Film & Media
David Favret’s film and media focuses on artist-centered projects which honor cultural integrity. He works on projects grounded in community, identity, and legacy to help bring visibility to stories that are often underrepresented. David has helped shape narratives in film features, documentary production, and editorial collaborations with outlets such as The New Yorker, CBS News, and BBC World Service. These efforts expand public understanding of contemporary art and the Black Masking Culture of New Orleans.
Artist-Centered Storytelling
Favret’s production approach begins with listening and develops through long-term collaboration. He supports artists in sharing their stories with respect and integrity by emphasizing the cultural, historical, and personal contexts that inform their work. David Favret’s storytelling contributions reflect trust, clarity, and cultural respect, and include documentation of creative process, preservation of cultural memory, and representation of artistic legacy.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
International Arts Documentary Film
Follow the White Rabbit
Follow the White Rabbit is an international feature-length documentary directed by Daniel Thomas Turner and shot by Simon Brann Thorpe. Set for release in 2026, the film weaves together the intimate creative journeys of eight visionary artists from around the world, each driven by an uncompromising compulsion to create. Among the featured artists is Big Chief Demond Melancon of New Orleans, whose deeply rooted artistry within the Black Masking Culture offers a powerful lens on tradition, identity, and innovation. As Producer of the New Orleans segment, David Favret secured full funding for the local production and led two years of development, coordinating crew, locations, scheduling, artist interviews, and cultural advising. His work ensured the segment’s narrative and visual integrity while supporting collaboration between the London-based directors and New Orleans-based talent and institutions. The film is currently in post-production and set for release in 2026.
Documentary Feature, United Kingdom, In Post-Production, Scheduled 2026
SHORT FILM
Film in Contemporary Art Exhibition
Another Gate to Zion
Premiered in conjunction with a traveling museum exhibition of contemporary art by Big Chief Demond Melancon, Another Gate to Zion is a poetic short film created by London-based filmmakers Dan Turner and Simon Thorpe. Originally developed using select footage from the New Orleans production of the in-progress documentary Follow the White Rabbit, the film presents an abstract meditation on the themes that drive Melancon’s work: resistance and rebellion, beauty and pain, art as birthright. It has been exhibited in major museum presentations in Charleston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Princeton, serving as a cinematic extension of Melancon’s beaded visual language. David Favret served as Producer of the short film, providing strategic and production leadership from concept through delivery. David worked closely with the directors and institutional partners to produce a work that bridges contemporary art and filmmaking.
Short Film, United States, 2024 (4 minutes)
SHORT FILM
Cultural Storytelling in Fashion
Across the Canal
Directed by Tremaine Emory, Across the Canal chronicles a four-year creative collaboration between fashion designer and cultural theorist Tremaine Emory, founder of Denim Tears, and New Orleans-based artist Big Chief Demond Melancon. This short film explores the cultural and spiritual legacy of Black Masking traditions and documents the making of the Denim Tears x Levi’s® Season 4 collection. Through an intimate portrait of Melancon’s needle-and-thread artistry, the film honors ancestral memory and community-rooted creativity as central to Black identity. David supported the production as an advisor and liaison, helping connect the artist and creative team with key archival materials. He served in an associate producer-level capacity, working closely with the producer and creative team to support editorial development, artist coordination, and historical context.
Short Film, Denim Tears, United States, 2025 (21 minutes)
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Award-Winning Documentary Short
All on a Mardi Gras Day
All on a Mardi Gras Day is a documentary short that offers an intimate portrait of Big Chief Demond Melancon and his singular journey through the powerful and often misunderstood tradition of the Black Masking Culture of New Orleans. Directed by Michal Pietrzyk, the film chronicles Melancon’s meticulous needle-and-thread artistry and his spiritual connection to ancestral memory, while reflecting on the changing social fabric of New Orleans. With rare access to an artist deeply rooted in this 200-year cultural tradition, the film resonates as a compelling meditation on identity, resistance, and legacy. Premiering internationally at the Berlin International Film Festival and nationally at the Tribeca Film Festival, the film received nominations at both, ultimately earning grand prize wins at Oscar-qualifying festivals in Seattle, Rhode Island, and Australia. In 2021, it was acquired by The New Yorker and is now part of its curated documentary platform. David Favret served as a Producer on the film, providing strategic guidance, cultural consultation, and facilitating rare access to the artist and tradition that shaped the film’s core narrative.
Documentary Short, The New Yorker, United States, 2019 (24 minutes)
Editorial Media Features
David Favret has produced and supported major editorial features that elevate the Black Masking Culture of New Orleans and its connection to global contemporary art. Favret’s collaborations with artists and media outlets focus on culture and contemporary expression, resulting in stories that resonate with wide audiences.
EDITORIAL FEATURE
CBS Sunday Morning in New Orleans
New Orleans “Beadmaster” Pays Homage to Mardi Gras’ History with His Art
In a nationally broadcast segment of CBS News Sunday Morning originally broadcast on May 18, 2025, journalist Michelle Miller profiled Big Chief Demond Melancon in a feature that explored the cultural and artistic dimensions of Black Masking Culture in New Orleans. The segment took viewers inside Melancon’s home and studio, highlighting his intricate beadwork and his growing recognition in the world of contemporary art. The CBS team also traveled to the African American Museum in Philadelphia to film his solo museum exhibition, As Any Means Are Necessary. Through personal conversation and sweeping visuals, the piece offered a rare and moving portrait of a living artist whose practice bridges heritage and innovation. David Favret served in a supportive and advisory capacity to the production, providing strategic guidance and helping to shape the visual storytelling by furnishing archival photos, video, and audio materials from his media archive. These resources, combined with the production’s original footage, enabled the CBS team to craft a feature grounded in cultural depth and artistic integrity.
Editorial Television Feature, CBS News, United States, 2025 (6 minutes)
EDITORIAL FEATURE
BBC World Service Podcast
In the Studio: Demond Melancon
In 2020, internationally acclaimed artist Big Chief Demond Melancon was the focus of an episode of the BBC World Service’s award-winning podcast In The Studio, offering listeners an intimate window into his artistic process in the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras. Narrated by actor Wendell Pierce and produced by Victoria Ferran of Just Radio Ltd, the podcast reached more than 175 million global listeners and explored the cultural and spiritual dimensions of Demond’s beadwork practice. The BBC team traveled to New Orleans to record onsite interviews and soundscapes, capturing the rhythms of the artist’s studio and the heartbeat of Black Masking Culture as it lives and breathes in New Orleans. In addition to the audio feature, the project included a short video piece spotlighting the artist and his work. David Favret supported the production by coordinating in-person interviews and recording sessions, facilitating media access, and providing BBC producers with archival stills, video, and audio from his media collection. His strategic guidance helped ensure the editorial framing was both accurate and culturally grounded.
Podcast/Audio Documentary, BBC World Service, United Kingdom, 2020 (27 minutes)