>>> OYSTERS, WE LOVE TO EAT

THEM, WE DON'T NECESSARILY LOVE

TO SCHUCH THEM.

THIS SHELL FISH IS MORE THAN A

GASTRONOMIC TREAT.

HERE IN NEW YORK, OYSTER BEDS

ONCE THRIVED AND KEPT NEW YORK

CLEAN.

WHEN HENRY HUDSON ARRIVED.

THEY WERE APPROXIMATELY 350

MILES OF OYSTER REEFS IN OUR

WATERS.

THE BEDS STARTED DYING OUT DUE

TO POLLUTION AND OVER FISHING.

NOW AN UNPRECEDENTED PROGRAM HAS

AN AMBITIOUS GOAL TO RESTORE NEW

YORK HARBOR'S OYSTER POPULATION

TO ITS ONCE GLORIOUS PAST.

THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

WILL LOOK AT A NEW FILM CALLED

TAKE BACK THE HARBOR.

A TEACHER'S CONSERVATION IN

LEADERSHIP OF THE WATERWAYS.

ALONGSIDE SUBJECTS LIKE MATH AND

ENGLISH.

>> HE'S THE BILLION OYSTER

PROJECT.

>> PEOPLE ARE AUTOMATICALLY

LIKE, OH, WHAT'S THAT.

♪

>> OYSTERS ARE GOOD FOR THE

HARBOR, THEY FILTER GALLONS AND

GALLONS OF POLLUTANTS.

>> WE JUST GOT OUT INTO THE

HARBOR, GOT A BUCKET AND PUT 20

OYSTERS IN IT, WITHIN 2 HOURS IT

WAS CLEARER THAN IT WAS TO BEGIN

WITH.

BY THE NEXT DAY IT LOOKED LIKE

REGULAR WATER.

OYSTERS DEFINITELY HELP,

DEFINITELY.

>> HERE TO TELL US MORE IS THE

FILM'S AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR,

CHRISTIE JACOBSON AND BRIAN KAMM

BELL.

>> THAT'S GREAT TO BE HERE.

THANK YOU.

>> IT'S A GREAT FILM, THIS IS AN

INTERESTING STORY, CHRIS, I'M

GOING TO START WITH YOU, YOU'VE

HAD SUCH GREAT SUCCESS.

THE QUESTION IS, WHAT DREW YOU

TO THIS SUBJECT FOR A FILM?

>> WELL, YOU KNOW, MY CODIRECTOR

ROGER ROSS WILLIAMS AND I HAVE

JUST BOTH COMPLETED KIND OF EPIC

FILMS AND WE SHARED A PRODUCER

IN JULIE GOLDMAN, WE WERE

TALKING ABOUT TRYING TO LOOK

FORWARD.

THIS WAS IN 2016 WHEN THE U.S.

WAS CHANGING.

AND AN EXECUTIVE AT DISCOVERY

HEARD ON NPR P.M. WHEN I LEARNED

ABOUT IT, I WAS LIKE, OKAY, A

BUNCH OF KIDS IN NEW YORK CITY

ARE GOING TO GET 35 -- I MEAN, 1

BILLION OYSTERS IN NEW YORK

HARBOR BY 2035.

THAT SOUNDS OUTRAGEOUS AND

IMPOSSIBLE.

THIS IS A DIRTY WATERWAY.

WE WERE KIND OF INTRIGUED.

AND ONCE WE LANDED ON GOVERNOR'S

ISLAND AND MET AMONG THE MANY

STUDENTS WE MET.

ON OUR FIRST VISIT WAS BRIAN.

AND IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT THE

PASSION OF THESE KIDS WAS LIKE

SOMETHING WE NEEDED TO TRY TO

CAPTURE AND SHARE WITH THE

WORLD.

>> LET ME ASK YOU ABOUT THE

SCHOOL.

IT'S SPECIAL AND DIFFERENT.

NEW YORK HAS THESE SPECIALIZED

SCHOOLS, I SUSPECT PEOPLE

HAVEN'T HEARD OF YOURS.

TELL ME ABOUT IT.

>> BASICALLY, NEW YORK HARBOR

SCHOOL, IS BASED ON THE MARINE

INDUSTRY.

WE FOCUS ON A BILLION OYSTERS AS

YOU KNOW.

THE FIRST YEAR, YOU GET TO FILL

OUT ROTC PROGRAMS.

IT'S SEVEN NOW, IT WAS SIX WHEN

WE STARTED.

THE SIX ARE AGRICULTURE, MARINE,

BIO, SCUBA MSC AND OCEAN

ENGINEERING.

WE HAVE A PART IN THE PROJECT.

>> YOU'RE DOING THAT, AND YOU'RE

ALSO TAKING AS I MENTIONED, YOUR

TRADITIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

SUBJECTS?

>> YEAH, SO MATH, ENGLISH,

HISTORY.

SCIENCE.

>> YOU'RE A BUSY GUY?

>> DEFINITELY.

>> LET ME ASK YOU TO SHIFT FROM

YOUR ROLE AS A STUDENT FOR A

MOMENT, AND BECOME THE

PROFESSOR, THE TEACHER FOR US.

