Assistant Trainers
We are lucky to have Pat Goudvis and Samantha Corsini assisting during the training sessions.
Meet the Editors
The Editor’s job is to take the raw footage and turn it into a smooth and compelling story. Our participants will be learning from our editors how their choice of shots will affect the editing process (See NIRV Highlights #2).
We are privileged to benefit from the wisdom, experience, and spectacular good humor of our newest NIRV team members! In addition to being expert film editors, many are immigrants to America like our trainees. We are thrilled to have them on board. Meet them briefly below, and be sure to follow links to their websites and projects to see the incredible talent that has joined the NIRV project.
- Peter Rhodes, Editor
- Jorgy Cruz, Editor
- Monica Cohen, Editor
- Dan Girmus, Additional Editor
- Samantha Corsini, Assistant Trainer and Additional Editor
Pat Goudvis
Assistant Trainer
Pat’s professional career – first as a as a photojournalist and then as an independent filmmaker – has focused on the struggle for human rights and social justice in Central America. Her current project is the interactive digital documentary, “When We Were Young/There Was A War” (www.centralamericanstories.com). It continues the stories of the teens portrayed in her 1993 documentary film, “If the Mango Tree Could Speak,” as it explores the Central American civil wars and their aftermaths, as well as the connection between the people and history of the US and Central America.
She is excited to be a part of NIRV and looks forward to all the stories that will come out of the training. She believes that empowering immigrants to tell their own stories is increasingly urgent in today’s political climate, in the US and globally.
Peter Rhodes
Editor (originally from England)
Internet Movie Database Listing
Peter is a 30+ year veteran editor who was trained at the BBC in London. He works in a broad variety of styles, ranging from cinema verité to historic re-creations to children’s films (which he also produces and directs). Peter moved to the U.S. in 1986, and has more than 50 credits for films that have appeared on PBS, the BBC and at major film festivals.
Monica Cohen
Editor (originally from Colombia)
The Boom House Productions
Monica is a filmmaker and editor with a focus on social issues. She is founder and owner of The Boom House Productions, which specializes in the creation of video and media campaigns for organizations and individuals working in the arts. The production house also includes a full-service music studio. Monica immigrated from Colombia in 2008; lived in New York City and came to Boston in 2015. Explore some of her work:
- Dreams of Chonta (Documentary Film Directed by Monica Cohen_Work in Progress)
- Wee the People and the Women’s March (Produced and Directed by Monica Cohen and Jesse Epstein)
- Artist as Citizen Conference 2016 (Produced and Directed by Monica Cohen)
“Documentary film is a bridge between worlds that normally won’t know or acknowledge each other. Giving voice and the tools to immigrants and refugees, gives us a window to incredible places, cultures, people and extraordinary stories that could inspire us to better our selves, our communities and our world.”
Jorgy Cruz
Editor (originally from Dominican Republic)
LongWood Media
Jorgy is a filmmaker, editor and co-founder of The Videology Company and LongWood Media. He went to New School University, and is currently working on a feature length documentary on a comedian with bipolar disorder (Funny Pains, Release Date: March 2018). Jorgy immigrated from the Dominican Republic, where he taught filmmaking, in 2008 to New York City and made Boston his home in 2016.
“I couldn’t help to think about all the people that reject immigrants and refugees without really thinking about it. They don’t give them a chance, if they could only see what I saw last night [at the NIRV training] maybe, just maybe they would change their minds and understand that these are people like you and me, trying to find happiness. Uganda, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, UK, USA, Cuba, so many countries together in one room, getting along, laughing out loud, having dinner, getting to know each other, all united by one thing: film and storytelling.” [from LongWood Media Blog]
Dan Girmus
Additional Editor (originally from Nebraska)
www.dangirmus.com
Dan has bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska and completed his master’s in fine arts in documentary filmmaking at Emerson College in Boston. In 2016, he completed his observational nonfiction feature film “Oyate” about life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. Dan was a critical team member in Community Supported Film’s Haitian project, helping to finish the films of the Owning our Future: Haitian Perspectives in Film series.
Samantha Corsini
Assistant Trainer and Additional Editor
Samantha is a graduate from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a BFA in Film/Video. She is a filmmaker who draws inspiration from cinéma vérité, reflexive documentaries, and the neorealism movement, and adapts it to her own personal style. Having deep interests rooted in political and social constructs and their effects on individuals and communities, she believes cinema is the most powerful medium to discuss these issues and is thrilled to be aiding in empowering others to do the same.
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