Real Estate Magazine Editorial 486 for Printing Mendocino Film Festival: 101 Years in the Making Story by Marcie Schorg Mission Statement—The Mendocino Film Festival is dedicated to providing quality independent films, documentaries, foreign films, and animation to audiences of all ages and cinematic tastes and to educate film and video students in the art of filmmaking and production. It was 1993 and I was sitting on the side of Little Lake Street in Mendocino with my friends watching the production of Pontiac Moon unfold as well as the unfolding of the relationship between Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson. The scene was held up because the snake handler couldn’t be located to bring the snake to the set. The snake had a “scene” with Ryan Todd, the boy playing Ted and Mary’s son. The scene finally got shot and Mary and Ted are still together. Fast-forward to the present and I’m in the company of other film buffs who are working hard to make the dream of a film festival here a reality. And, who also feel that with our rich heritage of filming here, a film festival seemed to be a logical thing to accomplish. An Idea Begins to Take Shape President of the Mendocino Film Festival board, Keith Brandman, recalls how the idea took hold. “I always thought a film festival was a good idea and brought it up at our local Chamber of Commerce retreat when I was on their board of directors. I began a discussion with an interested group but the idea didn’t go any further at that time. The second Mendocino Coast Chamber of Commerce ‘A Night With the Stars,’ Oscar®-viewing party last year, helped make the decision for me to commit to the festival and invest my time and energy into making it happen. Ignorance is bliss. All you need for a film festival is movies, places to show them, and people to watch them. How hard can that be?” Last March I joined the second meeting of interested film aficionados and Keith. We began to explore the realities (just exactly how hard it would be) of mounting a festival where independent filmmakers could showcase their talent. A board of directors was put in place with Keith as president, Judith Brandman as vice- president, Paul Kemp as treasurer, and Gail Brodkey as secretary. Talented folks—all of them: Gail is half owner of Atrium B&B in Fort Bragg; Paul is a retired corporate officer from a thirty-eight-year career in marketing and sales of high-tech electronic and computer systems; Keith and Judith own Gallery of the Senses in Mendocino, each specializing in the senses of sound and smell with their own personal businesses: Keith’s Audio Nouveau—which is supplying the sound for the festival—and Judith’s Perfume Mendocino. Also on the board are Patty Androff, a Hollywood make-up artist and owner of 242 South Hair & Beauty Supply; and Bob Woelfel, manager of KMFB radio; Nanci Starr, an art director in films; and Rich Aguilar, a retired Hollywood gaffer. Volunteers Sally Stewart, Jennifer Taylor, Albert Puch, and Heidi Knott have participated since the inception and more are joining us on a weekly basis, some with current ties to the movie-making industry. Paul Kemp pushed forward paperwork for the film festival to become a corporation by driving to Sacramento himself, which leads to our securing a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit status. Our Website is up and information is being added on a daily basis. Venues for the screening of films include Matheson Performing Arts Center at Mendocino High School, Saint Anthony’s Parish Hall and Crown Hall in Mendocino, and Abalone Hall in Little River. When you’re in Mendocino you’ll be able to walk to the screenings, galas, and panel discussions, unlike our “big-city” film festival counterparts. In addition, our festival will be Mendocino-style: no ties, no high heels, no stress. Sydney Pollack will attend the inaugural Mendocino Film Festival. Speaking of Sydney Pollack, one discussion you won’t want to miss is the Q-and-A with the famed producer/ director that takes place after the screening of one of his films. You’ll recognize his films and count at least one file:///Users/chuckhathaway/Documents/WebSites/real%20estate%20mendocino/editorial_486print.htm (1 of 4) [1/9/09 4:40:24 PM] Real Estate Magazine Editorial 486 for Printing as your all-time favorite. Pollack directed Out of Africa, The Way We Were, The Electric Horseman, Three Days of the Condor, Tootsie, and The Firm, among others. He produced Sense and Sensibility, Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Cold Mountain, among others. We are proud and pleased to have a director of his magnitude attend the