Treme: Season1

Culturalreference:MardiGrasIndians

• Thereareabout38currentlyactiveMGIndiantribes– Beganparadinginmid-19th century,maybeearlier

• Earlyhistoryisshroudedinmysteryandfolklore• SuitsinfluencedbyNativeAmericanceremonialapparel

– CriticallyimportantpartofworkingclassAfrican-AmericanNOLAculture• Almostexclusivelymale,tribesrangeinsizefromabout6to36members

– Suitsaresownbyhandbymembers,withanewonecreatedeachyear• Costthousandsofdollarsinmaterials,andcanweighupto100pounds

Culturalreference:MardiGrasIndians

• Traditionally,IndiansareonlyseeninpubliconMardiGrasDay,St.Joseph’sDay(March19),andtheSundayclosesttoSt.Joseph’sDay– Untillate1960’s,theIndianparadesofteninvolvedviolenceandbloodshedbetweenthetribeswhentheymetonthestreets• TootieMontanaworkedtoendtheviolence• Today,tribesargueoverwhohasthe“prettiest”suit

– Hierarchy:Spyboy,Firstflag,Trailchief,Wildman,BigChief

Episode2:“MeetDeBoysOnTheBattlefront”

• StorybyDavidSimonandEricOvermyer• WrittenbyEricOvermyer• DirectedbyJimMcKay• Musicianguestappearancesinclude:– AllenToussaint

• Well-knownNOLAproducer,songwriter,pianist– CocoRobicheaux

• LocallyknownNOLAbluesguitaristandvocalist– TroyAndrews(aka,TromboneShorty)

• Well-knownNOLAjazzandbrassbandtrombonistandtrumpeter

DavidSimon

Aboveleft:DavidSimonin2012

Right:SimononthesetofTreme,2009

Simonresumesummary

• Journalist,author,producer,screenwriter– WorkedattheBaltimoreSun (1982-95)primarilyasapolice/crimereporter

– WrotebookHomicide:AYearontheKillingStreets (1991)whichwasthebasisoftheNBCTVseriesHomicide:LifeontheStreet(1993-99),withSimonaswriterandproducer

– Co-wrotebookTheCorner:AYearintheLifeofanInner-CityNeighborhood(1997)whichwasthebasisoftheHBOmini-seriesTheCorner(2000),withSimonasco-writer

– Creator,executiveproducer,headwriterforHBOseriesTheWire (2002-08)

• WonaMacArthur“GeniusAward”in2010

EricOvermyer

Aboveleft:EricOvermyer in2014

Right:Overmyer atNYCpremiereofTreme,2010

Overmyer resumesummary

• Writerand/orproduceronnumerousTVshows,including:– St.Elsewhere (1986-87)– Homicide:LifeontheStreet (1996-99)– Law&Order (anditsspinoffs)(2001-08)– TheWire (2006)– BoardwalkEmpire (2013)– Bosch (Amazonseries,2014-17)

• Livespart-timeinNewOrleans

JimMcKay

Aboveleft:McKayfilmingin2013

Right:McKay’sprofilepicfromIMDb(dateunknown)

McKayresumesummary

• TVandfilmdirector,writer,andproducer(1996-present),including:– GirlsTown (1996),hisfirstfeaturefilm• WontwoawardsatSundanceFilmFestival

– TheWire(2006),directorof1episode– Law&Order franchise(2006-13),13episodes– BigLove (2007-09),3episodes– TheGoodWife (2009-15),11episodes

TheSeason1ensemblecastregulars(inalphabeticalorder)

• Khandi Alexander• RobBrown• KimDickens• JohnGoodman• Michiel Huisman• MelissaLeo• LuciaMicarelli• ClarkePeters• WendellPierce• SteveZahn

Khandi AlexanderasLaDonna Batiste-Williams

RobBrownasDelmondLambreaux

(basedonreal-lifeDonaldHarrison,Jr.)

KimDickensasJanetteDesautel

Dickensresumesummary

• TVandfilmactress(1995-present,44credits),including:– Deadwood (2004-06,34episodesasJoanieStubbs)– FeartheWalkingDead(2015-17,37episodesasMadisonClark)• TwonominationsforSaturnAward(2016,2017)

– HouseofCards (2015-17,9 episodesasKateBaldwin)– Films:Hollowman (2000),TheBlindSide (2009),GoneGirl(2014)

JohnGoodmanasCreightonBernette

(quotesbasedonreal-lifeblogsbyAshleyMorris)

Goodmanresumesummary

• TVandfilmactor(1983-present,137credits),including:– Roseanne(1988-1997,221episodesasDanConner)

• Wonnumerousawards,includingaGoldenGlobein1993– TheBabe (1992)– TheBigLebowski (1998)– OBrother,WhereArtThou? (2000)– Monsters,Inc.(2001);MonstersUniversity (2013)– 10Cloverfield Lane (2016)– PatriotsDay (2016)

