Approached to do documentary..

[Sythen]

Hello all, I received a message from an individual who saw my homecoming video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QviJvWVRvk ) and asked me if I would do an interview for a documentary he is doing. My question is has anyone heard of Siskel/Jacobs Productions in Chicago? I have googled them and can find a lot of information they put out about themselves, but nothing from the outside looking in. I told him before I agree to it, I would look in to his company, and I know there is a good knowledge base here of different things related to this. Has anyone had dealings, or heard of dealings by military members with this company? A copy of the message he sent me, with contact info intentionally removed:

I hope this email finds you well. I' m a documentary producer for Siskel/Jacobs Productions in Chicago. I'm working on developing a special program for the National Geographic Channel on solider homecomings. I saw some of the footage that you posted on youtube of your surprise reunion with your mom on Christmas and thought it was extremely powerful and the sort of material we're trying to put together for this program. I would love to discuss the possibility of using some of this for our documentary and speak more about your story and my hopes for this program.

As a bit of background, Siskel/Jacobs Productions has recently produced a variety of programming under the "Witness" banner. These programs use a mix of raw news footage, radio broadcasts, and user generated video to stitch together a unique and thoughtful account of whatever subject matter we are profiling. Some examples include the Emmy award-winning documentary "102 Minutes That Changed America" -- which reconstructed the events of 9/11 in New York City, using only sound and video from that morning, the Emmy winning "Witness: Hurricane Katrina"," Witness: 9/11 DC" and most recently, the highly rated -- "Witness: Disaster in Japan". We hope to use a similar format for this program that I am trying to develop. If you'd like to see more about our company, the website is http://siskeljacobs.com/

I am available, at your convenience, to discuss the program in further detail and answer any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you!

Best,
Sam Sanders
Producer
Siskel/Jacobs Productions

 

[FlyingDutchman]

I do not know of them, but I do have some general advice.  If you have a voice recorder, bring it to every interview and discussion you have with them.  If you do not have one, buy it.  That way they will probably not take anything you say out of context, and if they do you can create a PR nightmare for them.  Be polite, try to just give facts, and keep answers short and simple.

 

[Haggis]

Sythen:

Step 1.  Talk to your chain of command.  Ensure they are OK with your participation in this project.  Ask for assistance and guidance from your Pubic Affairs folks.  Establish your "arcs".

Step 2.  Talk to the producers and establish the scope and intent of thie project.  Get it in writing.  Ensure that you know how your piece will fit into the whole so the context is acceptable to you and your chain of command.

Step 3.  Get a haircut and brush your teeth before you go in front of the cameras.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Great advice so far, ESPECIALLY about keeping in touch with your CoC and finding out EXACTLY the scope of their production.

There's a similar request posted at militarywives.com and related sites ....
http://www.militarywives.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4615:seeking-soldier-surprise-homecoming-videos&catid=1:latest
http://www.coastguardwives.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4615:seeking-soldier-surprise-homecoming-videos&catid=1:latest
http://new.militarychapel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4615%3Aseeking-soldier-surprise-homecoming-videos&catid=1%3Alatest&Itemid=1
.... so it appears reasonable (especially given how cool your video is) that you've been approached.

A really quick Google-fu shows most of their work is montage-style documentaries of events like 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina.  Their biggest critical success appears to be a documentary about a Chicago high school poetry contest:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540978/
More on that here:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-02-04/entertainment/ct-mov-0204-chicago-closeup-20110204_1_poetry-slam-chicago-international-film-festival-filmmakers
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/community-events/2011-04-27/documentary-started-strange-diversity.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/movies/teenage-poets-in-louder-than-a-bomb-review.html

Here's where you can look at some of their stuff on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Siskel%2FJacobs&aq=f
including an interview about the poetry contest video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM9Y3rQ00o4

Hope this gives you a place to start hunting further.  Let us know how it goes.

 

[Sythen]

Forgot to post and thank you all for your suggestions and advice!

 

[FlyingDutchman]

Very welcome, let us know if all turns out well.