2
independent.com presents
MEET THE MAKERS
ISSUE
TWO
INTERVIEWS WITH
santa BarBara FILMMAKERS
JAN. 27–FEB. 7 • 2015
ran into on her bike, the Giacometti sculpture that terrified her as a kid. But, though much is familiar, much more of the art in the collection is new to her — and she’s crazy about all of it.
Where does Julia fit into the story?
GenerosiTY of eYe
director brAd HAll generositYofeYe.com
W
hen William Louis-Dreyfus decided to sell his fabulous, idiosyncratic art collection of more than 3,000 pieces, including works by such modern masters as Gauguin and Kandinsky, his daughter the actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus was shocked. Not so much by the sale, but by what her mega-successful dad planned to do with the proceeds: create an endowment for the Harlem Children’s Zone. This fascinating film, which began as a home movie by the star’s husband, producer and director Brad Hall, morphed into something more when Hall put the generous father-in-law and his famous daughter together on camera.
The film really is about Julia’s discovery of her father’s dual passions: art and justice. Originally I just wanted Julia to chat a little bit with a few of the living artists in the collection, and with an art critic or two, and then show a bunch of photos of the art. As soon as we started making the film, however, Julia’s relationship with her dad — complicated, feature funny, touching, affectionate — became the heart of the thing. That relationship became the vehicle for exploring how art can be transformed into education for these amazing kids in Harlem. At the beginning of the film, Julia says that she wants to learn more about the art and artists in the collection, about the Harlem Children’s zone, and “… maybe even a little bit about my dad.” In the end, I think that’s what happened, and — Charles Donelan it’s what we caught on film.
Was William’s art collection a big part of Julia’s life? Julia had no idea that her father’s collection was this extensive nor that he had such intimate connections with so many of the artists. Her memories of this art are hilarious: the Dubuffet sculpture her sister
1.
Funding support provided by the santa Barbara county arts commission through a partnership with the City of Santa Barbara.
interviews with Santa BarBara FilmmakerS In your words, what is the rift in Iceland really about? At first glance, one would suspect that the primary motive involved in this practice is monetary gain. In reality it comes down to a small number of powerful individuals and their national sentiments toward the utilization of “Iceland’s” natural resources. They are a young country in terms of gaining independence and feel as though it is their national right to hunt whales.
Have you tried whale meat? I had quite a few opportunities to try the meat, but I always refused out of my support for whale watching over whale hunting. Oftentimes those who appreciate the whales in Iceland don’t make the connection that they are supporting the whale-hunting industry by eating the meat. feature
Breach breachthefilm.com
A
cinematic and thoughtful look at Iceland’s complex relationship to whaling, this fi lm, directed by Santa Barbara–born Jonny Zwick, details the island nation’s struggle to reconcile its still productive and time-honored whalehunting industry with a growing international and local desire to protect whales.
How did you get turned on to the topic of whale hunting and the situation in Iceland? My uncle is a marine biologist and has dedicated his life to the well-being of dolphins. I was speaking with him about my desire to photograph Iceland’s other-worldly landscapes when he told me about the commercial whale hunting taking place there. I did some research and was shocked at what I found.
Have your own views on the topic changed at all? It’s really easy to see a topic such as whale hunting on paper and immediately decide what your stance is based off of your beliefs and personal experiences. My overall viewpoint is the same as when I left, but my reasoning for why I think it is wrong has changed. Seeing it in person and getting to know the men behind the harpoons definitely changed my perspective, but not how I feel about it. 2.
director jonny ZWick What do you hope to accomplish in telling this story? Beyond promoting awareness, I want to start a public discussion. If people become educated about the issue, they will ask the right questions and demand — Ethan Stewart answers to those questions.
