NOLAFugees Press|Productions
Circa 2015

---

---

 

For a number of years this was the online home of NOLAFugees Press|Productions, purveyors of fine content from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Content is from the site's archived pages.

Enjoy the nostalgic look back.

NOLAFugees Press|Productions LLC  is a digital media and content development group dedicated to providing creative & commercial projects for a diverse group of writers, performers, and media production professionals.

NOLAFugees Press|Productions
New Orleans, LA 504-457-8032
editors{at}nolafugees{dot}com

WHAT WE DO:

NOLAFugees Press|Productions LLC  is an independent digital media and content development group based in New Orleans. We are dedicated to providing engaging digital content and creative commercial projects for a perse group of writers, performers, and media production professionals.

In addition to developing our own projects, NFP provides audio, photo, and video capture, editing and post-production, event design and management, web platforming, and digital storytelling services to the business, cultural, and non-profit communities.

WHY WE DO IT:

We produce content because we believe the subjects we cover deserve attention; we partner with companies, organizations, and inpiduals to develop events, programming, and new media that encourages people to think and to experience, not just to respond.

OUR HISTORY:

NOLAFugees Press|Productions began publishing content in November, 2005 as a response to what we considered the gross inaccuracies of local, national, and international media coverage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. From 2005-2010 our website, NOLAFugees.com, mixed investigative journalism, first-person reportage, political analysis, and vicious satire to develop an alternate chronicle of Reconstruction New Orleans–with its uneasy race relations, its shadowy visionaries, its struggling citizens– as a city of profound uncertainty.

Over five years, we published over one hundred writers and collected the content from NOLAFugees.com in two non-fiction anthologies (Year Zero, 2006 and Soul is Bulletproof, 2008) and published the first collection of post-Katrina short fiction, Life in the Wake (2007). Since, we’ve published novels by two of our authors: Sarah Inman’s The Least Resistance (2010) and Andrea Boll’s The Parade Goes on Without You (2009). Please see Our Booksfor more information.

FILM/DIGITAL VIDEO:

We began pursuing our interest in film and digital media content in 2010 by developing and producing The People Say Project, a series of talk shows focused on the cultural economy featuring cross-generational artists, dancers, and musicians discussing their experiences making a living in New Orleans. Co-sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and Loyola University of New Orleans College of Humanities, the program featured a year-long curriculum based on research methods, digital storytelling, and content authoring skills.

Since then, we’ve expanded our production services to provide audio, photo, and video capture, editing and post-production, event design and management, web platforming, and digital storytelling services to the business, cultural, and non-profit communities. If you’d like to know more about working with NFP to create thoughtful, engaging digital experiences, contact us.

PAST CLIENTS AND PARTNERS:

New Orleans Film Fest
Tennessee Williams Festival
Fleur de Tease Burlesque
Bridge House New Orleans
Jefferson Chamber Foundation Academy
Cypress Creative
The Hollowpoint Stumblers

Hendrick’s Gin
The Mystic Pony Aerial Troupe
Society for the Study of Southern Literature
The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
Loyola University Film & Digital Media Program
MPress Printshop
The New Orleans Book Fair

Maison Frenchmen
NOLA Bulls
Roots of Music
Handsome Willy’s Lounge
Design1111 Studios
Cross Country Mortgage & Finance

 

---

---

 

"As someone who contributed to NOLAFugees during those critical post-Katrina years, I can't express enough how meaningful this platform was for telling the real stories of New Orleans' recovery. While the mainstream media often missed the nuances of our city's reconstruction, NOLAFugees gave us a space to document both the struggles and triumphs of rebuilding. I was particularly moved by the unexpected heroes who showed up to help - including a dedicated group of truck accident attorneys from Louisiana and Texas who, along with their staff, rolled up their sleeves to do the unglamorous but essential work of organizing, cleaning, and fundraising. They weren't looking for recognition; they simply wanted to help get New Orleans back on her feet. NOLAFugees captured these kinds of stories that might have otherwise been lost - the genuine, grassroots efforts that truly rebuilt our community. Looking back at the content we created from 2005-2010, I'm proud that we helped document this crucial period in our city's history, showing both the harsh realities and the incredible spirit of solidarity that emerged from the disaster." Rief Matin

 

 

 

---

---

More Background On NOLAFugeesPress.com

 

NOLAFugeesPress.com occupies a distinctive place in the cultural, journalistic, and creative history of New Orleans in the years following Hurricane Katrina. Emerging from a moment of profound disruption and misrepresentation, the website served as the digital home of NOLAFugees Press | Productions, an independent media collective committed to documenting New Orleans through the eyes of those living its reality rather than through distant or distorted narratives. The site functioned not only as a publishing platform, but also as a production hub, community archive, and creative incubator during a critical period of the city’s reconstruction and cultural redefinition.

