Andrea James

Whirlybird

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Soaring above the chaotic spectacle of ‘80s and ‘90s Los Angeles, a young couple revolutionized breaking news with their brazen helicopter reporting. Culled from this news duo’s sprawling video archive is a poignant L.A. story of a family in turbulence hovering over a city unhinged.

Zoey Tur and Marika Gerrard revolutionized news media with their aerial reporting of Los Angeles – and in doing so, defined our recorded memory of the city. Their unmatched eye-in-the-sky video archive captures the spectacle of 1990s L.A. while revealing their own personal complexities. This documentary film weaves intimate interviews with a stunning archive, illustrating a family as fascinating as the city they flew above.

Director

  • Matt Yoka

Featuring

  • Zoey Tur
  • Marika Gerrard
  • Katy Tur
  • Jamie Tur
  • Larry Welk

Story

  • Story Supervisor: Barry Poltermann
  • Story Consultant: Andrea James

Music

  • Ty Segall

Cinematography

  • Edward Herrera

Editorial

  • Editor: Brian Palmer
  • Co-Editor: Matt Yoka
  • Additional editors: Erin Elders, Jack Price

Post-production

  • Colorist: Luke Cahill
  • Supervising Sound Editor: Jonathan Greber
  • Re-recording Mixer: Pete Horner

Production team

  • Producers: Diane Becker, Matt Yoka
  • Executive Producers: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Josh Braun, Elaine Frontain Bryant, Rob Sharenow, Molly Thompson
  • Co-Executive Producers: Melanie Miller
  • Co-Producers: Steve Holmgren, Greg Lanesy, Matt Radecki
  • Associate Producers: Carolyne Jurriaans, Christine Kecher
  • Archive producer: Ben Piner
  • Fishbowl Films
  • Different by Design (in association with)
  • Steady Orbits (in association with)
  • Submarine Entertainment (in association with)
  • World of Wonder (in association with)
  • September Club (Editorial)
  • Skywalker Sound (post-production sound services)
  • SmithDehn India (production counsel)
  • SmithDehn (production counsel)

World Premiere: Sundance 2020

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whirlybird: still from the 2020 documentary

See also

Resources