independent.com presents
MEET THE MAKERS INTERVIEWS WITH SANTA BARBARA FILMMAKERS
holBrooK/TWain facebook.com/holbrooktwain
A
t 60, Hal Holbrook’s Mark Twain Tonight is the longest-running one-man show in theatrical history. Holbrook, who will be 90 in February, has been playing Mark Twain longer than Samuel Clemens did. This beautiful and haunting blackand-white documentary mixes interview and archival footage with scenes showing the actor preparing for a recent performance as Twain that took place in San Luis Obispo. The portrait that emerges overflows with the humanity of an epic and the pathos of a tragedy. Hovering above it all is the spirit of Holbrook’s third wife, Dixie Carter, who died a little over a year before the film was made.
feature
And what made you decide she was right about that? As anyone who ever had the privilege to know Dixie can attest, she could be a very persuasive woman, and once she got her mind set on something, it was pretty much impossible to deny her. So she kept on me about the documentary, telling me how important it would be, telling me it was a story the world needed to hear. But it wasn’t until I finally saw the show for myself that I realized she was right. And I realized how much I wanted to tell this story.
What happened when she died?
When Dixie passed away unexpectedly in 2010, director scott teems How did you find this story? my producer (Laura D. The genesis of the fi lm startSmith, a Santa Barbara ed back in 2008, when I first met Hal and Dixie to native!) and I just started shooting. We paid for the convince them to be in my fi lm That Evening Sun. fi lm ourselves, getting help from countless folks At that first meeting, Dixie told me her longtime along the way. It has been a labor of love, and we dream was to see a fi lm made about the Twain show. couldn’t be happier to finally be sharing the fi lm And then she told me I was the one who would with the world. — Charles Donelan make it! 3.
For film festival coverage and schedule changes, visit independent.com/sBiff
interviews with Santa Barbara Filmmakers
feature
Gardeners of Eden
co-director Austin Peck and producer Kristin Davis sheldrickwildlifetrust.org
T
his eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and stunningly shot documentary about the plight of elephants in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park, where poaching for ivory is worse than ever, shows the efforts of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (sheldrickwildlifetrust.org) to rehabilitate orphaned animals. Made by Santa Barbara-turned-Kenya filmmakers Austin Peck and Anneliese Vandenberg, the film stars Sex and the City actressturned-conservationist Kristin Davis, who also produced the film. Peck and Davis answer questions below.
How does the ivory trade even still exist? KD: Everyone was under the impression that the poaching problem had been fixed when there was a global ban on ivory in the ’80s. Then there was a “one-off sale” in 2009, agreed to by CITES, the international board regulating wildlife “trade.” This sale created so many loopholes that the current poaching crisis is now worse than anything we’ve seen before. Every 15 minutes, an elephant is brutally killed for its tusks. Soon we will have no wild elephants on the entire planet.
Humans anthropomorphize many animals, but elephants seem to actually be like us. AP: Upon encountering the elephants, eye-to-eye, there was undeniably something intelligent and emotionally complex coming back at us. Seeing how they respond to the tenderness and even moments of discipline given to them by the human 4.
keepers, we felt as if we’d just landed on a new planet where humans are not the only sentient show in town. My sense is that they’ve got forms of intelligence that we don’t even know how to measure. We deliberately shot to bring out those opportunities for bonding and relating: eye contact, expressive gestures, play. We hope it will evoke that instinct to care for something as precious as our own kin.
How do the true infant orphans do once they are back in the wild?
AP: One thing we perhaps didn’t really make clear with the film is that it can take almost a decade to reintroduce them. Slowly, a desire starts welling up in the orphans to join those wild herds, and they start experimenting with their independence, going out for hours without the keepers or their fellow orphans, then maybe for a whole night out, and then one day, they just go and decide they don’t want to sleep in the stockade anymore. They come back and visit and still have the familial bond with their former keepers, but a clear shift has taken place. The dirt on their skin even changes. The real testament to the success of the process is that former orphans are mating with wild bulls. In fact, they are expecting three babies from former orphans in the next few months.
