New Orleans Claiborne Corridor

In the creation of the video about the proposed Claiborne Avenue highway-to- boulevard corridor we see the opportunity to create a visually compelling story that engages the viewer with Treme's colorful and sometimes tragic history, its extraordinary street culture and its music traditions. Always present is its complicated relationship of despising the I-10 freeway and the paradoxical fear of its removal. Treme's proximity to the French Quarter, its historic homes, its joie de vivre all combine to position it as a desirable neighborhood if it were not marred by blight, crime, and split down its center by a massive expressway overpass. The residents who once enjoyed their Mardi Gras traditions under the oaks of Claiborne Avenue, and second line nearly every Sunday with their social clubs through the streets of New Orleans, now fear their street culture's extinction or eclipse should their neighborhood be transformed yet again by another transportation project. Since hurricane Katrina, protectors of New Orleans' cultural integrity, and territorial stewards of neighborhood traditions have become very well organized. We believe that treating the story of the proposed changes to the Claiborne Corridor with a sensitive ear to this community's concerns about longtime residents being displaced by rising rents, and displeased by stricter street parading regulations should be addressed with the gravitas it deserves. In creating the film on the proposed removal of the Claiborne overpass we see an opportunity to explore the history of the political discourse and decisions that went on at the time the overpass' site was being selected. There have been many urban myths around land use issues since hurricane Katrina, and this project has land grab, land use gentrification fears attached to it. By opening the door to the discussion of transparency, the film can address and allay the most aggravating fears of proposed project's opponents. The archival film and still images of the site as well as aerials and architectural renderings that have all been created as part of the project's study will be interwoven with interviews of residents, urban planners, cultural experts, and politicians. Since the focus of this video is a project that is under consideration, we feel that it is important to change the ratio of archival film and stills from that of the first film to a lesser number than a 50/50 screen time ratio. Our sense of what will tell the story of why the highway needs to be removed and changed to a beautiful boulevard lies partly in Treme and the other neighborhood's past, but we feel that the story is more powerful if we show how the neighborhoods are presently fragmented and existing in a wounded but still dancing state. As you will see in our short film, that we have included in our work sample, the area around the Claiborne corridor is so visually unusual that with a bit of imagination the viewers will be able to draw in their minds a picture of how it could be transformed. Yet, it will still remain wonderfully funky and clearly New Orleans at its soulful best. One activist in Treme often says of the place, "It's hot and holy. It is both." Producer/Director Bess Carrick, Cinematographer Jackson Hill, Editor and Motion Graphics Jim Land, Audio engineer Jeffrey Talbot. We are members of the media and creative collaborative, Level 3 Digital Media based in New Orleans.