A construction worker. Someone looking for a new hobby. A former horse trainer. An aspiring writer/producer.
These were a sampling of the group of people that showed up for the first monthly meeting of the Malibu Short Film Workshop that took place at The New Malibu Theatre earlier this month.
Every member of this diverse group will make a short film each month for the next six months. At the beginning of each month, mentors David Katz, founder of the Malibu Film Festival (MFF), and Sky Wilson, a producer, will give the students a theme and parameters they must stay within when creating their films. One month later, they will regroup and screen their finished projects.
Lloyd Lowe, Jr., a Los Angeles resident in his early 20s, explained he had signed up because “my grandma says I need to learn a new hobby.”
Some students were looking to turn filmmaking into more of a creative outlet than just a hobby.
Michael Corona, a Malibu building contractor, has long been involved in music and dance. He aspires to make music videos, so he joined to learn how short films are made.
“I have thoughts I am trying to express about life that I want to try to convey to other people,” he said. “Not from a political stance, but from a creative stance.”
Jarvis Esenwein moved from Chino to Malibu about one month ago. She sold her 40-year-old hunter/jumper business, ESE Stables, so she could retire and move to Malibu to focus on the things she never had time for as a horse trainer.
A writer on the side, Esenwein has had some of her stories published and is currently working on two novels. She thought the workshop would be “a good way to get acquainted with people from Malibu.”
Esenwein, who attended The Julliard School on a scholarship, said she is more interested in directing and photography.
Katz told the aspiring filmmakers, “Through trial and error, you progress.”
Katz had signed up and joined a short film group in Hollywood earlier this year.
Katz said he is “simulating a workshop that I’ve already been a part of, so I know it works.”
Rather than learn from an actual teacher, the students will teach themselves and each other. Each month, when they meet to show each other their work, “they will use constructive criticism to critique one another’s films, working collectively to help each other,” said Katz.
The MFF supplies mentorship, training, digital cameras and editing facilities. Films created in the short film workshop will be eligible for competition at the 2002 Malibu International Film Festival.
A donation of $50 is accepted from each student for the workshop. The MFF is a nonprofit organization; the donations go toward purchasing equipment, such as digital cameras, to lend out on an as-needed basis to the film students. Future workshops will be on making feature films.
At the end of the 6-month period, the workshop will have a screening of the short films, which will be open to the press and public.
“It will be a pseudo-festival leading to the big festival in August,” said Katz. “It’s about getting the filmmakers’ names out to the public. To take the jump to the next level, you won’t get paid, so you have to get your name out there and make it worth your while. Whatever you put into it is what you’ll get out of it.”
Katz and Wilson urge their students to take risks, to be creative. “Work not to reinvent the wheel,” Katz told them.
When the meeting ended, the new students walked out of the theater together, making plans with their group members and exchanging ideas. From retired horse trainers to high school graduates, everyone was able to find common ground as future filmmakers with dreams about to take shape on film.