Yalies on Yalies taking on Broadway

On Broadway: A New Haven Streetscape, a 35-minute documentary by Elihu Rubin, SY '99, and Elena Oxman, MC '99, is an investigation into the forces that drive our changing urban landscape. The film will premier at York Square Cinema this Sat., Apr. 1 at 12 p.m. and Sun., Apr. 2 at 4 p.m.

The Yale Herald: What drew you to this par-ticular project? What was the inspiration?

Elihu Rubin: We spent the summer making a video about a mobile park home called Ryder Park in Milford, Conn. We examined cultural history to tell the story about a trailer park in danger. We enjoy making videos that reflect themes ofthe ever-evolving American lifestyle.

KATHERINE ALDRICH/YH Only 28 more hours to edit.

Elena Oxman: We have an interest in telling stories through film about how America is changing. We envisioned a Charles Kurault-like TV show and took our idea to Carol Scully, the director of the Yale Digital Center for Media Arts, who liked the idea and gave us Emerging Artist Fellowships.

YH: What process did you go through in making this film?

ER: We started in mid-October, homeless and trying to figure out how to make our next production. We came up with the idea to do something about Broadway redevelopment. The true story emerged through the editing process as we filtered through 30 hours of footage—we decided what the film was about as it came together.

YH: How did you extend what you learned about Broadway to a wider investigation of the changing landscape of the United States?

ER: We did it thorough getting shopkeepers to talk beyond their own store about changes, creating a true portrait of the small businessman. In the documentary, Phil Cutler, the owner of Cutler's, talks of the wider implications of Broadway's redevelopment and the fact that places are losing their flavor because people simply aren't shopping there anymore. It is about trying to communicate in the future, when generations won't have a concept of something like family businesses.

EO: We interviewed commentators such as Alan Plattus and Vincent Scully [JE '40, GRD '49] of the Architecture School and Mayor John DeStefano, and a few urban planners to try to understand the trends that make small stores less viable—trends such as suburbanization and malls that make it hard for stores to support themselves on their own. Our creation, American Beat Productions, tries to define our generation in relation to the older order that came before us. We are nostalgic for the Cutler's sign, but we also like to shop at the Gap—we're being pulled in both directions, and we want to figure out why the old order is going away.

ER: It wasn't too long ago that every store was local. Some people may be nostalgic for towns, but something in the American spirit enjoys driving to Super K-Mart and getting everything for the best price.

YH: I talked to Rick Beckwith, the owner of the Yankee Doodle, and he is quite against Yale's Broadway redevelopment. What do you think of Yale's activities?

EO: Yale has the best intentions, and Bruce Alexander, BK '65, has made a lot of successful developments, like in Boston and in South Street Seaport in New York. The redevelopment will make Broadway more of a vibrant place at night, something small businesses simply can't do.

ER: It's about coming to grips with the fact that much-maligned chain stores are popular. You may say, "I hate Gap and Starbucks," but they're still wildly successful and people like them.

YH: Did you encounter any surprises in the making of the documentary?

EO: Mason Whitlock, the owner of Whitlock's Typewriter Shop and the oldest merchant on the block, says that it's just change, it just happens. He really shot down the idea that it's terrible—in 100 years, things will be totally different. The film is more contemplative than we thought it would be.

YH: Why should people see this film?

EO: There's something captivating about dramatizing everyday lives—it's fascinating to see Phil Cutler, someone everybody knows, telling it like it is.

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