I am a film maker and am looking at doing my next film (preferably a documentary)
I recently contacted a few monasteries and convents, i want to document the transition a person needs to go through going from civilian to nun/monk.
I sent this email to most of the places:
**Hello Sister,
My name is ----------, i run a video production company based out of -------, WI.
We have been throwing around the idea of documenting the life of a Benedictine monk or nun, and possibly following a person from civilian to the monastic lifestyle.
I have much more information, but i have chosen to keep this short and to the point.
We would love to talk with you more about possibly doing this.
(BusinessPhone#)
Thank you!
Have a great day"**
One of the emails i sent to a convent in Wisconsin got a returned with this rather nasty reply:
**"TAP,
Is this for real? I’m sure the FBI crew could find out. I’m on PTO so you’ll have to take care of this investigation all by yourself.
S. Lucia"**
Um…WTF?
Are nuns really scammed that often? Are these just crazy old bats? DId i just get put on an FBI watch list for a completely harmless email?
I don’t think you were put on an FBI list. It sounds more like she suspects you are from law enforcement. She is on “paid leave”, so maybe there’s some sort of investigation going on. Or she was put on leave because she has paranoid delusions.
Or, maybe being on paid leave, she just wanted to have a little fun.
(I don’t know why I am assuming the person is female.)
Your email looks like spam straight out. It’s poorly and impersonally written just as some spam is. There is also a condescending undertone. You must have hit a sour note with this specific person and that’s the only reason you achieved any response to it.
If you are serious about the film endeavor, I suggest you approach people in person to discuss this personal decision that they made in their lives.
Assume you had gotten that email from someone who said they wanted to document the life of a documentary filmmaker. How would you have reacted?
Nuns (even more than priests) are sensitive to the belief among some people that nuns are a weird-dressing, ritual-saying, sexually suspect cult, and can be suspicious when a total stranger contacts them out of the blue to ask if they can follow the group around with a camera crew.
If you’re in Wisconsin, why don’t you just contact the communications officeof the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and ask them to help you find a group who might be interested in working with you.
It sounds like she accidentally copied a message to another in the organization to you. Maybe they’re intrigued, but want to check it out first. Don’t know what to think about "FBI"and “investigation” though. Sounds strange for a convent, but they might have totally different meanings than what comes to mind.
Maybe you could send a followup email (w/o letting on you got the misdirected one) that includes a link to references, a website, etc.
That’s what it looks like to me. She probably forwarded your email to someone else with a request to have them check out, but accidentally (or deliberately) left you in the recipient list.
I agree, it could have been done better, but i think it was at least semi-professional. I had my name, company name, location of company, and business phone number listed in the email. A simple google search could have turned up information on our company. We do not have a website as of right now, but we are listed in the yellow pages, community pages, facebook, myspace, etc.
I have gotten replies from 90% of emails i sent in the last week. Most of them we talked over the phone and i pitched the idea in full. This is really the only reply i got that was strange, or even paranoid.
:smack: I agree. I feel like an idiot that I didn’t think about the email not being addressed to the OP.
I think the reason the OP didn’t get any other responses like this is that either the person checked it themselves, or was smart enough to ask the person without CCing you.
Though I still say the idea of getting the FBI involved seems a bit paranoid.
I’m surprised you didn’t get more suspicious, hostile or even nonresponses. Your message is extremely unprofessionally written. (As an aside, why do you not capitalize “I”?).
As a journalist I am constantly contacting absolute strangers to ask them for information. I would expect to be yotally blown off using an approach like yours. What you’re asking is a much bigger favour. You’re asking complete strangers for help. FFS, use capital letters.
I mean, WTF? “We’ve been throwing around the idea”? How callous, dismissive and disrespectful for someone making a cold contact. I would even say that you should avoid e-mail until you have a contact who knows you. Pick up the damn telephone.
You’re asking a favor. The person you’re asking has no obligation to so Google searches or any other kind of work to figure out if you’re legit.
Do you have any idea what the average age of nuns is in this country? They’re freaking old. You need to approach this issue much more carefully and with a lot more sensitivity. I like the suggestion of contacting your local diocese first and arranging a face to face interview.