What is this?

“Our Next Speaker” is a light-hearted documentary series about the high school Speech & Debate community based around Portland, OR.

Where can I see it?

We haven’t secured distribution yet.  Our goal is to distribute it on a streaming service, like Netflix (for example).

When can I see it?

We’re still filming! It will take us some time to complete filming and then we will go into editing and post production. Our goal is to have the series ready to show in the Fall 2024.

Where did you get the idea to profile high school Speech & Debate?

Director and Creator of the project, Dino Coons, competed in high school Speech & Debate way back in the late ‘90s. He credits his participation in the activity as having an enormous influence on his adult life and career.

Who are you going to profile?

Our goal is to tell a diverse and entertaining set of stories about those that participate in Speech & Debate. Our focus will mainly be on the students that compete, but we will also hear from others in the community including coaches, parents, and alumni.

How can I participate?

Let us know you’re interested! Go to the contact tab and send us a message.  If you are going to appear on screen, we ask that you fill out and sign an image release form and submit that as well.

If you’re a minor, please note that you’ll have to get permission and a signature from your parent/guardian!

And if you see us at a tournament, feel free to introduce yourself! We’re more than happy to meet you and chat about the project.

I’m interested! Are you going to profile me?

Hopefully! Please understand that we have limited time and resources, so we can’t profile everyone.  We appreciate everyone who has expressed interest in the project and we’re hoping to talk to a lot of people, but we probably won’t have the time to get to everyone.

Please don’t think we weren’t interested in you or your story. We just ran out of time.

This sounds like a great project! How can I support it?

We'll take all the support we can get! Please refer to our Support page for all the latest ways to help.

I have some questions that aren't listed here. How can I contact you?

To send us a message just head on over to our Contact page!