Photo: Lizzie Ford-Madrid
Tell me more about your company
DAVID: FosterBear Films is a co-operative. Its four filmmakers that respect the shit out of each other, making dreams manifest while paying the bills by doing what we love. As passionate New Orleanians, its important to us to share whatever tools we have and success we enjoy with the communities that we work, play and love in.
LENNIE: The way we see it is that film is becoming less centralized and more localized and we are an independent film company that is able to provide media services that are accessible to the local creative community as well as internationally.
JASON: David and I worked together for close to year before FosterBear became a reality. The first project that we worked on, and what really showed us we could work together and wear a lot of hats production wise (and still stand to be around each other) was a silent film for a local band directed by a mutual friend of ours that David also starred in. On the first day of shooting I met Ted Moree (our Technical Director) and was made privy to his legendary attention to detail and his uncanny ability to turn clouds into concrete. Anyhow, David and I had always talked about starting a company, collective, democracy, what have you. After a few false starts on different endeavors, the 48 Hour Film Project came around. I’d met Lennie Hsaio at an InvadeNola event and had seen her around town prior to meeting. I guess that’s a testament to how small and connected New Orleans is, especially the art community. Most likely you’re two to three degrees separated from everyone here, artfully speaking. In preparation for the 48 Hr weekend I had forgotten about Lennie and luckily she got in touch with me (pestered) and joined our team for the film. After the completion of There are Rules (our 48HFP entry) we wanted to continue to work with each other.
TED: We’re just a diverse group of twenty-somethings united by a passion for storytelling with moving pictures.
JASON: We formed like Voltron and started to do the damn thing.
Tell me about the owners?
JASON: Jason Foster is the love child of Larry David, Lenny Kravitz, Raggedy Andy and a walking stick.
David Bear has the demeanor of an angry black man but the swagger of the self assured business minded Hebrew.
Ted Moree gives us the validity of being an actual company. He’s the Q to our James Bond. Minus the U.K. accent and habit for sipping tea.
Lennie Hsiao is the smartest out off all of us, she can dismantle and reassemble a nuclear reactor, discover a new species of fungi and remix the pythagorean theorem faster than you can say “Kim Kardashian is destined for Bollywood stardom”.
What are you inspired by?
TED: Unusual shadows. Cloud formations. The texture and characters of this beautiful city.
LENNIE: Science was a main passion and still is today. The fashion world, especially when Alexander McQueen was alive
DAVID: Systems that need destroying, be they my own or society’s as a whole. Oh, and Charlie Kaufman.
JASON: Most hip-hop from the late 80’s and 90’s, Blaxploitation films, My mother, Giraffes, Entropy
What is the best place to get drinks in New Orleans?
TED: I’m the sober one. I like the Mid-City bars by my house, though: Pal’s & Parkview (Not to be confused with Parkway.) Good bars are characterized by well-worn wooden floor planks, regulars who laugh too loudly, jukeboxes with local music, and free red beans on Mondays. I think “mixologists” are better suited to chemistry laboratories than barrooms.
LENNIE: Bj’s in the bywater
What are your encouraging words for the New Orleans creative class?
DAVID: We own this town (and the world), no matter what they say. The aristocrats and theocrats will tell you otherwise, but its artists that run the planet. The rest is no more real than a game of Risk.
TED: You’re living in a time where creative people have unprecedented access to magnificent tools for creative expression, and worldwide content distribution is feasible for nearly anyone. New Orleans provides a supportive environment for cultural economy workers. If you are passionate about creating, there has never been a better time or place to make it happen.
What is the best movie you’ve seen recently?
LENNIE: Smoke Signals and I re-watched The 36 Chambers
DAVID: I just saw ‘A Clockwork Orange’ for the first time. Yeah yeah yeah, I know
Is there a Youtube video that you think is epic?
JASON: After watching this video you’ll be responding to people in this manner. Aloud? Probably not. But you’ll be tempted. The quality isn’t the best but the message is still as potent.
LENNIE: Magical bones: the sleight of dance
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For more info visit: http://www.fosterbearfilms.com/
