2021 Great River Clean-Up PSA
“Return to the River” Public Access Show for Friends of the Los Angeles River
Friends of the Los Angeles seeks to create an equitable, publicly accessible, and ecologically sustainable Los Angeles River by inspiring River stewardship through community engagement, education, advocacy, and thought leadership. In lieu of being able to host a gala and other fundraising events in 2020 because of COVID-19, FoLAR had to get creative.
I worked in depth for more than two months with them to produce, direct, shoot, edit, and just about every other little piece you can think up a Public Access Style documentary series for them focusing on indigenous voices, environment conservation and protection, and promoting engagement with the river. From recording interviews with congresspeople Adam Schiff and Jimmy Gomez to stop motion animated openings, I did just about every piece of this thing.
Below are excerpted titles, the intro, my favorite segment, and the complete episode of FoLAR’s “Return to the River.”
“Return to the River” Trailer
Native Narratives: Tongva Traditions
My favorite segment from the show.
Observe tradition being passed from one generation to the next as we see the LA River through the eyes of its original people, the Tongva. In searching for tule reed to construct a doll we learn about the ways Tongva people relied upon the River and how they paid respects to nature.