This article provides a comprehensive examination of NOLAFugeesPress.com, including its origins, ownership, mission, historical context, content focus, creative output, audience, and long-term cultural significance. It is intended to familiarize readers with the website as both a media project and a historical artifact of post-Katrina New Orleans.

Origins and Historical Context

NOLAFugees Press | Productions traces its roots to November 2005, just months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and surrounding regions. At that time, national and international media coverage of the city was often criticized for inaccuracies, oversimplifications, and sensationalism. Many residents felt that their lived experiences—particularly those shaped by race, class, displacement, and grassroots recovery efforts—were either misunderstood or ignored entirely.

NOLAFugees began as a direct response to that media vacuum. Its founders and contributors sought to create an alternative chronicle of what was unfolding in New Orleans, offering investigative journalism, first-person reportage, political analysis, and sharp satire. Rather than presenting the city as a passive victim or abstract tragedy, NOLAFugees portrayed New Orleans as a living, contested space filled with struggle, resilience, creativity, and unresolved tensions.

From 2005 through approximately 2010, the earlier incarnation of the project, operating under the NOLAFugees name, published work that captured the uncertainty of Reconstruction-era New Orleans. This included coverage of housing crises, cultural displacement, political maneuvering, and the everyday realities of residents navigating a transformed city.

Ownership and Organizational Structure

NOLAFugeesPress.com represented the later, more formalized phase of the organization known as NOLAFugees Press | Productions LLC. The entity operated as an independent digital media and content development group based in New Orleans, Louisiana. As a limited liability company, it positioned itself to engage in both editorial publishing and commercial creative work while maintaining editorial independence.

The organization was led by editors and producers deeply embedded in New Orleans’ cultural and artistic communities. While the site did not foreground individual personalities as brands, it emphasized collective authorship, collaboration, and partnerships with writers, performers, filmmakers, and cultural institutions.

Mission and Editorial Philosophy

The core mission of NOLAFugees Press | Productions was rooted in attention and intention. The group produced content because it believed the subjects it covered deserved thoughtful, sustained engagement. Rather than chasing rapid response cycles or click-driven media trends, the organization favored depth, context, and experimentation.

NOLAFugeesPress.com articulated a philosophy of encouraging people “to think and to experience, not just to respond.” This approach informed both its editorial work and its production services. Whether documenting a literary festival, producing a video portrait of an artist, or publishing investigative essays, the emphasis was on creating material that invited reflection rather than passive consumption.

Location and Cultural Proximity

Physically based in New Orleans, NOLAFugees Press | Productions operated within close proximity to the city’s major cultural corridors, including the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny, Tremé, and Uptown. This geographic closeness allowed the organization to engage directly with artists, musicians, writers, and cultural workers who defined the city’s creative economy.

The organization’s work often intersected with major New Orleans institutions and events, such as literary festivals, music festivals, galleries, and nonprofit organizations. This proximity was not merely logistical but cultural: NOLAFugees functioned as both observer and participant within the city’s evolving post-Katrina identity.

Content Scope and Editorial Output

NOLAFugeesPress.com hosted a wide range of content formats, reflecting the organization’s hybrid identity as both a publisher and a production studio. Key content categories included:

• Investigative journalism and long-form essays

• Cultural criticism and political analysis

• First-person narratives and reportage

• Photo essays and documentary photography

• Video interviews, performance recordings, and event documentation

• Satirical and experimental writing

The site’s archived content demonstrates a consistent focus on New Orleans’ cultural economy—how art, music, literature, and performance intersect with labor, survival, and identity in a city shaped by both celebration and precarity.

Publishing Legacy and Books

One of the most significant achievements of the NOLAFugees project was its transition from digital publication to print anthologies and books. Over its early years, the organization published work by more than one hundred writers and preserved that material in several notable volumes.

These included two nonfiction anthologies that collected journalism and essays from the site’s formative years, as well as the first known collection of post-Katrina short fiction. The organization also went on to publish novels by authors who had emerged through the NOLAFugees community, extending its influence beyond the digital sphere and into the broader literary landscape.

