Living in New Orleans – the first 10 years

My family is from Louisiana for generations on both sides but I didn’t move to New Orleans until late 2009. I’d lived in Maryland, Japan, Washington D.C., Alabama, New York, and almost 18 years in Los Angeles before finally following my heart home. Looking through photos for this blog post, I saw the story of a New Dat becoming a Saints season-ticket-holding Who Dat, a parade-goer becoming a Pussyfooters parade dancer, strangers becoming friends, and a blogger becoming an author. I saw the evolution of my love story with this city, and with the man I met my first year here.

I’d just produced Hell Ride with Quentin Tarantino when I decided to leave Los Angeles.

New Orleans Film Festival 2015

The 26th annual New Orleans Film Festival began last week and continues through Thursday night. The festival opened with the premiere of Louisiana-shot Born to Be Blue at the newly restored and beautifully ornate Orpheum Theatre. A mural for the festival, painted on a stretch of St. Charles near Lee Circle, features the faces of people watching different genres of movies. I was beyond honored to be included as one of the faces reimagined by the super-talented and prolific street artist Brandan “B-mike” Odums best known for his sophisticated and grand “graffiti” work at an abandoned apartment complex set for redevelopment. So imagine how fun it was to find that every screen in the festival has the mural on it as people take their seats and every movie at the festival opens with a time-lapse short film of the artist at work on the faces.

New Orleans Film Fest

The New Orleans Film Society (NOFS) kicked off its 24th film fest last Thursday night with the premiere of 12 Years a Slave. For 2 years in a row, MovieMaker Magazine included the New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF) in its “Top 25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.” NOFS Executive Director Jolene Pinder should probably prepare for a 3rd inclusion in this honor. The fest has panels, outdoor screenings and plenty of brass bands along with a variety of premieres, many of which were filmed right here in Louisiana.