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
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