A Nice Tune

I recently put together a fun composite video of a COVID-19 quarantine tune for friend and Guggenheim-award-winning percussionist John Hollenbeck. The members of the Claudia Quintet each recorded “Nice Tune” from the safety of their homes with Chris Speed on clarinet, Matt Moran on vibraphone, Red Wierenga on accordion, John Hollenbeck on drums, and Drew Gress on bass.

It’s been inspiring to see efforts around the world to share music recorded by individuals in isolation during social distancing. Berklee College of Music students performed the touching “What the World Needs Now” showing the importance of joining together during this global pandemic. The original cast of Hamilton’s stirring Zoom rendition of the show’s opening tune has been a big hit.

Harvard University’s Pause For Art showcases alumni, faculty, and students working on their artistic practices and passions at home. They hope that these videos will inspire creativity and create a “moment of beauty, comfort and connection.”

Exploring Altered States of Consciousness

I am exciting to be co-creating a new experiential documentary with Emma Meyers, a final-year neurology student at Harvard Medical School, which will explore the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness in healing across different cultures. The film will present a series of immersive treatment sessions for modalities such as meditation, hypnosis, psychedelics, holotropic breathwork, and drumming-induced trances.

A Violent Act Prevented

We now have a documented case of at least one violent act – possibly a homicide – that our Circle Up documentary helped prevent. After one of our recent workshops at a large urban high school, in which dozens of students and staff “circled up” to watch the film and talk about restorative justice, a school social worker asked film participant Clarissa Turner if she could speak to an upset student.

 “The social worker had been working with this young man for many months and didn’t know what else to do,” says Clarissa, whose son Marquis was murdered in 2011 on the way to visit his son. “This young man was tensed, he was hurt, he was angry. His color was red.” He had been in an escalating confrontation with a rival gang member who lived across the street from his home. After months and months of fights, he was tired of fighting and had begun to speak of getting a gun and ending the situation.

 “Before I give any talk or speak with someone, I always pray and ask God to guide my tongue,” Clarissa explains. I want to be able to give my testimony in a way that can help others.” She introduced herself to the young man and began to explore the situation with him, asking whether there was anyone who knew both sides and could mediate. “I let him know that I see his pain – he was just so exhausted with this situation. I also asked him, ‘What do you want to do in the future, what do you want out of life?’ He spoke highly of himself and had lots of dreams. I told him, ‘Give yourself a chance to do that – don’t allow the streets to cheat you of that.’

“That was our conversation – just birthing in life, decisions, the control and power he has over his choices,” she continues. “We are here to prevent, to plant seeds, to educate on the value of life. So people can think before they do their actions. Because him taking that young man’s life could cost him his life, either through retaliation or incarceration. And I know how that feels to lose.

“Our conversation gave him tools. And finally he said, ‘I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but I’m not gonna do that.’ He was a different kid after that.  His color came back, he was smiling. It brought me to tears when I extended my hand to say goodbye and he gave me the biggest hug.

 “I have been transformed a great deal from doing this work,” Clarissa says. “We bring our true selves and share our testimony – and so many people’s lives have been changed by Circle Up.”

 Clarissa Turner founded Legacy Lives On, a non-profit ministry to support families that have lost loved ones to homicide or street violence.

No Teeth = Dullsville

I was so moved while filming with visiting dental providers from Ammonoosuc Community Health Services at the Grafton County Nursing Home in rural New Hampshire – a team bringing oral health care to elderly people who don’t have regular access to a dentist. Merle Richards (interviewed in the clip above) talked about growing up poor and having his four front teeth pulled at age 12.

In producing a video for Jon C. Burr Foundation about access to oral health care, I’ve learned a lot about the crisis our country finds itself in as tens of millions of people can’t get basic preventive care due to financial limitations, transportation issues, lack of coverage, or other barriers.

Stay tuned for the final video in June!

Camera Movement Fun

My Intermediate Live Action class at Rhode Island School of Design got a real treat yesterday with a Camera Movement workshop. The students were thrilled to get an introduction on how to assemble and use fixed- and flexible-track dollies, jib, Glidecam (which we called the "wobble-cam" due to the challenges of using it), slider, wheel, and shoulder rigs.

RISD's equipment manager Carissa Abitabalo and her assistant Joanna Claessens led the demos.  I am grateful for the chance to learn from my colleagues.

Veterans Healing in Nature

I got to spend last weekend with my college roommate Carolyn Schuyler on the opening weekend of Wildrock, a natural park and playscape she founded to help people heal from trauma.

We interviewed three veterans who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder but discovered that spending time in nature could help them heal – and re-integrate in civilian life after deployment.  We quickly cut these together with images of the beautiful 20-acre park in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“I had hit rock bottom,” explains veteran and military spouse Sarah Akers.  “And the moment between choosing to end my life and not choosing to end my life was literally, ‘Well, okay what now?’  Life hasn't changed, but I said, ‘I'm going to be here, so now what?’  And I literally got up and started walking because I couldn't sit in the middle of my kitchen. And I realized that I had no idea where I was going, but there was something very cathartic about walking, and putting one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other.  Hiking, in nature.”

I am lucky to never have suffered PTSD, but I can attest to the power of nature to calm, heal, and give us the big picture of life.

Check out the finished video here.  Congratulations to Carolyn and her staff on the launch of this great non-profit!

A New End

I was with my family at the beautiful World’s End park recently and we came across a gorgeous new sculpture by Berlin and Copenhagen-based artist Jeppe Hein.  The mirrored labyrinth piece is poised to reflect the stunning ocean views on both sides of the narrow peninsula where it stands.

Walking within the graduated columns it’s easy to get lost even though it’s not a huge piece. Thank you to the Trustees of Reservations for bringing this amazing landscape art to the people!