The IDA Membership is composed of directors, producers, composers, editors, writers, cinematographers, students and nonfiction enthusiasts, among others. Members News is the place to find out about their accomplishments and activities.

If you are an IDA Member and would like your news to be featured in the Members News column, please send your blurb (150 words max) to Documentary associate editor/content producer Tamara Krinsky at krinskydoc@gmail.com. You MUST include your name and the words “Member News” in the subject line.  

Director/writer Mark Goffman and Producer Lindsay Goffman's Dumbstruck premiered at the Palm Springs Film Festival on January 10, 2010. The documentary takes a look at the annual Vent Haven Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, ventriloquism capital of the world. Doug Blush was editor on the film.

History Makers 2010, taking place from January 27-29, will be previewing the latest project from award-winning filmmaker David Grubin entitled The Buddha. The two-hour documentary tells the story of the mysterious Indian sage who attained enlightenment as he sat beneath a fig tree two-and-a-half millennia ago. The documentary is woven through with animation and draws upon the images found in paintings and sculptures throughout those two millennia by some of the world’s greatest artists. The film also highlights fragments of the Buddha's world still present in India today. Grubin will be presenting clips from the upcoming film as well as convening a brief discussion during a Master Class. More info: www.historymakers2010.com

Director Alexander Lee is excited to announce the DVD launch of his film The Real Shaolin, which is about two Chinese and two Westerners who are inspired by Kung Fu movies and journey to the legendary Shaolin Temple in China. www.realshaolin.com. 

AMS Pictures has added Jessica Schoenbaechler's The Good Fight: James Farmer Remembers the Civil Rights Movement to its "Black History Uncovered" series. The film chronicles the life of James Farmer, organizer of the Freedom Riders and pioneer of the earliest sit-ins, from his earliest days as a “Great Debater” at Wiley College to his legacy teaching a new generation of students about the movement that shaped a country. www.blackhistoryuncovered.com

Congratulations to Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell! The director and producer of the eco-doc Fuel were married on New Year's Day!

Ondi Timoner's We Live in Public is getting ready for its DVD launch on March 1, on all platforms. Chicago will be the host city for a nationwide event which will bring everyone together (virtually, at least) to celebrate the release of WLIP and discuss its themes. Between now and then, Timoner will return to the Sundance Film Festival as a US Documentary Competition Juror. She is also hard at work on a new film about global warming. WeLiveInPublicTheMovie.com