Liz and Mbachi's Class Notes

The Friday before our break, we had cookies and conversation with documentary filmmaker, Susan Lacy. Susan pioneered the biographical documentary series, American Masters, and has directed numerous biographical documentaries, most recently, Spielberg for HBO, and Jane Fonda in Five Acts. She discussed her emergence as a filmmaker which began after receiving her Ph.D. in American Studies. Susan shared that she wanted to tell stories of real people and found a way to do that through documentary filmmaking. In preparation for her visit, we watched Spielberg, and much of our conversation centered on how the movie was made, specifically how her ideas about Spielberg's films helped shape her approach to the interviews. The kids were on the edge of their seats when she talked about her interviews with George Lucas, Tom Cruise, and the amazing line-up of actors and directors who had much to contribute to the film. Susan has agreed to come back and asked that we watch her documentary on Paul Simon in preparation

for her visit. We'll keep you posted.

We are busy at work on our stories for Bridgehampton Library's Budding Authors Program. The deadline for our work is mid-March.