Is it true blondes have more sun? Lawrence Kasanoff’s ‘Malibu Blonde’ Revealed
By Ben Marcus
If one was a poor writer who spends far too much time sitting at public tables at Starstruck’s and Whole Foods andZinque, one can’t help but notice that there is an abnormally large population of naturally and/or expensively and/orartificially physically blessed, attractive, sexy, healthy, well-groomed, hippily or lavishly clothed and accoutered, stylish women in Malibu party. Most of these women are fully clothed, but Larry Kasanoff’s “Malibu Blonde” offers a solution: The FOR MALIBU introduction to his book reads: “Go anywhere in the world and mention Malibu, and people associate it with images of that time: blonde women frolicking on the beach — young, pretty, happy, without a care in the world; old red Mustang convertibles; puppy dogs chasing footballs; Beach Boys music; movie stars; surfing and fun, fun, fun. Malibu is iconic. It is the Shangri-La of endless summer. I wanted to capture that energy of innocent, playful, free spirited sexy fun in this book, and share it. (Fun is wildly underrated these days.) My goal is to make people smile. And why limit smiles to people? So, all the money I make from this book and the images in it, will be donated to endangered animal charities (see last page, or go to www.malibublonde.com for more info). Maybe we can get animals to be happier, too.”
My first question to you is the question the Clairol company challenged Americans with from the ’50s into the ’60s: “Is it true blondes have more fun?”
One of the two goals of the book is to bring back fun, so I hope they do!
Sometimes Zinque looks like the Louvre during Fashion Week. These women come in at 9 o’clock on Wednesday morning dressed like they’re going to the Oscars. What’s up with that?
I have no idea, but I think it’s a great advertisement for Zinque.
Can you explain the cultural foundations of that population in Malibu and Los Angeles?
Sure — people come here looking to fulfill their dreams, and some do. Dallas Rein, the model on the cover of “Malibu Blonde,” will soon star in one of our movies, for example.
How has the response been?
Fantastic. People seem to understand the vibe — playful, sexy, free-spirited, ’90s throwback to a more fun time, with sun kissed vibes.
Yes, if you’re a fan of salt and sun-kissed skin, this book is for you.
And it can help elephants. That is our second goal. All the money I make from sales of the book and the pictures in it I will donate to endangered elephant charities.
Oh that’s right, elephants. What about the elephants? Tell me about the elephants, Larry.
A lot of people ask me what elephants have to do with models. I think it’s one group of gorgeous creatures helping another. It’s also a great way to build awareness for elephant charities.
Perhaps an obvious question but: What was the inspiration for “Malibu Blonde”?
I learned from living in Malibu that if you go anywhere, Malibu is known as the Shangri-la of endless summer, and dreamt about as a place of beautiful soon-to-be movie stars in red convertibles playing on the beach with puppies, Beach Boys music somehow in the background as surfers ride the waves.
Yes, I wrote a pilot for a TV show called “Malibu Fire” and one of the lines reads: “Malibu is where SoCal dreams and cliches come true: Swimming fools and movie stars, boys in bikinis & girls on surfboards shooting the curl, million-dollar cars and thousand-dollar sushi bars, homeless from under bridges and billionaires from pleasure palaces rubbing elbows at Starstrucks. Legal pot and two Teslas in every garage of luxury doublewides.”
I wanted to capture that spirit of playful, sexy fun because I think fun is wildly underrated. I wanted to make people smile. And elephants, too!
At risk of kvelling, can you synopsize your experience in show business?
Yes, I’m a movie producer.
OK, you’re being humble. I’m going to condense your website: “Larry Kasanoff, Chairman/CEO of Threshold Entertainment, is the Producer or Executive Producer of all ‘Mortal Kombat’ media, Executive Producer of the box-office smash film, ‘True Lies,’ starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by James Cameron. As president and co-founder of Lightstorm Entertainment, Larry supervised production, marketing, publicity andmerchandising for the four-time Academy Award winning hit, ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day,’ directed by James Cameron. He produced two movies with Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow. Larry — as a producer or studio head — has made over 200 feature films, including ‘Dirty Dancing’ and Academy Award-winning Best Picture ‘Platoon.’ Larry has packaged or produced video projects with Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, and Dick Clark. For ‘Terminator 2,’ he produced MTV’s top video of the year, “You Could Be Mine” with Gun’s ‘N Roses.”
That’s a pretty good resume, boy howdy. What are you proud of? What has been the most successful?
I wrote another book this year, now out, called “A Touch of the Madness,” which uses stories from the making of movies from “Dirty Dancing” to “Mortal Kombat” to encourage people to embrace their inner madness to be more creative. I love love making movies and while proud of films like “Mortal Kombat,” always look forward to my next one.
[I’m] most proud of fact I’ve been able to bring my dogs to work for the last 25 years.
Did you produce “Point Break” with Kathryn Bigelow? We made fun of that movie when it came out and I was at SURFER, but it’s aged like wine. I wrote a very mean review of “Point Break 2” in Surfline.com.
I was executive producer of “Blue Steel” and “Strange Days” that Kathryn directed, but was not involved in “Point Break.” I think she is an awesomely talented director.
There are a lot of physically blessed women in Malibu and Los Angeles County who want to shine. And I thinkyour book gives them that opportunity. How did you round up these girls?
I used a casting director, called agents I know, and some of the models I already knew.
Fun! It seems like you lavishly bathed these girls in that luscious winter golden light — a quality of light that not even modern technology can fake or reproduce. Is that when most of the photos were taken?
No, taken all year round, but the light in Malibu is beautiful.
Rumor has it there will be a book signing for “Malibu Blonde” at Zinque on Aug. 17.
Yes. On Saturday, Aug. 17, at 2 p.m., we are having a celebration for “Malibu Blonde” at Zinque, which includes book signing, meeting some of the models, chat with the photographer (again, me!), and having a blast.
Who is invited? What can we expect? What should we bring?
Anyone is invited as long as you bring a sense of fun!