first film festival. Great Support from Our Local Businesses One of the most exciting aspects of the festival is the generous support from our local businesses. Many have become festival sponsors at a variety of levels including Audio Nouveau, Thanksgiving Coffee, Coast Flyers and Rachel Cost who has donated so many hours of graphic design work for us, KOZT-FM The Coast, Rossi’s Building Supply, Mendocino Travelers Guide, Out of This World, and Mendo Realty. Local photographer, John Birchard, is supplying the photos for the festival Website and program. Mendocino Hotel has offered their Garden Room as the headquarters for the festival. Hill House Inn is donating the use of the Bay Room for the Awards Ceremony. MacCallum House offered their tent and front lawn for the opening night party. For our fund- raisers, Mendocino Wine Shop, Little River Inn Golf, and Mendocino Hotel have helped tremendously. George Russell, from his vast collection of films, screened some of the classics at MendoCinema fund-raisers. From out of our area, Alternative Home Theater is the donor of “GOO.” You’ll just have to attend the festival to find out what that is. See the First Movie Made Here Another thrilling piece of the festival puzzle is the showing of clips from the first film made here in 1904, [produced by] Caspar Lumber Company: The Sequoia Sempervirens, an industrial “moving picture” about logging practices to promote the redwood lumber industry, filmed at the Caspar Mill and pond, for the 1904 Saint Louis World’s Fair. Bruce Levene, author of Mendocino and the Movies, has a copy [of Sempervirens] and offered it to us as a tie-in to each of the film showings. Portions of it will come on first, then stills of the major films made here will come on as the introduction to each film’s screening—sort of a “this was filming then, and this is filming now” teaser. This is a special treat since most silent films no longer exist whether they were made here or elsewhere. After the “talkies” began in 1928, the “silents” languished, the film was allowed to deteriorate, and during World War II they were ground up by the thousands for their cellulose. Those movies are lost to us forever but we take pride in knowing that the diversity of Mendocino County has been recorded forever by the motion picture industry. Some of the more prominent of the more than sixty movies filmed on the coast are Frenchman’s Creek; Johnny Belinda; East of Eden; The Russians Are Coming, The Russians are Coming; Summer of ‘42; Same Time, Next Year; Cujo; Racing With the Moon; Overboard; Dying Young; Forever Young; The Majestic; and, who could forget Humanoids of the Deep? Giving Back to Our Community “When we started MendoCinema (a twenty-seat, movie theater at Gallery of the Senses) three high school kids came in to offer their assistance because they wanted to see more showings of films in Mendocino. They happened to be in the final class of film students in Mendocino High’s film studies program. The school had to stop the program for lack of funding. The three students took it upon themselves to, on their own, teach the undergraduates film production.” “This gave me the idea,” continues Keith, “to help reinstate and support film studies in the local high schools with a percentage of funds raised at the film festivals. In addition, I want to do the same for the Mendocino County Film Office located in our Chamber of Commerce. Film liaison Debra De Graw is involved with supplying photos and information to location scouts looking for specific characteristics of an area. Bringing filming back to Mendocino County would give a boost to our economy.” The Films About twenty-five independent films will be shown over the four days of the festival with the following among the first chosen at this time. Because our area is a haven for artists we are honoring them with a special category. file:///Users/chuckhathaway/Documents/WebSites/real%20estate%20mendocino/editorial_486print.htm (2 of 4) [1/9/09 4:40:24 PM] Real Estate Magazine Editorial 486 for Printing Feature Length: • Self-Medicated—See the review that follows. • Smitten—Artist category. Eighty-five-year-old Rene di Rosa has an unusual art collector’s goal. It’s not about interior design or raising his social status, it’s about the pure joy of discovery—finding emerging, unknown artists. “It’s my greatest pleasure. Without it, I can’t function.” By Nancy Kelly and Kenji Yamamoto. • Slipdream—A street-smart pot dealer delivers his goods by bicycle. When he trades his father’s gold watch for a couple of “magical” seeds, Jack grows a pair of beanstalks that produce a psychedelic ascent.