Secret History

One afternoon out of sheer curiosity I decided to google the origin story of Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. At first it was unremarkable, a large tract of land donated to the city by a wealthy resident. But it didn’t take much digging to discover the strange & violent history of LA’s most famous public space. I took that curiosity & created this little short documentary exploring the weird early life of this landmark & the man who made it possible.

You can read the full narration text plus additional information (there was too much weird stuff to fit into just one 3 min video!) in my earlier blog post. & remember: the history of your local haunts is often weirder than you can even imagine.

the end of the world as we know it

Last year I wandered out into the California high desert with the idea to shoot a little silent film taking place after the end of the world. Lucky for me, my extremely talented friend Alex Elliott also thought a day climbing around an old lava flow in the middle of nowhere covered in dirt sounded like a good time & so this little film was born. My first effort at filmmaking with my Nikon DSLR—I learned a lot about exposure, wind noise, & how to get creative & shoot around large quantities of hikers to make a very busy area look abandoned!

Finite follows the last person alive after an apocalyptic event has eliminated the rest of the human race. Alone & wandering the empty landscape for over a year she has finally decided to take control of what remains of her life. More info>>

Thanks for watching & please let me know what you think!

Only at High Tide

I first learned of this cool sometimes island as a teenager, but never really imagined I'd find myself one day standing on the marshy shoals on the north western coast of france looking at it live & in person.

the mont is awe-inspiring to look at up close. rising out of the water like some kind of science fiction fantasy city. it's said to be the inspiration for minas tirith in the lord of the rings movies. it also has a long & fascinating weird history, including spending some time as an offshore prison.

Documenting Glass Beach

A place that has been on my bucket list since I first heard of it, Glass Beach is a fantastically weird little gem on the California Coast.

The beach is covered in multi-coloured pebbles of sea glass; a result of its past life as a dumping site for a nearby glass factory. Now a major tourist attraction, there are three beach sites accessible to the public. I spent a late afternoon exploring one & created this (very) short documentary about the beach & its history.

Read the full text from the video on Vimeo.

-N