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Meet Jean Pierce & Kris Newman,
Your Hosts at Grotto Bay
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| Kris and Jeanie can be found almost every day playing with their dog, Salty -- usually on the beach or in the water. |
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| Originally from California's Napa Valley, Kris & Jeanie moved to Long Island in 2002 to enjoy a delightful new lifestyle and a very friendly island community.
Kris left his profession to manage Grotto Bay and to continue working in the film industry.
Jean has had a lifelong profession in journalism. She is particularly proud of her landscaping at Grotto Bay.
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| Jean wrote Lonely Planet's Diving & Snorkeling Cayman Islands in 2000. The photography is by Kris & Jean |
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| Jean Wrote the Unofficial Guide to the World's Best Diving Vacations in 2002. It was published by John Wiley. |
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| Jean grew up as an Air Force "brat", moving about & living in many foreign countries. With a Master's in Journalism from Berkeley, it was natural that she would gravitate toward travel writing. Before embarking on freelance travel writing & photography, Jean was:
- Assistant Director of Information Services, University of Notre Dame
- Senior Editor, Travel Guidebook Division, Rand McNally & Co.
- Managing Editor, Mobil Travel Guides, Rand McNally
- Editor-in-Chief, Travel Guidebooks, Prentice Hall, Chicago
- Editor, Odyssey, magazine of the Chevron Travel Club (California)
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Kris and Jeanie began working for Warner Brothers on the set of SPHERE in 1997.
Kris managed SPHERE's Dive Unit & served as the film's Safety Coordinator. Jean was Assistant Manager with primary duties on the dive decks, managing safety divers and equipment.
Kris
also trained (in both scuba and helmet diving) the principal actors (Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon
Stone, Queen Latifah, Liev Schreiber and Peter Coyote), stunt doubles
and safety divers.
After SPHERE, Kris worked on TV (Nash Bridges, Penn & Teller Underwater Magic Show) and commercial (First Union Bank Superbowl) productions.
Currently he enjoys working closely with Vince Pace (PACE Technologies in Burbank, CA) and director/producer James Cameron on 3-D, high definition productions.
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| Dustin Hoffman Training in Dive Helmet Developed by Bev Morgan for SPHERE |
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| Kris Adjusts Dustin's Neck Dam on the Set of SPHERE |
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| Kris (lower right) with James Cameron & Crew for Aliens of the Deep |
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Kris joined an exciting James Cameron expedition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to film life around hot volcanic vents in the very deep ocean.
Kris was Assistant Camera (in addition to James Cameron's McGiver!)
The IMAX 3-D film Aliens of the Deep was the result of that research expedition.
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Four submersibles were used on the expedition to film life in the deep ocean. Incredible new species were discovered, including creatures who could survive in total darkness.
Chemosynthesis, rather than photosynthesis, was the new life environment. NASA scientists, also on the expedition, could then postulate that life indeed could exist on moons, such as Europa.
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| Submersible Used to Capture Images in the Deep Ocean |
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| Kris with Vince Pace |
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On Aliens of the Deep, Kris worked closely with Vince Pace, whose company PACE Technologies produces high definition 3-D camera systems.
Since Aliens, Kris has gone on to work with PACE on the very successful 3-D Hannah Montana Concert, the live-feed NBA All-Star game, and Disney's 3-D remake of Tron.
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