Casey Beck Tulane University School of Liberal Arts

Casey Beck

Professor of Practice
Program Director, Digital Media Practices

Biography

Casey Beck is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer, and photographer. Her debut short film Mongolia: Land Without Fences premiered online on FRONTLINE/World in 2007. After completing a Fulbright scholarship in Argentina, she was the First Unit Director of Ballplayer: Pelotero, a New York Times’ Critics Pick. In addition to the feature film, Casey worked on a groundbreaking series for Global Post while in the Dominican Republic. She was a recent finalist for the KQED Homemade Film Festival and has produced films for NowThis, MTV, and The Documentary Channel (Pivot). Casey premiered her feature documentary directorial debut The Organic Life at the 36th Mill Valley Film Festival in 2013. The film won Best Documentary Feature at the Santa Cruz Film Festival and was broadcast online on Hulu, FoodMattersTV, Amazon, and iTunes. Beck screened her short film Shades at the Academy Award qualifying festival Cinequest 2019 and another documentary short, Legion, in 2020. Her two films about water contamination, Downstream (2018) and The Great Divide (2020), have won numerous awards and screened around the globe. The films were published in tandem with investigative journalistic pieces by the Investigative Reporting Workshop and YaleE360. With the support of the Pulitzer Center, she is currently developing a series of short films for Public Health Watch about the intersection of environmental issues and race.

Casey Beck Selected Filmography with Work Samples

Still image from Smells Like (2022)

Smells Like (2022), Red Dragon, BMD Pocket 4k
https://publichealthwatch.org/2022/06/02/smells-like-harris-county-texas-pollution-refineries/

17 minutes, Director/Cinematographer
Published in partnership with Public Health Watch, Investigative Reporting Workshop, and the Pulitzer Center

The Great Divide(2020)

The Great Divide (2020), Black Magic Design Ursa Mini Pro, Pocket 4k
https://vimeo.com/417389014

19 minutes, Director/Editor/Cinematographer
Yale Environment 360 Video Contest, 3rd Place (2020), Wild & Scenic Film Festival (2021), Eugene Environmental Film Festival (2020), FOLCS International Short Film Competition, Finalist (2021), Cinema Verde - Honorable Mention

Lion on the Mat (2020)

Lion on the Mat (2020), Varicam LT
http://liononthemat.com/

16 minutes, Cinematographer
Cinequest - Best Documentary Short (2021), Maryland Film Festival (2021), Reality Bytes Film Festival - Best Documentary Short (2021), Mountainfilm (2021), Santa Barbara International Film Festival (2021)

Legion (2019), Canon C-100

Legion (2019), Canon C-100
https://vimeo.com/306597113

6 minutes, Director/Cinematographer/Editor
Cinequest (2020) SF DocFest (2019) Dumbo Film Festival (2019) Buenos Aires Film Festival (2019)

Shades (2018), Canon C-300

Shades (2018), Canon C-300
https://vimeo.com/267040708

5 minutes, Director/Editor/Cinematographer
Cinequest (2019) Bravemaker (2019) Film Shortage (2018)

Sunday Dinner (2017)

Sunday Dinner (2017), Mandarin/Cantonese with English sub-titles Canon 5D Mk II
https://vimeo.com/206502543

15 minutes, Director/Cinematographer
CAAMFest (Center for Asian American Media) 2017, Xfinity Streampix digital channel (2017), Feedback Film Festival (2018) Tasted: Chinese Culture, 2018 – (Chinatown Community Development Center)/Museum exhibit in San Francisco

The Organic Life (2013)

The Organic Life (2013), Panasonic GH-2, Canon 5D Mk II
https://vimeo.com/81688629
60 minutes, Director/Producer/Cinematographer

Invoking the Pause (environmental action fund), 2013, 2014
Mill Valley Film Festival, 2013, Active Cinema Circle
Santa Cruz International Film Festival, 2013, Best Documentary
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, 2014
Oakland International Film Festival, 2014
Sonoma International Film Festival, 2014
Foodie Film Festival, British Colombia, Canada, 2014
Flatirons Food Film Festival, 2014
PivotTV (The Documentary Channel), 2014
Hulu, 2014
Food First, 2014
Frozen River Film Festival, 2015
FoodMattersTV, 2015
EcoFarm, Premiere National Organic Farm Conference, 2015
Mendocino Film Festival, Cinema in the Vineyard, 2016
Up! Up! Farm Film Festival, 2016
G3 Conference, Sonoma, 2016
NOFA-NY, 2016

 Pelotero (2011)

Ballplayer: Pelotero (2011), Panasonic HVX200
https://www.amazon.com/Ballplayer-Pelotero-John-Leguizamo/dp/B008FRI4JE

77 minutes, First Unit Director/Camera
New York Times Critics’ Pick, 2012
Cleveland Film Festival, 2011
Hamptons Film Festival, 2011
Miami International Film Festival, 2012
Sarasota Film Festival, 2012
Independent Film Festival Boston, 2012
Netflix, 2012
Amazon Prime, 2015