In NOLA in time for another storm?

Got into New Orleans safely this morning.  My carbon fiber tripod somehow missed the connection in Houston (steady shots are overrated), but Hertz upgraded me to a Trailblazer, which I might need if Hurricane Gustav ends up tracking this way.

Here's our official press release for the premiere:

For Immediate Release, August 27, 2008

“NEW DOCUMENTARY ON SMALL-BUSINESS STRUGGLE IN NEW
ORLEANS DEBUTS ON KATRINA ANNIVERSARY”

Bruce Foret has spent the three years since Hurricane Katrina struggling to rebuild Oak Street Hardware in New Orleans.  His city is at a tipping point: parts of it still look like a war zone, the recovery slowed down by a bad economy and depopulation.  But he refuses to abandon his neighborhood, even as city hall is paving the way for big box stores to enter the local market.

A new film documents the risks small business owners took in resurrecting their neighborhoods and the threats they now face. Independent America: Rising from Ruins debuts Saturday at “New Orleans Speaks: We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For,” a symposium sponsored by The New Orleans Institute, which focuses on innovative ways to restore the city. The film trailer is available at http://risingfromruins.com.  The film airs at 6 pm and again at 8 pm on Saturday, August 30, upstairs at Massey’s Professional Outfitters, 509 N. Carrollton Avenue.   Discussion with filmmaker Hanson Hosein will follow the first seating.  Call 504-232-7821 to reserve a seat.

Hosein created Rising from the Ruins. The Emmy Award winner and former NBC and CBC News correspondent is now Director of the Master in Communication Digital Media program at the University of Washington.  He’ll be in New Orleans this week for the premiere.

“It’s inspiring how small business was the first to return to the city, even as chain retailers were slow to re-open,” Hosein said.  “There’s a lesson there for any community in distress after a disaster.  Particularly in neighborhoods where residents are reluctant to return due to a lack of services, including retail.” 

Dana Eness of staylocal.org, an initiative of local nonprofit The Urban Conservancy, says the timing of the premiere is prophetic.  "Katrina wasn't New Orleans' first brush with catastrophe, and it won't be her last.  Even as Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast, and New Orleans residents find themselves deciding whether to evacuate or not, we know that no matter what happens, New Orleans' local businesses will be back first, when we need them, after any natural disaster to offer us a cup of coffee or the building supplies we need to help us get back on our feet and return to normalcy as quickly as possible."

Already Rising from Ruins has played a key role in opening up discussions around public policy. People like Eness are strongly advocating for the reallocation of government money and from large-scale projects to smaller local businesses.  "Economic development efforts that focus on helping the businesses born and raised here grow to their full potential will have a much greater impact with a much smaller price tag for a resource-strapped city and her taxpayers."

For Hosein, Rising from Ruins is the completion of an unfinished journey. When doing his first full-length documentary “Independent America: The Two Lane Search for Mom & Pop” (2006) Hosein and his wife, Heather Hughes, decided to bypass New Orleans, in favor of a key interview in Arkansas. “Now we’re here to honor the voices of Moms & Pops and hopefully help them shape the future of an independent New Orleans,” says Hosein.

Toronto based Executive Producer Tom Powers of Open Door states: “It’s shocking to see three years after the fact that there is still so much left to do. It’s almost as if people outside of new Orleans have Katrina fatigue. Hopefully by shining a light on the efforts of a determined and passionate group of local business owners we can refocus the debate on the best way to help this wonderful city”

The production is funded by Canadian broadcaster Super Channel as well as the University of Washington’s Department of Communication.

 Independent America: Rising From Ruins, shot and produced in full HD video, is a Rising Road Media production – a joint venture between Open Door and HRH Media. Super Channel, Canada’s only national Pay TV network, will broadcast the film in late 2008. 

ABOUT INDEPENDENT AMERICA
INDEPENDENT AMERICA: THE TWO LANE SEARCH FOR MOM & POP is a film that encourages people to think hard about where they spend their money.  And it offers a rare, and comprehensive view of a nation that maintains surprisingly diverse opinions about how it should do business – and with whom.

INDEPENDENT AMERICA follows filmmaker and former NBC foreign correspondent and Emmy Award winner Hanson Hosein and his wife, former NBC correspondent Heather Hughes, through 13,000 miles and 32 US states in search of "Independent America". Forty years ago, "Mom & Pop" businesses were an endangered species as corporate retail advanced quickly through the consumer heartland of the world. But today, small business is clawing its way back and are fighting for the right to remain independent. 

The film is a co-production of Open Door and HRH Media.  It has been seen around the world, thanks to his innovative grassroots marketing campaign and blog.  Self-produced and self- financed, the award-winning documentary has also been featured by Yahoo!, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Variety, ABC News, National Public Radio, and has been broadcast by NHK Japan, SBS Australia, Superchannel Canada and the Sundance Channel USA.

About Open Door (http://www.opendoorco.com).
Launched in 2005 by veteran entertainment executive Tom Powers, Open Door is in the business of producing, acquiring, distributing and investing in Content That Matters across all media platforms. Other Open Door productions include the feature documentary “Cracked Not Broken” which was part of HBO’s recent award winning Addiction Project.

About HRH Media  (http://www.hrhmedia.com).
HRH Media is an independent production company headed by Emmy Award winner and NBC foreign correspondent, Hanson Hosein and his partner, network news journalist Heather Hughes (NBC, MSNBC).  Hosein is presently Director of the Master of Communications in Digital Media program at the University of Washington in Seattle.

About Superchannel (http://www.superchannel.ca)
Superchannel is Canada’s only national pay television network, consisting of two new HD channels, four new SD channels, and an SVOD platform, giving viewers what they want, when they want. Superchannel’s vision is to reinvent Pay TV in Canada by offering a broad range of movies and series never seen before on Canadian television. Superchannel is owned by Allarco Entertainment, an Edmonton-based media company.

CONTACT
Tom Powers, Executive Producer: (647) 288-2853 tpowers@opendoorco.com
Hanson Hosein, Director:  (206) 801-1867 film@independentamerica.net
Dana Eness, Executive Director, The Urban Conservancy: (504) 232-7821 dana@staylocal.org