Whirlybird
Zoey (then Bob) and Marika Tur captured the spectacle of L.A. in the 90s from their news helicopter, defining our recorded memory of the city.
Zoey (then known as Bob) & Marika Tur revolutionized news media with their aerial reporting of police pursuits and breaking news in Los Angeles – and in doing so, defined our recorded memory of the city. “Chopper Bob” flew the bird while wife and partner, Marika, shot the video beside her in the helicopter - hundreds of hours of which would go down in American history. From the 1992 riots in L.A. to the collapsing of the Santa Monica pier to the famous O.J. Simpson white Bronco chase, Zoey and Marika’s unmatched eye-in-the-sky video archive captures the spectacle of 90’s Los Angeles while revealing their own personal complexities as a then husband and wife news team.
As the story unfolds, we look back on Zoey and Marika Tur’s lives. The attempts in returning to the media spotlight as “Chopper Bob” transitions from male to female, and finally meeting Zoey Tur, the first ever American transgender helicopter pilot.