I MENTIONED IN THE INTRODUCTION

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OYSTERS.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THEM

THAT THEY PROVIDE TO US IN TERMS

OF OUR SOCIETY AND OUR CULTURE

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OUR

ENVIRONMENT.

>> I DIDN'T KNOW THEY FILTERED

WATER, NOW BEING INVOLVED WITH

THEM, I KNOW THEY FILTER 50

GALLONS A DAY, IF YOU HAVE A

BILLION OF THEM, IMAGINE HOW

FAST YOU CAN FILTER OUT THE

HARBOR.

>> TELL US ABOUT HOW YOU DECIDED

YOU WERE GOING TO FILM THIS?

>> YEAH, SO IT WAS A CHALLENGE

FROM THE START BECAUSE IT'S AN

EXTRAORDINARY SCHOOL WITH

HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS, INCREDIBLY

PASSIONATE AND TEACHERS, AND WE

STARTED FILMING IN A COUPLE OF

THE CLASSES.

AND IT QUICKLY BECAME CLEAR THAT

IT WASN'T JUST ONE STUDENT'S

STORY THAT BRIAN IS ONE OF MANY

STUDENTS AT THE HARBOR SCHOOL

AND WE WANTED TO TELL THE STORY

OF THE STUDENTS.

YOU'RE THE FUTURE, AND YOU SEEM

TO GET MORE THAN ANYBODY THAT

THIS PLANET IS IN PERIL, AND

SOMEONE'S GOT TO DO SOMETHING

ABOUT IT, IT WAS AMAZING FOR US

TO CAPTURE YOU AT WORK.

BRIAN WAS A OPS MAJOR, HE'S

WORKING THE BOATS.

THERE WERE KIDS WORKING WITH THE

OYSTERS.

WE WANT TO ELEVATE YOU ALL AND

GET OUT OF THE WAY.

>> WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE

IDEA OF FILMING YOU AND TURNING

THIS INTO A DOCUMENTARY?

>> I ENJOYED IT AT FIRST.

I DO STILL ENJOY IT, SOMETIMES

IT WAS LIKE, YOU ARE SO FOCUSED,

IT'S HARD TO FOCUS ON WHAT YOU

WANT TO FOCUS ON.

HAVE YOU TO REALIZE, I HAVE TO

GET TO WORK.

IT WAS A CHALLENGE, ACTUALLY.

>> YOU'RE OPERATING VESSELS.

YOU HAVE TO FOCUS ON THE VESSEL

YOU'RE OPERATING.

>> IT'S A WONDERFUL FILM, AND IN

SO MANY WAYS IT'S AN ADVENTURE

FILM.

I'M GOING TO ASK YOU THE LAST

QUESTION I ASK HERE, ESPECIALLY

DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS THIS IS A

JOURNEY, AND IT WAS A YEAR LONG

JOURNEY.

YOU'RE TAKING US ON THAT

JOURNEY.

IT'S A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY FOR

US, I HAVE TO ASSUME YOU LEARNED

SOME THINGS, SOME THINGS YOU

DISCOVERED THAT MIGHT HAVE

SURPRISED YOU ALONG THE WAY.

WHEN YOU LOOK BACK ON IT, WHAT

WAS THE MOST SURPRISING ELEMENT

THAT YOU DISCOVERED.

>> I MEAN, IT WAS A JOURNEY AS

YOU SAY, AND I THINK THAT FOR ME

PERSONALLY, SORT OF A, I LIVE IN

NEW YORK CITY.

I'VE LIVED HERE FOR 20 YEARS AND

I DIDN'T FEEL AS CONNECTED TO

THE WATER AS I SHOULD.

AND ALSO JUST TO SEE THAT THE

FIVE BOROUGHS OF NEW YORK CITY

AND COMMUNITIES OF PEOPLE FROM

ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF HOMES,

SOCIOECONOMICALLY, RACIALLY,

RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY, ALL THESE

KIDS CAME TOGETHER.

AND REALLY WORKED TOGETHER TO

SOLVE THIS KIND OF EPIC PROBLEM.

I THINK THAT.

I FELT LIKE A GENUINE

INSPIRATION, LIKE I KNOW IT

SOUNDS CLICHE, BUT IT'S TRUE.

IN A SURPRISED ME, BECAUSE I

WASN'T REALLY READY TO FEEL THAT

KIND OF OPTIMISM.

>> WE FORGET WE'RE AN ISLAND IN

THIS AREA.

BUT IT'S A MARVELOUS FILM, AND

YOU GET THAT SENSE OF DISCOVERY

AND PASSION.

AND SURPRISE.

AND CERTAINLY LEARNING.

IT DOES ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU

WANT A DOCUMENTARY TO DO.

>> FABULOUS WORK YET AGAIN.

AND BRIAN.

YOU'VE GOT A FUTURE, YOU'RE AT

SUNY MARITIME RIGHT NOW, HAVE

YOU A FUTURE AS A STAR.

>> HE HAS AN EXAM THIS

AFTERNOON.

>> YOU'RE REALLY DEDICATED.

I WANT TO THANK YOU BOTH.

PLEASURE TO SPEND SOME TIME

TALKING WITH YOU.

>> TAKE BACK THE HARBOR AIRS ON

THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL DECEMBER

18th AT 8:00 P.M.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT OUR

WEBSITE AT METROFOCUS.ORG.