What were some challenges faced in shining light on this issue? KD: Sometimes it is surprisingly difficult to get press coverage about the imminent extinction of a beloved animal species! I assume this is because our media world is chaotic, at best. Also people don’t know that they can help! We need to apply political pressure on our states to ban ivory. California just had this legislation introduced. People can let their lawmakers know that they care about what happens to the elephants. Also, obviously NEVER buy ivory! — Matt Kettmann
independent.com presents
MEET THE MAKERS © TOM ORDWAY, OCEAN FUTURES SOCIETY
INTERVIEWS WITH SANTA BARBARA FILMMAKERS
feature
feature
secreT ocean 3d
U
sing underwater cameras with 3D, slow-motion, macro, and motion-control capabilities, Jean-Michel Cousteau and his team plunge viewers deep under the sea surface with Secret Ocean 3D. The fi lm, which looks at the food chain at the bottom of the ocean, includes more than 40 species from locations like the Bahamas, Fiji, and Biminis. As Cousteau puts it, the fi lm “will literally dive into the virtually unknown new underwater world as if they were there.”
Secret Ocean 3D includes scenes with a friendly grouper — as does your father’s 1956 film, Silent World. Your father and his crew named their on-camera grouper Ulysses. Was your grouper intended as an homage? No, we didn’t do anything like that. Not on purpose, anyway. If we chose some of the same creatures, it must have come from my guts. The grouper in Secret Ocean would show up again and again in the same location. I jokingly called it “my girlfriend.” It was just curious, looking for food. One day it didn’t show up, and I was sad. But the next day, our last day at that reef, it was back again. So we got to say goodbye.
director jeAn-micHel cousteAu Besides the Bahamas and Fiji, you filmed in the Channel Islands — and captured a zillion squid having sex in the night. We didn’t plan it. We were filming kelp. Then we noticed the squid — first one, then hundreds and thousands. Squid mate every year in Southern California. Because of regulations, the squid is not fished out — squid fishing is a success story. That was off Catalina. By pure coincidence, I was in the exact same spot in 1968 with my father and the same thing happened! We were there to do a show about submersibles and suddenly came upon all these squid mating.
The acclaimed oceanographer and explorer Sylvia Earle narrates the film. How did you two meet? That goes way, way, way back. I think it was a meeting of scientists in Monterey. She was an algae expert, studying plants. That was before she [became known as] ‘Her Deepness,’ and before she was on the cover of Time. When we asked her about doing the narration, she was so easy. She refused to let us pay her anything. She only made one tiny change in — Trish Reynales the script.
For film festival coverage and schedule changes, visit independent.com/sBiff
5.
interviews with Santa Barbara Filmmakers
Energizing Our World
Director Susan Sember jnbholdingfilms.com
S
BIFF veteran Susan Sember’s doc is the perfect antidote for people feeling helpless and hopeless in the face of our Mother Earth–damning ways of consuming energy. It provides a series of inside looks at some the most innovative work being done in the name of creating a better tomorrow.
What is the biggest obstacle on our path to a more earthfriendly energy-harvesting existence? I believe that all too often people discount the power of one. I also think people can buy into the negativity and end up thinking that the issues are too big to be solved. However, as the film demonstrates, that simply is not the case. There is an international groundswell growing that is truly revolutionary on the sustainability front. Each individual can make a difference. Whatever action, large or small, we all have the power to make Earth a healthier and livable planet. 6.
feature
Anything catch you off guard along the way? The unlimited creativity and drive exhibited by the individuals we interviewed around the world was primary. However, I was also surprised to see how each member of our camera crew was personally interested in following up, changing their attitudes, and doing things such as buying an electric car, supporting emerging millennial farmers in Northern California, and investing in solar panels for their personal residences. That was pretty cool.