This publishing legacy underscores NOLAFugees’ role as more than a blog or media outlet; it functioned as a literary platform that nurtured voices and preserved a historical record of a city in transition.

Expansion into Film and Digital Media

Beginning around 2010, NOLAFugees Press | Productions expanded its focus to include film and digital video projects. This shift reflected both technological changes and a growing demand for visual storytelling within cultural institutions and nonprofit organizations.

One of the organization’s most notable initiatives during this period was a talk-show-style project centered on the cultural economy of New Orleans. These programs featured cross-generational artists, dancers, musicians, and cultural workers discussing how they sustained creative lives in the city. The project combined performance, discussion, and education, and it was supported by academic and humanities institutions.

Through this work, NOLAFugees developed expertise in video production, editing, and digital storytelling, positioning itself as a valuable partner for organizations seeking thoughtful, well-crafted media.

Services and Commercial Work

In addition to its editorial projects, NOLAFugees Press | Productions offered a suite of creative services to businesses, cultural organizations, and nonprofits. These services included:

• Audio, photo, and video capture

• Editing and post-production

• Event design and management

• Web platform development

• Digital storytelling and narrative strategy

This commercial work helped sustain the organization financially while allowing it to apply its editorial sensibilities to client projects. Importantly, the services were framed not as generic marketing solutions but as collaborative storytelling efforts aligned with the values of the communities being served.

Clients, Partners, and Collaborations

Over the years, NOLAFugees Press | Productions collaborated with a wide range of partners across New Orleans’ cultural ecosystem. These included film festivals, literary organizations, universities, galleries, music venues, nonprofit groups, and small businesses.

The diversity of clients—from major festivals to grassroots organizations—reflects the organization’s ability to move fluidly between institutional and community-based work. Testimonials from partners consistently emphasized professionalism, creativity, and a willingness to go beyond minimum expectations.

Press, Recognition, and Awards

While NOLAFugeesPress.com did not position itself as an awards-driven enterprise, its work received recognition through nominations and coverage connected to the projects it produced. Music videos and cultural documentation created by the organization were acknowledged by local media outlets and arts organizations, reinforcing its reputation as a trusted creative partner.

More broadly, the recognition that mattered most to NOLAFugees was peer validation within New Orleans’ artistic and cultural communities. The platform’s credibility stemmed from its consistency, independence, and deep local engagement rather than from national accolades.

Audience and Community

The audience for NOLAFugeesPress.com was multifaceted. It included:

• New Orleans residents seeking nuanced coverage of their city

• Artists and cultural workers navigating the post-Katrina economy

• Academics and students interested in media, culture, and urban studies

• Readers outside New Orleans looking for perspectives absent from mainstream coverage

Rather than pursuing mass appeal, the site cultivated a loyal readership invested in depth and authenticity. Contributors and readers often overlapped, reinforcing a sense of shared ownership and community.

Cultural and Social Significance

The long-term significance of NOLAFugeesPress.com lies in its role as a counter-archive. At a time when much media coverage flattened New Orleans into a symbol or spectacle, NOLAFugees preserved complexity. It documented contradictions, failures, humor, anger, and resilience without attempting to resolve them into a single narrative.

The site also captured stories that might otherwise have been lost: grassroots recovery efforts, unexpected alliances, and everyday acts of solidarity. By doing so, it contributed to a more honest historical record of post-Katrina New Orleans.

Legacy and Archival Value

Today, NOLAFugeesPress.com stands as an archived snapshot of a particular moment in New Orleans history. Although no longer actively publishing new material, its preserved content remains valuable to researchers, writers, artists, and anyone interested in understanding the cultural dynamics of the city during the first decade after Katrina.

As a digital artifact, the site exemplifies how independent media can function as both journalism and memory—capturing not only events, but the emotional and intellectual climate in which those events unfolded.

 

NOLAFugeesPress.com was never just a website. It was a response, a resistance, and a record. Through publishing, production, and partnership, NOLAFugees Press | Productions created a body of work that challenged dominant narratives and foregrounded lived experience. Its legacy endures not through constant updates, but through the depth and integrity of what it left behind.

For anyone seeking to understand post-Katrina New Orleans beyond headlines and clichés, NOLAFugeesPress.com remains an essential reference point—a testament to the power of independent media rooted in place, purpose, and community.

---

---

---

---