From The Ashes: The Life and Times of Tick Hall
On NJN Public Television
Sunday, August 29, at 8 pm

 Does a building have a soul? If so, can it be resurrected?

Statewide – In 1997, the historic seaside home, Tick Hall, was engulfed in fire and destroyed. After coping with the loss, its owners – talk-show host Dick Cavett and his wife, actress Carrie Nye - set about resurrecting the place from photos, memories and clues found in the ashes. New Jersey-based filmmaker Scott Morris looks at the fascinating history of this landmark house and the incredible effort of its recreation in From the Ashes: The Life and Times of Tick Hall , a one-hour program on NJN on Sunday, August 29, at 8 pm .

Built in 1883 on a remote cliff overlooking the ocean in Montauk, Long Island , Tick Hall was designed by the renowned architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White for wealthy New Yorkers. It was given the moniker ‘Tick Hall’ by one of its owners in the 1920s who picked insects off clothes and dogs every night. The house was part of the Montauk Association, a group of seven unique, beautifully crafted, shingle-style ‘cottages’ added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The loss of Tick Hall was a blow to the community and the Cavetts, who engaged a team of architects, conservators and restorers to undertake the three-year process of recreating it exactly as it was before the fire, without the benefit of the original plans. From The Ashes combines old photographs, fine cinematography and interviews with the Cavetts, local residents, historians and architects to evoke Tick Hall’s complex past, the tragic fire and aftermath, and the process of rebuilding a national treasure.

When the film premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival in 2001, in a New York Times article John Leland observed, “After September 11th, such metaphors of reconstruction have even deeper resonance… Let the healing begin.” And the East Hampton Star noted, “The film speaks to everyone who has ever lost something or someone irreplaceable. The documentary is a paean to rebirth.” Much more than a film about a restoration, From The Ashes is an elegant, informative and highly personal film about loss, healing and From The Ashes is distributed by American Public Television (aptonline.org) and presenting station Rhode Island PBS. From The Ashes was produced, directed and edited by filmmaker Scott Morris and co-written with Jennifer Brown. Photography is by Jefferson Miller, and Len Cariou is the narrator with an original score by Michael Bacon.

Scott Morris is a filmmaker with 25 years of experience producing, writing and directing independent films, documentaries, and corporate videos. His work has been shown on HBO, Showtime and PBS. As a film editor, Scott cut many broadcast programs for CBS, A&E Biography, Lifetime and Discovery Channel.

For more information on the program, visit the website at www.tickhall.com.