Foreign Correspondence workshop with Bill Gentile

Bill Gentile is an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker teaching at American University (AU) in Washington, D.C. His career spans four decades, five continents and nearly every facet of journalism and mass communication. He is the winner of two national Emmy Awards and was nominated for two others. He is a pioneer of “backpack video journalism” and author of the highly acclaimed “Essential Video Journalism Field Manual” and its Spanish-language version, “Manual Esencial de Produccion Video Periodismo.” He teaches the first-ever Spanish-language class at AU’s School of Communication (SOC), “Backpack Documentary en Español.” He is the director, executive producer and host of the documentary series, FREELANCERS with Bill Gentile. He helped found, and is the faculty advisor of, the AU chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the organization’s first student chapter in the nation’s capital.

FREELANCERS with Bill Gentile is a documentary series about a new generation of journalists searching for truth in the most challenging and complex countries in the world. They do so despite hardship and risk – without the traditional support or security of staff correspondents. At a time when journalists are attacked, their craft maligned and values questioned, our viewers follow these daring, tech-savvy and determined men and women to see what journalists really do to bring us news about the critical issues of our time. At stake is nothing less than access to the information essential to democracy.

Emmy award-winning, veteran foreign correspondent Bill Gentile hosts this global series to set the record straight about journalism, journalists and truth. The pilot episode, filmed in Mexico, is distributed worldwide by London-based Journeyman Pictures. The series begins in Mexico where the drug war has left at least 175,000 people dead, including more than 100 journalists. The episode features Ioan Grillo, British freelancer for The New York Times and Time Magazine, who has covered the drug war for the past 15 years; Canadian David Agren, freelancer for USA Today and The Guardian, who is covering the Mexican elections; and Janet Jarman, a freelance U.S. filmmaker whose clients include The New York Times for a documentary on women’s reproductive health. Mexican journalists include Gerardo Carrillo of the Associated Press who provides context for the state of journalism in Mexico, and Milton Martinez, a fixer who helps freelance journalists navigate coverage of the dangerous border with the United States.