In addition to our nationally broadcast documentaries, Hudson West produces videos for a select group of mission-driven clients in the fields of arts, education, and the environment. These commissioned pieces of 5–20 minutes in length are created with the same editorial and production standards as our full-length films, and provide us with an opportunity to partner with like-minded organizations who also seek to educate and enlighten.
Short Film to accompany “Old Jolly Farm” Composed and Performed by Rob Morsberger
The song and the film revisit the infamous “Mississippi Burning” murders of 1964.
Rob Morsberger:
“I grew up with these pictures by my father, Philip Morsberger—the 'Missing' drawing, the magnificent silver leaf photorealist painting and the Sherriff Rainey 'Hey Let's Have Some Red Man'. When I wrote the song 'Old Jolly Farm', I wanted to honor these American heros; also I wanted to pay homage to my father.
I asked filmmaker Dave Davidson to create a short film that would incorporate those images as a visual accompaniment to the song; partly because I knew him to be an expert documentarian, partly because I knew the story would speak to him, and partly because I knew he was an ardent rock and roll fan. But what Dave (working with Dimon Gapon) created is breathtaking. Weaving my father's pictures into a tapestry of archival photographs (including the original FBI Missing poster), beautiful original footage of a fateful drive beneath moonswept skies, Dave has given me a profound work of art in its own right. The film captures the tenderness and rage of my father's images and gives back to Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman the humanity their murderers tried, but failed, to erase.”
- PARTIAL LIST OF CLIENTS
- The Newark Museum—oral history and video portrait of the flamboyant Director Emeritus Samuel Miller featuring his old friend, the architect Michael Graves, who redesigned the museum during Miller’s tenure. Miller reflects on his unique encounters with many personalities from Presidents to the Dalai Lama.
- Jane E. Lytle Arboretum,Croton-on-Hudson, NY—Introductory educational video for this wetlands preserve and wildlife sanctuary focusing on its critical importance to the stability of the regional ecosystem.
- NOAA/CREST (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology Center)—Informational video examining the work of this eight-college consortium that uses satellite data to find solutions for the most pressing environmental problems of the 21st century, such as global warming, air pollution and declining water quality.
- The City College of New York—A video/oral history of one of the oldest film schools in the nation, The Institute of Film Techniques at City College. Founded in 1941, to counter German propaganda in motion pictures, the Institute was the first in the U.S. to teach documentary filmmaking. The Institute was directed by the iconoclastic German expatriate artist and filmmaker, Hans Richter. The oral history is comprised of the reminiscences of 25 graduates of the Institute from the 1940s and ‘50s, many of whom went on to very successful careers in the movie industry.
