Training pro-social film-makers at YWAM Harpenden

I was thrilled to be invited to present a 5-day editing training course last week, on the brand new Documentary Filmmaking School at YWAM Harpenden, UK.

working with the class

Working with a class of 9 eager new film-makers, many of whom had never used a mac, let alone edited anything, I spent 5 days teaching on Final Cut Pro and documentary editing theory. By the end of the week, every student had edited their own documentary sequence using interview, cutaways, audio, text and grading, exported it using online-optimised settings, and uploaded it to YouTube.

I was humbled to be working with students who had made many sacrifices so that they could take part in this course, all of whom were dedicated to using their new skills to make a positive impact in the world. They had come from all over the world, including Rwanda, Cameroon, Bolivia and Brazil, and all had deeply personal motivations for taking part. In a couple of months they will be taking part in a field assignment to create a full-length documentary, and will be graduating in December. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Olivier and Fidele from Rwanda tackle the edit

Thanks to Janice and all the staff and students at YWAM Harpenden for making my stay so pleasant and inviting me to share my week with you. I hope we can do it again.


You can hire Small Seed Films to train your organisation in camera, editing and film-making techniques. Please click here for more information.