Just got back a few days ago from a mind blowing 2 and half week trip to Haiti where I was working with two great organizations: Global Nomads Group and Architecture for Humanity. They’ve partnered (along with the Bezos Foundation) to rebuild a few of the many schools that were damaged or destroyed in last January’s earthquake. My role was to document these rebuilding efforts and to introduce the people, culture and schools of Haiti to young people of North America (and beyond) who have signed on to help raise the money necessary for work to begin. (Bezos Family is contributing matching funds.) The videos say more than I ever could in a blog post about the devastation, beauty, despair and resilience that we encountered. Please visit the partner sites and the Global Nomads Facebook page for more information on the situation there and how you can get involved.

We produced four videos during the trip while another was done in Kansas, portraying some of the American students who are exploring philanthropy for the first time in their young lives. Gotta say my favorite of the project was the profile we did on one of the students in Port-au-Prince. What was supposed to be a 3-4 minute piece turned into a 7 and half minute short film called “Diandine.” This precociously smart young woman has a lot of unique qualities and it was truly an honor getting to know her and her family, but if you’re looking for a window into the challenges and determination that define the young people in Haiti right now, this is a great place to start.

While you’re on the YouTube page, there’s plenty to explore, including a segment we did on Haitian Vodou!

On my b’day this year, I ran into Beyonce and Jay Z while shooting the ground breaking of the Barclay Center: the largest development project in New York since, I don’t know, forever. It’s being plopped down next to downtown Brooklyn and will make billions for some, while taking away central Brooklyn’s low scale, neighborhood sensibility. The footage I shot was for/with my friends at Rumur Inc who are making an epic doc about the whole debacle. Read all about it and watch the amazing trailer here:
www.rumur.com/bob

Beyonce and husband arriving at Atlantic Yards on 3/11/10.

And yes, Beyonce and I had a moment.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the world premiere at BAM Cinemateque! We had a full house and a great after party, too!

Visit LastSummerAtConeyIsland.com and join the mailing list for info on future screenings and other news.

Check out the sweet review from the New York Post’s Brooklyn blog.

It’s my third season working with the River to River Festival as their resident filmmaker and I am yet again humbled by the amazing performances that I wouldn’t have bothered to check out if someone weren’t paying me to do so. I often come away wishing I had dragged people I know to these things because not only are the artists top notch, but all the venues are in very special waterfront corners of lower Manhattan. Fortunately, I get to share little snapshots of these shows with everyone on the festival’s website. A few of these clips have gone up already this summer and more are being added every few days. Check ’em out, and while you’re there, take a look at the last few seasons’ videos. I’m rather proud of many of them.

Beth Orton at Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City

Memorial Day. Coney Island. Brooklyn, USA

This weekend saw the opening of the first all-new amusement park in Coney Island since Astroland opened in 1962. That it was situated exactly where Astroland stood until 2 years ago added a feeling of unease for many of us. That said, you can’t stop progress, and when progress comes in the form of the newest, coolest, shiniest amusement rides you’ve ever seen, and when they attract record crowds and make everyone feel good about Coney Island again after last year’s thematic interpretation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, well, you can’t complain either.

the cleared Astroland lot around February.

The pinwheel designs are a near recreation of the original Luna Park's grand entrance, a block west on Surf Avenue.

Meanwhile, this same weekend, I showed Last Summer at Coney Island at a benefit screening in Williamsburg’s UnionDocs film center. It was the first public exhibition of the film and people liked it! They really liked it! And they weren’t all my friends. Though special mention should go to my friend Casey who somehow made it to the screening, despite the fact that he’s in the midst of an epic cross-country bike trip. (which you can read all about HERE.)

The local Brooklyn newspaper group published an article about my film and the benefit event. Check it out.

http://24sevenbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2010/05/swan-song-for-coney.html

My 2002-2008 documentary about family, community and pigeons,
will be shown 3x as part of Anthology Film Archive‘s For the Birds series.

* Wednesday Apr 28 9:00 PM
* Saturday May 1 5:00 PM
* Wednesday May 5 8:30 PM

It’ll be paired with another fine documentary called “Wild New York.”
They’ve got a great program all week, including Hitchcock’s classic “The
Birds” and a new film about the long-assumed extinct Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
called “Ghost Bird.”

Visit the movie website for more info.

Gabe Gonzalez in "Up on the Roof"

Went underground recently to do a story on the first subway tunnel ever constructed. It was built in the 1840s as part of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) but  made obsolete, de-commissioned, and sealed up within 15 years. Then it was forgotten and actually lost until a Pratt student named Bob did the necessary research and “discovered” it in 1980. Click on the photo and scroll down on the WNYC Culture page for the video. Or click here to go straight to the clip on YouTube.

Shot the groundbreaking of the mega-development in the heart of Brooklyn last Thursday– my birthday! I was working with my pals at RUMUR Inc who are making an epic doc on the subject but they partnered with the NY Times to get this clip up online. (my footage is mainly the groundbreaking itself, towards the end)

http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/video-finish/?emc=eta1

Hello-

Over three years into my Coney Island adventure, chronicling the redevelopment saga of “the people’s playground,” the film is nearing completion. I’ve partnered with Kickstarter.com and the City Reliquary to raise the necessary post-production funds so I can cross the finish line and bring this story to the world. Please visit the Kickstarter page and learn how you can get involved! Special prizes await!

http://kck.st/9h4Xsx