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The Keeper

Cantankerous, charismatic and passionately committed, this river keeper -- John Lipscomb -- reflects on his 25 years patrolling the Hudson River, traveling more than 80,000 miles, by wooden boat.

Like rivers around the world, the Hudson -- America's First River and the Birthplace of the American Environmental Movement -- boomed as a growing human population used it for transportation, sustenance and for many years a dumping ground.

The river paid a price for all this use and abuse, struggling against its share of contamination. For the past nearly three decades the river's poet laureate and literal "eyes on the river," Captain John, has been at the forefront of each of those fights, taking on industrial and human pollution, suffering the losses and celebrating victories.

While he has had successes on the Hudson, committing a life to protecting a river is a never-ending fight. This "Keeper's" example continues to motivate and inspire; today there are more than 300 "keepers" who make up the global Waterkeeper Alliance.

  • JON BOWERMASTER
    Director
    OCEANS 8 FILMS: "Ghost Fleet," "Dear President Obama," "After the Spill," "Paradisse is There"
  • JON BOWERMASTER
    Writer
    "Dear Presoident Obama," "After the Spill," "Antarctica on the Edge, 3D"
  • CHRIS RAHM
    Writer
  • CAROLYN MARKS BLACKWOOD
    Producer
    MAGNOLIA MAE FILMS: "Philomena," "The Dig," "The Duchess," "Thirteen Lives," "The White Crow" ++++
  • GABRIELLE TANA
    Producer
    MAGNOLIA MAE FILMS: "Philomena," "The Duchess," "The Dig", "The White Crow" +++
  • John Lipscomb
    Key Cast
  • BEN ZEBELMAN
    Composer
  • LIZZY MCGLYNN
    Archival Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 15, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    350,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • PREMIERE (film completed mid-July 2025)

    TBD
Director Biography - JON BOWERMASTER

JON BOWERMASTER
Writer, filmmaker and adventurer, Jon is a six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council. One of the Society’s ‘Ocean Heroes,’ his first assignment for National Geographic Magazine was documenting a 3,741 mile crossing of Antarctica by dogsled.
Jon has written eleven books and produced/directed more than thirty documentary films. His feature documentaries include ‘Dear President Obama,’ ‘Antarctica, on the Edge,’ ‘After the Spill’ and ‘Ghost Fleet.’ (oceans8films.com)
His National Geographic-sponsored Oceans 8 project took him and his teams around the world by sea kayak over the course of ten years (1999-2008), bringing back stories from the Aleutian Islands to French Polynesia, Gabon to Tasmania, and more, reporting on how the planet’s one ocean and its various coastlines are faring in today’s busy world.
Jon lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. He is the President of the One Ocean Media Foundation, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Adventure Science, a member of Riverkeeper’s Leadership Council, a Creative Affiliate of The Safina Center and a Fellow at The Explorers Club.
For the past several years, Jon and his One Ocean Media Foundation / Oceans 8 Films team have focused on a series of short films (Hudson River Stories) about the environmental risks to, and hopes for the Hudson River Valley, the birthplace of the American environmental movement. (hudsonriverstories.com). His work locally has been recognized by Scenic Hudson, Riverkeeper, the Hudson River Maritime Museum and more.
Jon is a Visiting Lecturer at Bard College, in the Environment and Urban Studies Department; tune into his weekly radio show/podcast, ‘The Green Radio Hour with Jon Bowermaster,’ at radiokingston.org.

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Director Statement

I've made more than thirty documentaries, on seven continents, each with an environmental back drop. For the past dozen+ years I've focused on telling stories in my own back yard, New York's Hudson Valley, proving to myself -- and others -- that you don't have to travel halfway around the world to find good stories, especially good environmental stories. "The Keeper" is a highlight of that series, though not the last!