Skip to main content

🎬 The 28th Annual Sarasota Film Festival is coming April 10–19, 2026  |  🎟 Buy 2026 Passes 

2020 Sarasota Film Festival

Whirlybird

• USA• English

About this film

Flying high above Los Angeles in a whirling news helicopter, Marika Gerrard and Zoey Tur (known then as Bob) captured some of the city’s most epic breaking news stories. The two recount the salacious details of their career as a husband-and-wife journalist team doing whatever it took to catch an unfolding story. Their camera captured the extreme adrenaline of the culture of live news and, as a result, the strain it took on their relationship—and, ultimately, a major life transition for Zoey. A wholly unique take on the story of Los Angeles told through stunning aerial footage and remarkable home videos, Whirlybird reframes many of the city’s pivotal moments of the 1990s, including the O. J. Simpson pursuit and the 1992 riots.

Credits

Director
Matt Yoka
Producer
Diane Becker, Matt Yoka
Screenwriter
Andrea James
Main SlateDocumentary (Feature)LGBTQ
Whirlybird
Whirlybird — production still