Don Duncan, journalist and filmmaker

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  DON DUNCAN
donduncan79@gmail.com * +32 4 88485609

EXPERIENCE

FREELANCE REPORTER (June 2007-present)
Currently based in Brussels, Belgium

File print, video and radio coverage of breaking news and political, economic, cultural, and development features from Benelux, France and Germany.

Based in Beirut, Lebanon from 2009 to 2012. Regional coverage included: the Egyptian, Libyan and Tunisian revolutions and the uprising in Syria; the January 2011 government collapse and ensuing political crisis in Lebanon; and the effects of the economic downturn on Dubai's South East Asian blue collar migrant workers

Coverage beyond the Middle East has brought me to Afghanistan, China, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Ireland, France, and the U.S.

Editorial Clients:
Agence France Presse (AFPTV), The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, National Geographic, BBC, PBS, NPR, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, RTE (Irish national broadcaster), Deutsche Welle, The San Francisco Chronicle, TIME, and others
Awards/Fellowships:
- Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace, Middlebury College Arabic Program (Oakland, summer 2012)
- Fellow, National Press Foundation: 2010 HIV/AIDS conference (Vienna) and 2010 AIDS Vaccine conference (Atlanta)
- Investigative Fund, The Nation Institute, New York (2009),
- BBC/Rory Peck Hostile Environments Training Fund (2008)
- News21 fellow, Carnegie/Knight Foundations (2008)
- Travel grant: Afghanistan, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (2008)
- Travel grant: Lebanon, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (2007)

Business Reporter, Cosmedias International SA
(Paris, France; May 2004-July 2006)
Reported on the global business and corporate strategy of the retail, cosmetics and consumer products sectors

Business Reporter, Publi-News SA
(Paris, France; May 2003-May 2004)
Reported on new banking systems and developments in payment technologies

Junior Reporter, World Business Reports/Vegamedia
(Dublin, Ireland; Sept. 2002- April 2003)

Intern, Time Magazine (Hong Kong; September-November 2008) and BBC New York Bureau (New York; January-May 2007)

CONSULTANT/EDUCATOR
Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)
Beirut, Lebanon & Damascus, Syria; August 2009 - March 2010
Designed syllabus and trained Syrian journalists in multimedia reporting
Tunis and Sousse, Tunisia; March - May 2011
Designed syllabus and trained Tunisian journalists in political and electoral reporting

Daniel Pearl Reporting Project
Consultancy work on a new multimedia syllabus for the Pearl Foundation's project to teach journalism to high school students around the world via the web. Also served as a tutor on this program

CULTURAL PROGRAMMER/CURATOR

Beirut Irish Film Festival
Beirut, Lebanon; June 2011 – March 2012
Directed and curated the first Beirut Irish Film Festival which took place in February and March 2012. In coordination with Lebanese NGO, Nahwa Al Muwatiniya, I raised funds, selected and sourced feature-length and short film prints, secured screening licenses, managed shipping logistics, and coordinated a media campaign in Lebanon and internationally


PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS
Democracy Derailed: Egypt's Unraveled Revolution,” produced, co-wrote and edited a half-hour documentary about the decline of Egypt’s revolution for the Wall Street Journal
"Gross National Happiness? Uncovering the first stirrings of insurgency among Bhutan's ethnic Nepalese minority," Nov/Dec 2008, for print, radio and multimedia outlets
A Journey Home: Afghanistan through the eyes of a returning refugee,” May 2008, for print, radio, TV and online video outlets
Refuge in Ruins: Returning to Nahr al Bared,” January '08, reporting project to Lebanon for print, radio and online video outlets
“To Stay or Go,” May '07, a half-hour radio documentary on the undocumented Irish community in the U.S.

OTHER ACTIVITIES
Founder and Editor, Æ magazine (Headquartered in Paris, France; May 2005 – August 2006)
Founder, editor-in-chief, and fashion editor of a global quarterly magazine showcasing work from emerging artists

Short Films

I have written and directed two short films. The first, “Together,” was shot in Paris in 2006 and the second “Message and a Bottle was shot in Beirut in 2011. I have worked as a crew member on several other short film productions and I am currently working on my third short film, which will go into production in June of 2013


EDUCATION
Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle (INSAS), Brussels
MA Film, graduation June 2015, (Specialization: Directing)

Columbia University, New York
MA Politics and Journalism, 2008
Specialization: U.S. and Middle East politics
Awards:
-Bollinger Presidential Fellow,
-Arthur Harris Award (runner up for “Best M.A. Thesis”)
-Einhorn Family research fund, Einhorn Family Trust

Columbia University, New York
MSc Journalism, 2007
Specialization: Broadcast journalism
Awards: Henry N. Taylor Scholarship (2006/07)

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
BA English Literature, 2002, graduated with high honors

Université de Paris VII, France,
Erasmus (EU) exchange student, 1999/2000
Specialization: French language and literature

Middlebury College
, Vermont, USA
Summer Arabic Program, 2012, graduated with grade: A
Award: Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace

Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique,
Beirut, Lebanon
Basic degree in Voice and Music Theory, commenced September 2010


SKILLS AND SPECIALIZED TRAINING
Languages: fluent French and Gaelic, high intermediate Arabic (Modern Standard and Levantine dialect)
Technological Proficiency: FinalCut, Avid, Premiere, Protools, Audition, Audacity, Photoshop, Storymaker, ENPS, advanced use of digital SLRs, HD and DV camcorders, audio recording devices and studio lighting equipment
Hostile Environments: BBC Hostile Environments training (HEFAT), TOR International, London UK, Dec. 2008
Other Skills: Shooting, developing and editing on Super-8 and 16mm film formats; Sewing and basic tailoring