Michiel HuismanasSonny

MelissaLeoasToniBernette

(basedonreal-lifeMaryHowell)

LuciaMicarelliasAnnieTalarico

ClarkePetersasAlbert“BigChief”Lambreaux

WendellPierceasAntoineBatiste

SteveZahnasDavisMcAlary

(basedonreal-lifeDavisRogan)

Episode2:“MeetDeBoysOnTheBattlefront”

Let’swatch…

Episode3:“RightPlace,WrongTime”

• StorybyDavidSimonandDavidMills• WrittenbyDavidMills• DirectedbyErnestDickerson• Musicianguestappearancesinclude:– Dr.John• Nationallywell-knownNOLApianistandsongwriter

– TomMcDermott• LocallyknownjazzandR&Bpianist,originallyfromSt.Louis

DavidMills

Aboveleft:DavidMills(dateunknown)

Right:MillswithSimon(dateunknown)

Millsresumesummary

• Journalist,producer,screenwriter:– Homicide:LifeontheStreet (1994-98,wrote3episodes)– NYPDBlue (1995-97,wrote9episodes)– ER (1997-99,wrote4episodes)– TheCorner (HBOmini-series2000,wrote5episodes)

• MillswontwoEmmyAwards:OutstandingWriting;OutstandingMiniseries

– Kingpin (CreatorofNBCmini-series,2003)– TheWire (2006,wrote2episodes)

• DiedMarch30,2010ofabrainaneurysmwhiletapingaTreme episodeatCaféDuMonde

ErnestDickerson

Aboveleft:Dickersonfilmingin2013

Right:Dickerson in2014

Dickersonresumesummary

• TVandfilmdirector andcinematographer(1983-present),including:– TheBrotherFromAnotherPlanet (1984),hissecondcinematographycredit

– DoTheRightThing (1989),cinematographer– TheWire(2003-08),directorof6episodes– Dexter (2008-13),directorof9episodes– TheWalkingDead (2010-14),directorof11episodes

Episode3:“RightPlace,WrongTime”

“Ibeenintherightplace,butitmusthavebeenthewrongtime.”Let’swatch…

Culturalreference:TheWards

• 17totalwards,designatedforvoting–Mostoftheboundariesfortheoriginal11wardsweredrawnin1852,andremaintoday

– NocitycouncilrepresentationviaWardssince1912,butthewarddesignationshaveremainedpartofNOLAsocialfabric,especiallyamongAfrican-Americans

– NOLAhip-hopculturehasembracedthewarddesignationsasawayofhonoringone’sneighborhood

MapofNOLANeighborhoods

Culturalreference:MapoftheWards

Culturalreference:NationalGuardpresence

• TheNationalGuardwasbroughtintoassistwithsecurityandrecoveryefforts

• InAugust2005,27%ofLouisiana’sNGwereservinginIraq,alongwithlotsoftheirequipment

– 300NGtroopsattheSuperdomeduringthestorm– By9/1,1,500NGtroopsinNOLA;on9/2governorrequested40,000more;theactualtotalnumberdeployedwas46,838(ArmyNGandAirNG)

– LastNGtroopsleftNOLAFeb2009,althoughmajoritywerepulledinJanuary2006

Culturalreference:Creole(people)

• IntheUSatlarge,“Creole”commonlyreferstopeopleofanyracewhoaredescendantsofcolonialFrenchorSpanishLouisiana(beforetheLApurchaseof1803)

• InLouisiana,originallyitmeantpeopleofFrenchandSpanishdescentwhowereborninLA,todistinguishthemselvesfromnewlyarrivedimmigrants

• Later,itexpandedtoincludemixed-raceancestrythatincludedFrenchorSpanishbackgrounds– Often,CreolesofNewOrleansareseenashavinghighersocialstandingthannon-CreoleAfricanAmericans

Culturalreference:NewOrleanspublicschools

• Pre-Katrina,OrleansParishSchoolBoardoversaw103schoolsserving65Kstudents–Widelyrecognizedasthelowestperformingschooldistrictinthestate,withonly12schoolsshowingreasonablygoodperformanceontests

–Morethan100of128schoolbuildingsdamagedordestroyedbyKatrinaflooding

– Immediatelyafterthestorm,OPSBdeclaredtheschoolsystemwouldbeclosedindefinitely

Culturalreference:NewOrleanspublicschools

• November2005,LouisianaLegislaturetookadvantageofOPSBdeclaration– 102oftheworstperformingschoolstransferredtotheRecoverySchoolDistrict(RSD),whichhadbeenestablishedin2003toallowthestatetotakeoverfailingschools

– Mostpublicschoolsthatreopenedpost-Katrinadidsoasindependentlyadministeredpubliccharterschools• ByNov2006,halfofpre-Katrinaenrollmenthadreturnedto53schools(OPSB+RSD)

• By2015,allRSDschoolsareindependentcharterschools• Testscorespost-Katrinahaveimproved