Meet the team
Clarence Eckerson Jr. is the Director of Video Production for Streetfilms. He’s been documenting advocacy transportation for over ten years and been referred to as “The hardest working man in transportation show biz” for his dedication to make difficult concepts more accessible and entertaining to the general public. He’s shot and edited over 100 Streetfilms on an eclectic array of topics.
With no formal video training or education in an urban planning field, Clarence attributes much of his accumulated knowledge to never holding a driver’s license. Much as Jane Jacobs channeled her instincts, Clarence was always observant while riding a bike, walking or taking transit for commuting and mobility. Realizing the car was given an unfair advantage in thick, pedestrian cities like NYC - where accommodation of the car intrudes on people’s enjoyment of daily life - he wanted to do something about it.
He began volunteering at Transportation Alternatives in 1997 and soon became the head of their Brooklyn Committee campaign. In an effort to inform and cajole more people into riding bikes, he relinquished the post after two years to develop a cable program called bikeTV in 2001. That experience led to eventually being hired by Mark Gorton in 2004 to produce mini documentaries of on street conditions in NYC.
99% of all footage he shoots has been by bike, foot, train, or bus, which gives his filmmaking a real, in-the-moment feel. Recently, NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan suggested he was the “Great Translator”, a term he considers a sort of knighthood.
Selected Streetfilms works:
- Bogota’s Ciclovia
- Melbourne: A Pedestrian Paradise
- Transformation of Madison Square
- The Search for the Zozo
- PARKing Day 2008 NYC
Elizabeth Press is a media maker. She joined Streetfilms in 2007 to focus her video work on advocating for better biking, walking and mass transit. Elizabeth received her MFA in Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a focus in community media. She produced for the independent TV/Radio program, Democracy Now, edited for Worldfocus on PBS and freelanced for Grit TV with Laura Flanders. Her videos have screened in festivals all over the world, including a grassroots organized tour with her documentary, “Still We Ride”.
Selected Streetfilms works:
- Rethinking Streets in Paris
- Bike vs. Car vs. Transit
- Velib
- Chicane-Animated Traffic Calming
- Hudson River Crossings
Robin Urban Smith joined Streetfilms as an Associate after she impressed us as an intern during in the summer of 2008, bringing with her a commitment to sustainable planning and transportation. She holds a BA from the University of Vermont, where she first began to use video as a social and environmental advocacy tool. She loves all modes of non-motorized transportation and the stories and images they evoke.
Selected Streetfilms Works:
