Jean-Michel Cousteau

I drove down to Santa Barbara with my co workers and employer a couple of days ago to go see Jean-Michel Cousteau.  Jean-Michel is the son of the legendary Jacques Cousteau.  We went down there because they are going to do a cross branding of Body Glove and the Cousteau name.  So I had to go get some publicity photos of the two legends themselves.  Bob Meistrell, owner and co founder of Body Glove.  Bob is a legend in the Dive industry for developing the first modern wetsuit with his twin brother, Bill.  Jean-Michel Cousteau carries on his fathers work and helps educate and preserve our reefs and oceans. We thought we were just going up there for the signing but turns out that Jean-Michel was doing a screening of a film he made about his father.  Never shown in the United States so we were the first ones to see it. They are in the process of shopping it around to see who picks it up for distribution.  Anyways it was a really good piece that he had done on his father. There is some controversy going with him and his fathers estate so they did not participate nor did they want him to do it a piece on Jacques Cousteau. 

Bob Meistrell and Jean-Michel Cousteau

Ocean Futures is his HQ. You want to read more about it you can click here.

Some of the vintage equipment and trophies.

This is a water housing for a camera.  I asked him how old it was and he said, "Ah, it's not that old.  It was made in the 50's."  His father was the first to do underwater filming and photography as far back as the late 30's and early 40's.  His father was also the first to developed dive tanks and regulators to dive underwater.  He developed them because he wanted a way to stay under water longer.

One of Jean-Michel's film editing machines he used in the early years.

Jean explaining a little bit about his father's legacy and the film he put together.

This is Jim Knowlton. He is the Associate Producer and Editor of the film.  We talked a little bit afterwards and he explained the long hours he put in editing the piece.  

It was a pretty neat little road trip and I was pleasantly entertained by the experience.