Once Upon A Time... with Jeff Oppenheim

Experiential & Digital Producer

Since mankind's earliest days, when our delivery system was an oral tradition shared while sitting around the campfire, storytelling has been part of our culture.  

The tribal storyteller was revered as historian and as entertainer. The tradition carries forth with today's novelist, who through her words, offers us escape and perhaps perspective. Similar is the filmmaker who must weave narrative and image while equally inspiring reflection upon our own life.

As a live and digital storyteller, my creative process references the poignant simplicity of the classic fables of Aesop, Brothers Grimm, and La Fontaine; all what we would now call, “short form content”. Each fable begins simply with "once upon a time..." and ends with a concise message or moral. Each tells of a hero's journey, a lesson practiced and learned, or the history of local culture from a time now long ago.

Even within the exciting and ever-changing technological times in which we live, story is ever-the-more relevant today. As content creators, the platforms by which to deliver story have multiplied and each offer their own measure. Is not the one minute Instagram video post a chance to tell a Haiku?

Added to this is the fact that we now share such a large swatch of common cultural iconography worldwide and generationally, that we can say ever the more through visual storytelling. Just think of the generational morphing of the happy face from 60’s icon to the key board version and now to the emojis of today. And even this roots us to our past of cave paintings and ancient Hieroglyphs.

The foundation of storytelling has not changed, and in this there is unity. A global connection likened to sitting around the campfire, faces aglow by the warming fires and imaginations illuminated by a good tale. What child among us does not long for story time.

Let's continue tradition and tell a story together.

A Face in the Crowd as seen by Roy Anthony Morrison

Photographer

Originally from London, Roy Anthony Morrison has been involved in fashion photography and documenting the house music and club scene in New York City for more than 20 years. Along with his camera gear he arrived with a love of London's fashion and house music and threw himself into the New York scene. 

As a painter and photographer he was immersed in New York's arts scene and in particular discovered the underground dance music scene that was just coming into its own. He began to document the culture through his photography. This led to collaborations with performers, and djs who continue to make their mark on the scene.

He has been a contributing writer and photographer to Dance magazine, Flatiron News Magazine and Caribbean POSH magazine. He has also been a contributor to MSN UK. Hehas worked with some of the most well known artists and producers in the industry. 

In 2006 Roy became New York writer for SouledUp.com the online music magazine. Souledup was  created by Gareth Morgan a London based web designer and music enthusiast. In his capacity as New York Editor he interviewed Grammy award winning dj/prducer Louie Vega, Dj Producer Timmy Regisford, and vocal artist Monique Bingham. In addition to his photographing the House Music scene; he has been a fashion photographer for the past 10 years. He has consistently covered New York Fashion Week, since the days of the Bryant park shows in NYC.

Sustainable Vision from Jay Singleton

Lifestyle Brand Consultant

Unbeknownst to this born and raised New Yorker, a playful interest in fashion sparked by magazines and runway TV broadcast would develop into a ten year journey in the creative scene of the big apple and beyond. Navigating the fashion-focused social scenes of NYC, from the underground to the upscale and pushing well beyond the boundaries of her urban playground she soon learned that fashion was far more than playing dress up, but rather an important artistic industry with tremendous power.  

Jay has freelanced in the fashion, nightlife and art industries, contributing and working for print and digital outlets that included Noise, A-4, Time Out New York, Joonbug, Sundance Channel, Fine Art Magazine and PR experience with brands such as Temperly London, Twenty8Twelve, Filippa K, Costume National, Costello Tagliapietra and many other fashion flock faves. She’s worked with industry insiders like Patrick McMullan, Lynn Yaeger and Erica Blumenthal and has been featured on Racked, The Sartorialist, Refinery 29 and Men’s Health. 

After performing interviews of leaders in Copenhagen’s sustainable fashion community in 2014, Jay has become passionate about building brands that honor the industry’s a higher sense of responsibility.  She holds a deep admiration of the artistry of fashion, a keen understanding of the business and a natural sensibility for crafting presentation across multiple audiences. 

Souvenir Postcards from David Smadja

Cinematographer & Photographer

Twenty minutes drive to reach the Pacific Ocean.  The same to experience the Canyons.  One hour to face complete desert.  More short miles North for a ski session.  When in LA, I take great satisfaction in the variety of landscapes that await me, outside my car window.  But coming from Paris my city of birth, LA is a true visual challenge waiting to be navigated and admired from afar as if a private screening fluttering just beyond one's windshield, beckoning your dreams to go big.  Hollywood big!  One day soon big!

Paris is a fairly small city. The vehicle of choice, your own Deux pieds (two feet). There are no real "downtown" or even better, hundreds of downtown.  You pass from each neighborhood from the hills of Momartre, to a tranquil river view along the Seine. Each historic vista, from the Impressionists' cafés to the Sun King's castles, and all the monuments in-between baiting you with epic romance and promise.  Distant lover promise.

My two cities catch my eye as a cinematographer/photographer.  LA, as a still life can be rough, sparse for the eyes. Our sight is constantly challenged by the vastness the width, the length, the expanse from street to freeway.  But as such, LA heightens my focus.  Like the prospectors with golden dreams, I shift to find its subtle radiance. Conversely Paris is visual splendor that emanates even within mundane selfies.  So I watch her closely, ignoring her grandeur and cultured pretense so that I might capture a candid, selfless moment of inward reflection. 

 I live in LA.  I am born of Paris. I travel from and to both cities.  I collect souvenir postcards through my lens as if to say--wish you were.