

• Workshop Dates:
  • Saturday February 12th 2011, 10.30am- 4.00pm

• Cost: £125.00
• Map to venue
• For more information about the venue, go to www.londonstudios.co.uk

Kevin Toolis

Kevin Toolis is the Emmy-nominated director/producer of the entire five part Cult of the Suicide Bomber series and founder of manyriversfilms.

Toolis was an investigative reporter with The Guardian  magazine for ten years and is the author of a classic account of the Irish Troubles Rebel Hearts: Journeys Within the IRA’s Soul.

Kevin has also written for the New York Times Magazine, The Observer, Daily Mail, Daily Express and the Daily Mirror.

Kevin began making documentary films in the mid-nineties. His reporting and producing credits for Channel 4 and the BBC include Getting Away With Murder, The Devil Amongst Us, Circus Days, Circus Nights, Africa’s Schindler’s List, Anatomy of Attack, Cult of the Suicide Bomber, Car Bomb and The Big Heist.

Most recently he produced and directed a BBC Panorama: The Trauma Industry.

Dea Birkett

Dea Birkett in Georgetown, Malaysia

Dea Birkett is a writer and broadcaster. Her weekly Travelling with Kids column appeared in the Guardian for over five years. She is a regular contributor to the Guardian and BBC Radio 4. Dea is Creative Director of manyriversfilms, an Emmy-nominated documentary film production company.

She is author of seven books, including Jella. A Woman at Sea in a Man’s World (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award), about her voyage on a cargo ship from West Africa; Serpent in Paradise (shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award), about her time on Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific, home of the few remaining descendents from the mutiny on The Bounty; and Spinsters Abroad. Victorian Lady Explorers (“subtle, acute, fascinating” Sunday Times). She has recently been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Dea has a monthly business travel column, as well as a monthly on-line family travel column on www.takethefamily.com.

She has worked with the National Portrait Gallery on Off the Beaten Track. Three Centuries of Women Travellers, producing a book to accompany the exhibition of the same name. She is director of Kids in Museums.

She is Creative Director of manyriversfilms and co-director of TextWorkshop, running writing courses for museum and gallery professionals.

www.deabirkett.com www.kidsinmuseums.org.uk www.manyriversfilms.co.uk www.textworkshop.co.uk See www.guardian.co.uk for some of Dea’s recent articles.
	Off the Beaten Track: Three Centuries of Women Travellers	Spinsters Abroad	Serpent in Paradise	Amazonian: Penguin Book of Women’s New Travel Writing

Ian Cobain

Ian Cobain

Award winning investigative reporter Ian Cobain of The Guardian was guest speaker on the March workshop and spoke in detail about his career and how he uses many different public information sources in his ground breaking reporting.

“Meeting such a respected investigative journalist added very much to an otherwise brilliant day. People on future courses would benefit immensely, as I did, if he were to appear again.” workshop participant

David Modell

David Modell

Bafta winner documentary director David Modell is a renowned award winning stills photographer and director of an outstanding series of Channel 4 films including Battle Scarred, Being Pamela and Young, Nazi and Proud.

‘David’s talk and his descriptions of how he sought out, and interacted with his subjects, was totally brilliant. A real highlight in what was a fascinating and inspiring day. At last I met people who were truly passionate about what they did and why they did it. Even better they also told us how we could do the same with our own lives. It renewed my faith in why I wanted to be a journalist’ Louise, a workshop participant.

Tory Story

Jonathan Olley

Jonathan Olley (b.1967) is a documentary photographer based in the UK

Jonathan Olley (b.1967) is a documentary photographer based in the UK.

He studied at the Chelsea School of Art in London and at the University of Wales School of Documentary Photography, Newport. As well as being a husband and father Olley’s many interests include being an amateur pilot and mechanical engineer.

Olley’s work has been widely exhibited and collected, most notably by the Imperial War Museum-London, the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art)-London, Museo Carrillo Gil-Mexico City, Tate; (Britain & Modern)-London. His awards include two first place prizes at the World Press Photo, a Bronze and Silver award at the Association of Photographers for reporting from the war in Iraq and a journey along England’s sea wall respectively and the Observer/Hodge Award for photojournalism made during the siege of Sarajevo.

John Sweeney

Award-winning journalist and author John Sweeney

Award-winning journalist and author John Sweeney has worked as an investigative journalist for BBC’s Panorama since 2001, on films including ‘Scientology and Me’, ‘Tax Me If You Can’ and ‘Cot Death Murders: The Witch Hunt’. Before joining the BBC, John worked for twelve years at The Observer, where he covered wars and revolutions in countries including Iraq, Chechnya, Burundi and Bosnia.