What better way to get to know this year’s unique crew of Festival filmmakers than to pick their brains with a poll? We quizzed our filmmakers in the LA Film Fest’s LA Muse section, with films in which Los Angeles is very much a character, about their movie making ups and downs, why they film here and how they feel about the city they live and work in. Here’s what they had to say. Finish this sentence: Filmmaking in LA is… unfortunately less and less frequent. Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? In the script I had the recurring image of the pigeon. In ancient times the pigeon was often seen as the symbol of the journey of the human soul after death. Anyway, of course the day we had called for a pigeon, the pigeon wrangler didn’t show up. The producers hit the phones and I think it was less than 3three hours later that another pigeon wrangler appeared with trained pigeons, ready to shoot. Only in LA! Did you consider making your film anywhere else? IF so, why did LA win out? I never thought of shooting anywhere else. LA is really another character in my story. It’s the LA of dancers, actors, artists, filmmakers, writers, cooks—dreamers of every kind that congregate in this magical place. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? I think of “500 Days of Summer.” That was the first time I had seen a movie set in the LA I know and love, a place well beyond the much more expected sights. Many people didn’t even realize that the movie was taking place in LA until you saw Angels Flight about 45 minutes in. Such a great film all around. What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? The art community. There are fantastic artists living and creating in LA who somehow don’t get the same recognition as artists from other cities. If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? Definitely the traffic. I would love to have the lack of traffic of Cheyenne, Wyoming; the public transportation of San Fransisco; and the bike culture of Amsterdam. Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? Mulholland Drive, hands down. It’s the most LA place: there is no “there there” but it’s beautiful and a bit scary. You can see the city to one side, the valley on the other and your possible quick demise down the hill on both sides. Daniela Amavia / writer-director, A Beautiful Now Finish this sentence: Filmmaking in LA is… central to our film. Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? Many of our neighbors are in the industry and were very supportive whenever our footprint in the neighborhood was visible. Did you consider making your film anywhere else? IF so, why did LA win out? Never considered anywhere else. Laurel Canyon is a character in the film. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? Sunset Boulevard and Mulholland Drive. What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? Diversity. If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? Seasons. Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? Our film happens between them, so both. Stephen Ringer / writer-director, Weepah Way For Now Finish this sentence: Filmmaking in LA is… actually a way to make a living. Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? I dunno. Rumer Willis wearing a leather jacket t set that just said “cool” on it was pretty LA. Rumer actually is cool, btw, so that worked out nicely for her. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? Probably Denzel’s mustache from Devil In A Blue Dress. What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? IT’S REALLY FRIGGIN PRETTY HERE. There’s like big mountains and a big ocean and big desert. Everyone thinks it’s all highways. That’s just the boring bits. If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? Do they have Harold’s Fried Chicken out here? Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? That’s like asking who would win in a fight: 2015-era Axl Rose or 1985-era Axl Rose? Will Slocombe / director, The Escort Michael Doneger / writer-actor, The Escort Finish this sentence: Filmmaking in LA is… …not tax refundable yet? Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? No. The opposite. I thought people were more interested in being on-camera than they are. Did you consider making your film anywhere else? IF so, why did LA win out? No. For me personally, this story could only be done in LA because of my personal connection to the material. But LA really is just the microcosm for a story that can be replicated in urban areas across the country. This is a whole movement, and my hope is that it inspires people everywhere to plant, regardless of their location. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? When I think of LA on film, I think of the Kevin Spacey movie Shrink, Ryan Gosling in Drive, What Just Happened, and Collateral. All of these films have a really unique way of capturing the city that I resonate with. They get in to the nooks and crannies of the city, and show LA as more than just sun and palm trees. It’s really a dynamic city full of more diversity than people even realize. What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? LA locals! If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? I would take our year-round sunshine and trade it for the lushness and rain storms of Kau’ai. Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? Definitely Sunset Blvd, but I’d be rooting for Mulholland. Delila Vallot / director, Can You Dig This Finish this sentence: Filmmaking in LA is… Renee: Filmmaking in L.A. in many ways is truly indie as in, you’re on your own. I’ve spent half of my career in New York and half in LA. There’s a lot more support in New York for artists. They actually invest in artists, not only films that are commercially viable, but people doing independent and social change oriented work. On the other hand, the stories are here in L.A., and there is an out-in-the-margins creative landscape that we all feed off of. When I was in NY people used to scoff at LA as a cultural wasteland. Oh please, can you come up with an original thought? I’d tell them you’ve got to be kidding. The Asian American and Chicano arts movement here is blowing up and has been for a long time. Just because the NY Times doesn’t cover it doesn’t mean it’s not legitimate. We exist in an intersectional, global environment anyway. The metropolitan center, the borders, east coast, west coast, that’s meaningless today. Virginia: Filming in LA has become ubiquitous, now we just need more stories that reflect the diversity of the city. Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? [The filmmakers’ whose work is featured] filmed in people’s homes, they filmed the murals, the cultural events, they filmed the Chicano moratorium, police abuses, the activism. It’s breathtaking and irreplaceable. As a filmmaker looking at these 1970s era 16mm films, it’s like being a kid in a candy store. Or in the case of my son, that would be a kid at a really good boba stand. What isn’t pictured never makes it into the visual history, and the stories of people of color are usually invisible. People just didn’t cover stories of the Chicano community and the eastside at that time. I’ve seen that as an Asian American filmmaker, the invisibility—and we have the same saving grace of young independents in the 60s and 70s who picked up cameras to cover their communities, and were contemporaries of the Chicano filmmakers. The news media ignored the Chicano and immigrant community; it was left out of every other depiction of Los Angeles life. That’s why these filmmakers existed. Did you consider making your film anywhere else? IF so, why did LA win out? This is a quintessential LA story. We had to film it here. This film happened in LA, and not only LA, but on the eastside. We live on the eastside, it has a meaning and a history to us. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? There is a side of me that thinks of film noir, Chinatown, LA Confidential. But I’ve also been steeped in the LA Rebellion filmmakers, Charlie Burnett and Julie Dash; the Visual Communications and UCLA EthnoCommunications filmmakers like Bob Nakamura, Eddie Wong and Duane Kubo; the Chicano filmmakers That’s all from the 1970s, the visual landscape of LA I remember being a kid hanging out on East 1st Street, visiting my grandma’s friends in Boyle Heights with their avocado trees in the front yards, or my grandfather’s place in Crenshaw where you can tell the Japanese American homes from the way the hedges were sculpted on the front lawns. Dances at the Roger Young auditorium, hanging at the Atomic Café, listening to War, El Chicano, Wolfman Jack. That’s L.A. What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? All of the above. Those artists of color I mentioned above have been making work for ages. But they’re understudied and underappreciated. There is an aesthetic, a tangible look, feeling, sound that you know viscerally if you grew up black, Chicano, Asian during that time. A funny thing. I remember being in college and visiting Yale for some kind of activist conference. The students of color lived in houses, or dorms, where they would come together by affinity. Instead of the Latinos living together—the Chicanos and Puerto Ricans for example—the Japanese Americans and Chicanos lived together, and the Chinese and Puerto Ricans lived together. It totally made sense because of the west coast and New York City thing. If you grew up Asian, African American, Chicano in Pasadena, Montebello, the eastside, Crenshaw, Gardena…it was a multiethnic vibe where the cultural intersections were very fluid. That’s how we typically think of American culture today, but 30, 40 years ago, we’d already started living an eclectic, hybrid cultural mix. If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? Renee: For some reason I really like the Japanese food in Ho Chi Minh City. Virginia: LA is home. I wouldn’t trade anything for a walk down the Arroyo Seco or a Chapin Sandwich at Antigua Bakery. Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? Renee: Oh that’s a very pinche wes los question, unless you’re talking about Sunset Boulevard on this side of town. Ask me about North Fig or E. 1st Street and I’ll give you an answer. Renee Tajima-Pena / director, No Más Bebés Virginia Espino / producer, No Más Bebés Finish this sentence: Filmmaking in LA is… ….like being in an episode of Naked and Afraid–all you get is a camera, a shotgun mic and a roll of gaffe tape! Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? While filming a part of the climax at the end of the movie, filming was interrupted by a bright light shining from the sky. No, they were not extra terrestrials, it was a “close encounter” with an LAPD helicopter. While it definitely would have lifted our production value to the next level, unfortunately neither an LAPD “air raid” nor an alien abduction was part of the story. It turns out a concerned passer-by had not realized that we were shooting a film and they called in the ENTIRE Police Department to break up what they thought was an incident of gang violence. Did you consider making your film anywhere else? IF so, why did LA win out? Never! I spend weeks driving through Armenian neighborhoods and scouting Armenian shops to find as many authentic locations as possible…and there were way more wonderful spots with authentic details than scenes in the film. My greatest hope was to show audiences an “LA Story” that they had never seen before. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? Growing up in the valley and being a film nerd, I float from ’80s fare like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Fletch to neo-noir flicks like The Long Goodbye, LA Confidential and Heat to the dark-as-night classics like Day of the Locust and Chinatown…and of course, no one can ignore the work of the filmmaker I call “The Poet Laureate of the San Fernando Valley”–Paul Thomas Anderson. (Magnolia and Boogie Nights) What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? All the amazing TV episodes and films that were dreamed up by writers stuck in rush hour traffic! (that and all the AMAZING Armenian food in LA…all of my friends are now addicted to Armenian “Khorovats” BBQ!) If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? I’d trade the 405 for the Colorado River …I’d much rather commute via innertube…and we need the water. Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? Mulholland may have bigger twists than The Sixth Sense but I’d put my money on Sunset any day of the week. Christopher Chambers / writer-director, Aram, Aram Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? TMZ accosted [actors] Chris [D’Elia] and Skylar [Astin] on the way to our first table read. That night when the show aired, I was identified in the background as a supporting actor on Undateables. That’s when it struck me for the first time— TMZ might not be the most accurate news source in the world. Did you consider making your film anywhere else? IF so, why did LA win out? We knew we wanted to fill this movie with incredible actors, actresses, comedians, and stars—and that production was going to be a quick and frantic. Shooting in LA gave us the best chance of pulling that off. Plus, we really wanted Flock to feel real and true to our experiences. We’re lucky we got to shoot here. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? Steve Martin. I think I watched LA Story too many times as a kid. What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? I find most things are accurately rated out here. The weather, the beaches, the tacos—everyone knows how great they are. I think if anything’s underrated, it’s the people. There are a lot of preconceived notions about LA, but I’ve met some wonderful people here… even if they’re all from Texas. If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? It would be great to have a few blocks of dive bars with cheap beer and live music. If we could get Austin to donate that, I’d totally give them the Cahuenga corridor in return. Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? Mulholland has the height advantage, but you know Sunset fights dirty. Very dirty. My money’s on Sunset. Bob Castrone / writer-director, Flock of Dudes Finish this sentence: Filmmaking in LA is… a process not to be taken lightly, but an experience that has been truly rewarding. Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? The fact that the Drew has been around for over 40 years, has featured some of the greatest ball players to ever play the game, yet is still relatively unknown in the city–that is “so LA”. This city has so much to offer, if only explored. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? I think of John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood and the Hughes brother’s Menace II Society. These were the first films I saw that captured the LA where I grew up and the places I visited on daily basis. What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? The most underrated aspect about LA is the diversity of what the city has to offer. LA is truly a place in which you can find anything you want, as long as you are open to exploring. Whether its food, music, sports or culture—it’s all here. If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? I would personally give up a little bit of LA traffic for a little bit of Seattle rain (just a little bit). Traffic can be brutal, and we all know we could use the rain. Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? Sunset Blvd… Easy! You can get to the beach and Dodger Stadium. It exemplifies the true diversity of what LA has to offer. Chad Gordon / Director, The Drew: No Excuse, Just Produce Finish this sentence: Filmmaking in LA is… not for the faint of heart. Was there anything that happened during production of this film that struck you as “so LA”? traffic? LA seems quiet but it’s really noisy! Sirens and helicopters to constantly challenge us for sound. Did you consider making your film anywhere else? IF so, why did LA win out? LA was always the place. When you think of the city of LA on film, what do you think of? I think of film noir. What’s the most underrated aspect of Los Angeles? It’s a town you can find anything if you look hard enough. If you had to trade one piece of LA for one piece of another city, what would you trade and why? Let’s trade West Hollywood for Central Park. Who would win in a fight: Mulholland Drive (the drive) or Sunset Boulevard (the boulevard)? Draw. Zoe Cassavetes, Writer-director, Day Out of Days Jade Estrada / Film Independent Blogger
