Videographer developing Long Beach documentary

Robert Rothman’s “History of Long Beach NY” is a 10-minute YouTube video of then-and-now photos of city scenes spanning several decades: Long Beach’s first house and school, the original City Hall, the boardwalk populated by men wearing suits and hats, and the Laurel movie theater with a marquee that reads “Taxi Driver” and “Murder by Death.”

Rothman obtained the vintages photos from the Long Beach Library and Ilovelbny.com, the Web site of a city native now living in North Carolina, to create his video in 2007, and for the past two years he’s been tapping the same resources to develop a documentary he hopes to release next year.

He’s also working with the Long Beach Historical Society to learn more about the city’s history as he gathers and organizes the photos, edits his own video footage, mixes the accompanying music and records voiceovers. His plan is to emerge with at least a 30-minute documentary of Long Beach, from the early 1900s to today. When completed, hopefully by spring 2011, he’ll look to shop it to various media outlets, from Channel 12 to PBS.

“Long Beach is a very special town,” Rothman said. “It’s the town where I grew up and love so much, and I want to give back for all the joy it’s given me. And I want to convey that in this documentary.” 

Rothman’s own history in Long Beach started in 1975, when his family moved to the city from his native Los Angeles. “I guess I have movie-making in my blood,” he said with a laugh.  

Today, Rothman is contractor and graphical artist who has long been interested in film and film editing, but only got started when he bought an iMac and dabbled with movie-making on the iMovie program. Initially he made videos of weddings and other ceremonies for friends and family; then he turned to sports videos. A devout Jets fan, Rothman made a video called “Greatest New York Jets Video Ever” and posted it on YouTube, where it has generated 53,500 views. Rothman is equally enthusiastic about Kiss and created an animated video of the rock band, with some 6,000 views.