Athens: City of Crisis and Opportunity
Posted on 09. Jun, 2010 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
The economic crisis has shaken – and continues to shake – the whole world. But how have people’s day-to-day lives been changed? How are they coping? What new things are they coming up with?
Our new series “Around the Planet” checks in with individuals from Nepal to Costa Rica, from Congo to New York, to see how they’re doing. We’re happy to kick things off with a piece from our man in Athens, Orfeas Peretzis. At a design exhibition in Athens’ old international airport, Peretzis finds hope amid the gloom of the Greek economic crisis.
http://www.vimeo.com/12434763
What Greek Crisis?
Posted on 11. May, 2010 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
While the EU and the Greek government scramble to put a cap on Greece’s financial crisis, day-to-day life hasn’t changed too much in Athens, according to filmmaker Orfeas Peretzis. There’s still a lot of money in Greece, and more importantly, a lot of yachts.
http://www.vimeo.com/11658331
Little Green Shoots: The Wine Hustler
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
When A.J. Fairbanks was studying marketing at Tulane University – where there was less wine consumed than some other, err, more flammable drinks – little did he know he’d end up in Napa Valley as the general manager for the Hyde de Villaine winery. In the late 1990s, his uncle Larry Hyde, owner of Hyde Vineyards, and his aunt’s husband Aubert de Villaine – co-owner of the Domaine de La Romanée-Conti in Burgundy – joined forces to establish HdV, and it didn’t take long for A.J. to come on board the family business. While not exactly the job of his dreams – that would be playing centerfield for the Dodgers – it came pretty close.
But life’s not all a bottle of wine. The recession has hit the wine industry, and AJ finds he has to put in overtime to compete with the innumerable other small wineries out there.
In the latest episode of “Little Green Shoots”, A.J. gives us the scoop from inside the bottle.
http://www.vimeo.com/11484488
The Fury of the Greeks
Posted on 20. Apr, 2010 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
The whole world’s been shaken by the financial crisis, but not like the Greeks. Years of big spending and lending has left the country vulnerable. Its national debt is almost half a billion dollars – which is actually larger than the whole Greek economy. And the crisis has reverberated around the world, affecting stock and bond markets and currency exchanges. With the help of the EU and the IMF, the Greek government is trying to pull things together. But has life changed for the Greeks themselves? We checked in with our man in Athens – filmmaker Orfeas Peretzis, on a break from a music video shoot on the island of Mykonos – to talk about the crisis.
http://www.vimeo.com/11083618
Little Green Shoots: The Honk Honk Man
Posted on 16. Apr, 2010 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
Children’s music and merchandise is supposed to be recession proof, but this economic crisis has hit even the kids’ pockets (or at least their parents’). We caught up with Lloyd Miller to see how business is going for his popular Brooklyn-based children’s rock group, The Deedle Deedle Dees.
“No More Good Wines!”
Posted on 26. Mar, 2010 by admin in Middle Class Crunch, Uncategorized
The restaurant business has never been easy, but when the mortgage crisis hit, fancy dining was one of the first expenses people cut back on. And in New York, where banks and insurance companies slashed their staffs and tourism dwindled, restaurateurs found themselves in a tough spot.
Bernard Ros, owner of Manhattan’s Meli Melo, has weathered the storm so far. In our latest episode of “Little Green Shoots”, we recently caught up with Bernard to learn what he did to keep his business afloat.
http://www.vimeo.com/10465456
How to Start a Restaurant
Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by admin in Economy, Middle Class Crunch
The economic crisis has caused a lot of businesses to close their doors, but it hasn’t been all bad.
Luis Morales saw an an opportunity in the crisis. With two fellow investors, he decided to open the first modern pan-Asian restaurant in San Jose, Costa Rica. Called Gan-Bei – which means “Cheers” in Chinese – the restaurant is the one place that serves fortune cookies in all of Costa Rica. So if you’re in San Jose and want to hear your fortune, go to Gan-Bei!
We recently spoke with Morales about the trials and tribulations of starting a business.
http://www.vimeo.com/9759667
Suck it, Congress!
Posted on 23. Feb, 2010 by admin in Economy, Middle Class Crunch
The Iwig family knew they’d run out of time to save their dairy – the bank was ready to foreclose, emergency funds promised by the federal government were slow in coming, and their congresswoman wasn’t returning their calls. So they played the last card they had: their community.
Check out the latest “Political Graffiti” episode, featuring the conclusion of the battle to save the Iwig family farm.
Little Green Shoots: Lottery Blues
Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
Who couldn’t use $100 million right now? With the economy in a recession, gambling could be a tempting solution to society’s woes. But according to New York lottery spokesperson Jennifer Givner, lottery ticket sales were actually down at the end of 2009. In this latest episode of Little Green Shoots (click here for previous episode on smoking), we headed to Park Slope, Brooklyn, in order to see whether people were still taking chances on the lottery.
Little Green Shoots: Up In Smoke
Posted on 04. Dec, 2009 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
New Yorkers pay more tax for cigarettes than anywhere else in the US. So, are they buying more or less in the economic downturn? We headed to the city’s Lower East Side neighborhood to learn more about people’s smoking habits. Check out the results in the latest episode of “Little Green Shoots”.