What practice has the greatest potential to change our collective reality? As consumers, supporting sustainable agricultural practices and the farmers associated with them is a choice we can each make every day in the three meals we bring to our tables. Doing this would have incredible upside. — Ethan Stewart
independent.com presents
MEET THE MAKERS INTERVIEWS WITH SANTA BARBARA FILMMAKERS
short documentary
love letters not just to David Holmes but to the role that theater in high school played in our lives.
How large was the cast? Cast, crew, and production staff was 84. All cast and crew were alumni. The show was double cast for most roles, and I’m going to guess there were 20 to 25 actors. I would guess 10 to 20 percent of the actors and crew are professional or have been professional. Some of them are actors. Some work in TV post-production, and others do makeup and costumes. Tariqh Akoni, who was the musical director and played the role of Eddie, has played with Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Christina Aguilera, and Josh Groban.
TiMe Warp
director lAel WAGeneck
smhsalumnitheater.org
T
his half-hour documentary is about San Marcos High School’s staging of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in honor of a popular teacher’s retirement.
How did you come to cover this story? I graduated from San Marcos in 1993 and was into theater. We always produced a musical in the spring, and the joke every year from David Holmes was that we would produce The Rocky Horror Show. We never produced it, because it is obviously too racy for a high school production. When David announced that his retirement show would be Rocky Horror with an alumni cast, it just made sense. Alumni from 30 years returning to their high school to fulfill a long-running joke, produce a show in six days, and honor their drama teacher makes for a great story. I expected the experience would be more Waiting for Guffman, but it turned out to be this beautiful and emotional experience. The performances and my documentary are
Was there any controversy at the school related to the somewhat racy content? If anything was controversial, it was food in the auditorium. Food in the theater is a big no-no, and yet the floors were covered every night in rice, toast, newspaper, and all of the stuff people bring to a Rocky show.
Is there momentum for a second annual affair? The show was expected to be a one-off, but the experience was so great that they decided to go ahead and do an alumni show in 2015. Some of the cast and crew got together to create the San Marcos High School Alumni Foundation Theater Group. (See smhsalumnitheater.org.) In June of 2015, they will produce Spamalot, and all proceeds will ben— Matt Kettmann efit the school.
For film festival coverage and schedule changes, visit independent.com/sBiff
7.
interviews with Santa Barbara Filmmakers short documentary
What’s the magic and import of a place like Jimmy’s?
Grasshopper for Grandpa facebook.com/grasshopperforgrandpa
F
Well, that’s kind of like the thesis of the film. What is it that made Jimmy’s so special? At first, I was running with this idea of “establishment as character” because the building itself and the location is such a central figure in the film, but it turned out what really made Jimmy’s so special was the people. Jimmy’s really was this classic neighborhood bar. It was the Cheers of Santa Barbara.
or decades, Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens was both What else surprised you while making this film? literally and figuratively at the center of life in A recurring joke I would make while making this thing downtown Santa Barbara, serving as a gather- was, “Santa Barbarans really love their own history, ing place for the ages in a town that takes its fun don’t they?!?” And it’s kind of true: Santa Barbara hisand gatherings quite seriously. This documentary tory is incredibly well-preserved and documented for explores the rich history of the restaurant, bar, and being such a small little neighborhood while celebrating the town way back when. cast of characters that made it what it director Casey McGarry But people from around was. the world love Jimmy’s,
What’s up with the secret tunnels and catacombs beneath downtown S.B.?
I didn’t know there had been a thriving Chinatown in Santa Barbara before making this film, and I grew up here! The tunnels were, apparently, a part of that. There is just something about that property and its legend that really triggers people’s curiosity in the place. Underground tunnels, gambling, opium dens, and the like. People wander in off the street all the time, wondering about the history of the place. The folklore and mystique behind Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens was definitely a selling point for me in making this film. 8.
too. It’s just one of those places. Everyone has their own Jimmy’s story. And although Jimmy’s was a very accepting and friendly environment, there is definitely a private club of individuals that made up the place. And not just any old person off the street could just prance in and join. You had to earn your keep. And that group is pretty serious about their membership. — Ethan Stewart
independent.com presents
MEET THE MAKERS INTERVIEWS WITH SANTA BARBARA FILMMAKERS
short documentary
Mussel Man
director elvis metcAlF musselmanfilm.com
T
his insightful documentary follows Santa Barbara aquaculturalist Bernard Friedman as he tends to his mussels and deals with the bureaucracy of being the only open-ocean fish farm on the California coast.
