The Message: Humanity's Final Warning

stephen marlowe, the creator/producer of The Last First Organization and Festival, dreamed of a better world from childhood. A place where humans could live peacefully together, with all life on Earth.

The Last First Fest '23 is that dream – an attempt to connect art and music with charitable organizations focused on the better future that we all want.

This is not stephen’s first festival. In 2000, he produced Seek Meek Keep Peace at the William Carlos Williams Center for the Arts, in Rutherford, NJ, his hometown. SMKP included an amazing collection of tri-state artists, poets, dancers, musicians, and bands, including a one-act play about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

The next amalgamation – The Last First Fest '20 – had to scale down last-minute, as COVID-19 closed large-event venues around the world. Still, the patron-packed room, gathered orbital artists and musicians in hope, peace and love. Four days after TLF Fest ‘20, the CDC declared a pandemic, with initial lockdowns commencing a week later.

About:
Two loving souls from New Jersey adopted stephen and his two siblings, after their births in Canada. Growing up in the suburb of Rutherford simultaneously exposed him to city life and small town ways. The hamlet’s “dry-town” distinction, access to trains to New York City, and first-rate school system gave stephen the education and tools he needed to succeed.

After graduating high school, he studied computer science and English at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and later earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from Kean University in New Jersey.

Post-undergrad, Stephen wrote for the local weekly paper. This led to a 10-year journalism career, culminating as an investigative reporter for The Record of Bergen County..

With aspirations of hosting the nightly news and becoming the next Peter Jennings, stephen lept into television and quickly discovered his passion lay behind the camera. Over his 30-year career as a freelance camera and jib operator, he kept a lengthy client list, including the likes of HBO and MSNBC in the mid-'90s, until leaving CNN in January 2020. stephen still freelances, while focusing his attention on self-produced projects. He finished his third documentary “The Message: Humanity's Final Warning” in February 2020, and has three more in development.

Throughout his life, Stephen served as an ardent activist, advocate, and volunteer for myriad causes, including environment, social justice, and equal rights. He has volunteered in various roles – ranging from homeless outreach, soup kitchen cook, to cleanup efforts with the Passaic River Coalition. He currently assists the local food pantry with labor and distribution, and has been a longtime member of NJ Peace Action, recently joining their Political activism Committee.

When not working to make a difference for our collective future, stephen enjoys skateboarding, snowboarding, playing drums, writing, painting, meeting people, and protesting. His goal remains to attempt to make a positive impact and tell more engaging stories.