In Development:
TAMPA/HAVANA: Two Cities/One Memory: A feature-length documentary exploring the relationship that flourished between Tampa, Florida and Havana, Cuba during the 1950s, the migrations between the two cities that have continued, and the efforts today to resume commerce and comradary.
WOMEN THE WORLD OVER: A series of five documentaries focusing on the UN Women’s Global Initiative to empower women and to achieve gender equality.
JELLY ROLL MORTON’S DEAD MAN BLUES: the first feature-length documentary on jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton, with funding from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.
Filmography/finished films:
ZORA NEALE HURSTON: JUMP AT THE SUN The only feature-length documentary on Zora Neale Hurston was broadcast on PBS in 2008 on the EMMY-award winning American Masters Series. Funders include the NEA, NEH, CPB, Ford Foundation, Southern Humanities Media Fund, Humanities Councils in MD, NY, DC, LA, TN, SC, NC and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs; Produced for PBS’ “American Masters” and broadcast in 2008/(:84)
SEA TURTLES’ LAST DANCE Documentary about species diversification, with a focus on sea turtles found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Atlantic, their nesting habits and efforts to help endangered Kemp’s Ridley turtles that are drowning in shrimp trawls by equipping a device on the trawl that frees them from the net; offered nationwide on PBS, an EMMY award-winner produced for the Florida Institute of Oceanography in 1988/(:30).
TAMPA BAY OASIS PBS documentary on a year in the life of an estuary and the myriad of marine life that it supports, arranged in a monthly calendar with seasonal focus on manatees, seabirds, dolphins, clams, seagrasses, crabs, and an array of outdoor activities including canoeing, birding, kayaking, and educational efforts; an independent production with support from US Fish & Wildlife, SW Florida Water Management District, Tampa Electric Company in 1990/(:60).
SHIFTING SANDS Documentary about the coastal geology and beach erosion of the Florida shore, produced for the Florida Institute of Oceanography in 1988/(:30).
BAY BOTTOM BLUES Documentary about the demise of seagrass and sealife in the Tampa Bay and efforts to restore one of the largest estuaries in the world; produced for WTOG-TV in 1985(:30).
ROAD TO THE FUTURE Documentary to preserve the culture of St. Kitts in the Caribbean while a major roadway is built, produced as an environmental campaign for the US Agency for International Development, broadcast in St. Kitts in 1989/(:30).
DREAM-MAKERS ODYSSEY Documentary of a time when Tampa’s history was tied to trolley cars; produced for the Big Bend Environmental Education Center 1995/(:20).
PEOPLE WITH AIDS Documentary on the changing faces of AIDS in Hillsborough County; produced for the Tampa AIDS Network in 1994/(:20).
MANATEE DREAMS Documentary about scientists’ efforts to save Florida manatees; produced for the Big Bend Environmental Education Center in 1993/(:20).
FLORIDA’S FIRST MAGIC KINGDOM Documentary on the turn-of-the-century Tampa Bay Hotel and railroad tycoon Henry Plant’s vision of luxury, produced for the H. B. Plant Museum in 1991/(:20).
GETTING THERE Script for media campaign for a mass transit system in the Tampa Bay area, produced for Hillsborough Area Regional Transit in 1996/(:30).
Zora Neale Hurston died January 28, 1960. And Friday, with less than a week to go before the fiftieth anniversary of her death, the Louvre in Paris will present ZORA NEALE HURSTON: JUMP AT THE SUN at 2:30 (Paris time) at the Louvre Theatre. While you probably won’t be able to attend the screening (and unfortunately, I can’t go) we can all appreciate how much times have changed so that a feature film about a celebrated African-American novelist and folklorist can have its day at a place of such distinction. And while you’re thinking about that, remember that Zora Neale Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God in only seven weeks while she was in Haiti doing research for Tell My Horse, her fascinating account of Haiti’s religion.