Why did you decide to focus on Bernard? Bernard conducted a short presentation about his unique aquaculture methods in an environmental issues class that I was a part of. More than a cutand-dry science lesson, I saw that Bernard had a vital stake in the survival of his methods and an air of intrigue around his story and personality; he’s a fantastic character.
Did you realize how unique his situation was when you started the film? Not quite. Going into it, I was aware that he was among a vast minority; however, I was not aware of the extent to which he is spearheading the success of open-ocean mussel farming in California and the United States.
Do you hope to open more eyes to how sustainable mussel farming can be? I really do. Making this fi lm definitely opened my eyes to some of the misconceptions that surround fish/mollusk farming, and I hope that it will have a positive impact in clearing the air around openocean mussel farming. Bernard provides such a fantastic product to our community, and I hope his work will gain wider recognition for the sustain—Matt Kettmann ability he practices.
For film festival coverage and schedule changes, visit independent.com/sBiff
9.
interviews with Santa Barbara Filmmakers Did you go into this knowing that it would be a father-son story? I didn’t want to make a film about what a cool barbershop it was. I find those kinds of films boring. So I sat down with Gilbert one day and talked to him for a while. Eventually a story came out that I really wanted to tell, about he and his dad, a universal story about fathers and sons. And it just so happened that it was set in this masculine, visually rich place. short documentary
A Man’s Place
director Russ Spencer vimeo.com/tsmeeks
T
his heart-warming short doc by the longtime Santa Barbara filmmaker is set in Willie’s Barbershop on Figueroa Street but is really about complicated father-son relationships.
What do you think makes a good father? What makes a good barber? A good father, that’s impossible to say. There are a million kinds of good fathers. A good barber is one who knows that the haircut is only about 10 percent of the service he’s providing.
Do you get your hair cut there? I didn’t get my hair cut there before, but, yes, Gilbert is now my barber. —Matt Kettmann
Does this game exist in real life? narrative short
The Knockout Game director Benjamin Goalabre
facebook.com/theknockoutgame
T
his short film by the French SBCC student follows a group of friends who engage in a heinous game that goes violently wrong. He answered these questions from Paris in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, explaining, “Movies are a way to fight against those terrorists as well as were the cartoons of my friends who died in the attack.” 10.
Yes. I think it was two years ago when I first saw on the news in France, and then Monique Rosario, my writer, came up to me with a short script talking about this subject.
What compelled you to tell this story? What is interesting in the story is the process of how a young person can get to the point of doing such horror. Peer pressure and the need to be liked and loved pushes the main character to go into this terrible game.
Where did you find the young actress? Yes, she is great! She is actually the writer of the film, Monique Rosario. We’ve been working together for the past two years, and we’re currently developing a —Matt Kettmann feature film.
independent.com presents
MEET THE MAKERS INTERVIEWS WITH SANTA BARBARA FILMMAKERS
How did you get into this story? I’ve been friends with Jeff and his amazing family for a few years now, and he just asked me one day if I’d be interested in capturing the Vera Cruz House as it progressed. I began shooting images for the film in March of 2013, rigging cameras that could stay in place for extended periods of time, and, on important production days, I brought in UCSB alum Cory Cullington. After some convincing from Jeff, I was recruited to do a few paintings myself, which ended up being scenes from Queensland, Australia, and South Sudan short documentary
Vera cruz
director cHristoPHer jenkins productionblue.com
T
his short fi lm by the UCSB professor and veteran documentarian follows artist/architect Jeff Shelton as he ropes the creative community into decorating the outside of a colorful house at 521 Santa Barbara Street.
