The 2001 Malibu Film Festival kicked off Friday night as organizers, corporate sponsors and movie buffs gathered at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel’s Starlight Ballroom in Santa Monica for the opening-night gala and fashion show. Although it couldn’t quite compare to the glory and the grandeur of the first year’s opening night gala at sponsor Lilly Lawrence’s Malibu castle, the festivities drew a dedicated and enthusiastic crowd.
The evening kicked off a four-day celebration which included screenings of seven feature films, 25 short films and three documentaries as well as industry-related seminars and an awards presentation.
The festival, started in 1997 by David Katz, was organized this year with the help of fellow filmmakers and locals like Alanna Tarkington, Cheree Chapman, Diane Carroll, Mary Lou Blackwood and M.G. Mills.
“I hope it’s going to be one big family that lasts forever,” said Katz to Mayor Tom Hasse.
“Malibu and films are synonymous, beginning in the 1920s when silent filmmakers settled in the colony, to ‘Gidget’ and ‘Beach Blanket Bingo,’ and now, 80 years later, we are still cultivating film,” said the mayor.
Volunteer organizer Candace Bowen is pleased with the event’s progress. “I bring the volunteers and the young directors, the writers, the producers. [They] are all here for contacts, for information, for the seminars and to see what is going on out there, what people are doing,” said Bowen.
Like Katz, Bowen has been with the festival from the beginning.”We’ve had so much support from people like Stacy Keach and Shirley MacLaine, they’ve all been so great,” she said.
This year’s event also received a much needed financial boost thanks to corporate sponsors like John Mitchell’s John Paul DeJoria. “It’s easy to support Malibu,” the hair-care mogul and Malibu resident explained. “Everywhere we go, we try to give something back to the community.”
Another plus is the relocation of screenings from noisy plastic tents at the lagoon to the New Malibu Theaters. This is one more reason why Bowen is glad that the festival did not rush into its second year. “The last time, it was seven days. Now it’s three days. Bigger isn’t always better,” said Bowen. “It takes time to pick out these films and not be under pressure.”
The community, meantime, seems to be warming to the idea. “Change is not easy in Malibu,” said Hasse. “We like to step back, see what it looks like, see if it works and if it does, we’re enthusiastic.”
Bowen agrees. As a 10-year veteran of the Sundance Film Festival, she knows just what she is talking about. “We have high hopes for Malibu. It’s small, it’s a baby, but there’s magic — and remember, Sundance started small too.”