Treasures of Cambridge #31 Treasures of Cambridge #31

Debra Pearlman pictured in front of the vault in the former Bean Head’s Coffee House, moved to Cambridge in June of 2001 after being out of the country working on a film in Chile.

She got to know the Cambridge area after working on a number of wildlife films with local filmmaker, John Carlson. She liked the area so much she moved up to Cambridge and started a business, securing a affordable studio space above Beanheads to produce and edit films and video projects in an Avid (at the time) state-of-the-art post production facility.

She did not waste time buying a house and moving her mother, who is suffering from Parkinson’s and Lewy body Diseases, up to enjoy the peace and quite that Cambridge offers its residences. Debra has traveled all over the world (to every continent except Antarctica) and yet, she is taken by the scenic beauty of this area in a way that makes her want to live here over just about any place else. "The hills and the colors in the fall, you feel like you are walking in a Grandma Moses painting all the time. It is just stunning!"

Besides making films, Debra’s favorite things to do are either on, or in, water. She is an avid kayaker, and she loves canoeing and scuba diving, snorkeling or swimming laps in a pool, it does not matter.” She feels this is a perfect area to live to pursue those loves, with so many beautiful lakes and rives a short drive away. "I can hike with my lightweight pack canoe on my back and paddle on so many lost ponds all over New York and Vermont states."

Debra also loves to hike and camp and between the Green Mountains, the Adirondacks, the Catskills, the Berkshires and our own Taconics, "there are many opportunities to get out into the hills here".

Debra’s prop is her audio kit that she uses to record sound on film and television shoots. "The big fuzzy thing on the end of the boom pole is lovingly called a "dead dog", and helps deaden the sound of the wind rushing past the shotgun microphone when you are shooting on location in the outdoors". In addition to being a Producer, a camera operator and an award-winning editor, Debra does her share of sound recording. She loves all parts of the filmmaking process and is one of those rare individuals in the business who has experience working on most every aspect of that very demanding process.

Debra would like to be remembered as someone who never followed a normal path. "It is so much more interesting to challenge yourself, to confront the things that scare you, the things that make you really uncomfortable. To face those things and to hopefully conquer them, it just makes you feel so great, and it makes you a better person cause you realize there is nothing in life to be afraid of."

(As of this posting Debra and her sister, Robin sit and comfort their mother Bea in a hospice situation at their home. Bea is sleeping peacefully. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Pearlman family at this profoundly moving and important time. Followers of this blog have gotten to know Bea somewhat through Debra’s thread, "Cambridge Life".)