Does Jeff get special treatment from our notoriously rigid city design officials? From what I’ve witnessed, he gets projects approved because his preparation goes above and beyond the expectations of city officials. He has pushed the limits often enough to know where the boundaries are. Jeff has quite a track record with buildings that have become landmarks: El Andaluz, the Cota Street Studios, the Ablitt House, El Jardin, and now the Vera Cruz House.
— Matt Kettmann
narrative short
disTancia
director t.s. meeks vimeo.com/tsmeeks
T
his short by the Santa Ynez Valley native features Bolivian actor Javier Suarez’s very interesting face in a study of big-city loneliness.
Where did you find the protagonist? I met Javier at a friend’s dinner party. My friend came up to me and said, “Hey, if you ever need some-
one with an interesting face.” I thought to myself, “An interesting face? What is he talking about?” About 30 minutes later, I find myself talking to this man with an interesting face … about his pursuit of acting here in the United States. I found myself moved by his passion for life and his humility. My friend was right about needing to meet Javier, but it had very little to do with his interesting face and much more to do with his soul.
What prompted you to tell this man’s story of loneliness? I think loneliness is something that we all have to deal with in our lives; I don’t think there is any escaping it. In the fi lm, the main character is longing to be connected to both man and a higher power. I guess what prompted me was the idea of loneliness as something that makes us uniquely human and that we have the opportunity to reach out to those who —Matt Kettmann are alone. 11.
For film festival coverage and schedule changes, visit independent.com/sBiff
independent.com presents
MEET THE MAKERS interviews with the nominees
How did you develop the story?
narrative short
Interesting enough, I came up with the idea by wondering what coma patients thought of as they slept. An original draft of the script had Jake wake up to find he had been in a car crash. However, I realized that would be a little anticlimactic. I also wanted to shape the story so it could portray a good moral. I feel like so many shorts are missing these nowadays.
How do you feel about fortune cookies now? I’ll never eat one again; that’s for sure.
chasinG forTune
director nAtHAniel GrotenHuis
T
his short narrative that examines the life of a man who may work too much is the third but first “serious” film by this 17-year-old Santa Barbara native and SBCC student.
Do you fear a life of working too much? No, I don’t. However, I know for a fact many people, especially adults, believe happiness comes from external things, such as work, social status, money, etc. I believe happiness comes from within.
— Matt Kettmann
What prompted you to tell this story? The location and the pool in its backyard came first, and the story followed. I knew I wanted to do something with the heat (it was written in July!) and the drought. Because it was initially for the UCSB Silent Film Summer Series competition, I was also thinking of Chaplin, and how his character is a homeless guy yet was universally loved. Can you imagine that now?! So I thought about the other people who we “don’t see” in our daily lives and made one of them the hero. While writing, my producer mentioned something in passing about a “party underwater,” and suddenly everything popped into focus.
Will silent films ever experience a revival? narrative short
WhaT a pool BelieVes director ted mills tedmills.com
T
his short, about a gardener wooed by pool mermaid by the longtime Santa Barbara journalist and fi lmmaker, first screened at the County Courthouse this past summer after winning a silent fi lm contest.
As I started to answer this question, I wasn’t too sure how to define “silent film.” There’s music and dialog (albeit on title cards) in ours. Music videos that tell a narrative are “silent” in their way. Time-lapse videos of “the day in the life of a city” are all over Vimeo, and those are just a version of Dziga Vertov’s “Man with a Movie Camera” from 1929. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, as they say in French. I think we’re still watching silent films, in a way. They’re just way noisi—Matt Kettmann er now! 12.
Funding support provided by the santa Barbara county arts commission through a partnership with the City of Santa Barbara.