The Art of the Finish
Reflecting on 14 Years of Documenting Hurricane Katrina As we approach the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating landfall, I find myself pondering the complexities of creative completion. My documentary feature, Forced Change, took 14 years to complete – a journey marked by twists, turns, and lessons learned. In 2005, I embarked on a mission to capture the stories of those affected by Katrina. I rented a car and drove from New York City to New Orleans, filming people returning
Travel Leads to Discontentment
“The more you travel, you come back home, and you feel like you don’t speak the same language. You’ve had these interesting experiences, and for everybody else, it’s just been another week that’s passed. And maybe they went out to dinner, or saw a movie, or whatever it was they did during that week, but in that week, you’ve gone to, say, Kashmir, and you’ve shot all this stuff, and had all these interesting experiences. And there’s a disconnect, and
Directing vs Producing
Directing and producing are very different skillsets. Ideally they are done by different people, but in the modern media world we are living in, being able to wear both hats becomes increasingly important. They both require a certain amount of creative instinct, but directing has a lot to do with making a million creative decisions in the moment and producing has a lot to do with pre planning so you can make less in the moment decisions that can become
Anthony Bourdain Eulogy
Loss and grief bring people together. It’s one of the many things we all share at some point in our lives. The need to nourish ourselves also brings us together, to the same table. We have to eat and drink and we often delight in sharing the experience. This is something Anthony Bourdain brought to light in books and articles and on television over the many years of his fantastic career. Tragically, the grief of losing this unique spirit now
Travel Tips
I travel a lot for work, all the time, actually. And I am jet lagged most of the time, whether working or home. It’s exhausting! I just got back from Rosarito, Mexico and before that, 2 weeks ago, I was in Karlsruhe, Germany. Before that Cabo San Lucas and before that Sitges, Spain. I jump to Europe and then to the west coast…and then back again. So what do I do to survive? Here are my rules to deal with