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Cancellation justification

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13StarsManager
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After reading the June 13th article, “MHS Choir, Theater Classes Jeopardized,” I am puzzled by the minimum enrollment requirement of 20 students per class that Principal Mike Matthews is placing on the music and theater departments. I have four questions:

1) Is this requirement in effect for all classes in the school? For example, if there were 20 students in Spanish 3 this year and one student moved away over the summer, would Spanish 4 be removed from the class schedule next year, thus punishing the 19 students who didn’t move out of district?

2) Is the school administration aware that according to the College Board, in 1995, for example, students nationwide who were studying acting/play production scored on average 69 points higher on verbal SAT tests and 45 points higher on Math SAT tests than students with no arts coursework? Students in music performance classes scored on average 51 points higher on the verbal portion and 39 points higher on the math portion of the SAT.

3) Malibu High School went through a rigorous accreditation process this spring with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Will that accreditation be renewed if the school is not offering courses in theater and choral music? I understand that no dance classes will be offered next year either.

4. Music has been part of the curriculum in American public schools since the 1830’s. There are national voluntary standards and state content standards for music, dance, theater, and visual arts. How can students interested in these subjects meet the standards and prepare for college if the classes are not offered?

5. Private schools brag about maintaining class size of 15 or less. What is the justification for canceling classes in public schools if enrollment dips below 20?

Zina Josephs

SMMUSD Advisory Committee

on the Fine Arts

Boy dies in drowning accident at drummer Tommy Lee’s home in Malibu

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13StarsManager
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The 4-year-old son of television producer James Veres and actress Ursula Karven died from asphyxiation at a pool party hosted by Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee at his Malibu home on Saturday.

Daniel Karven Veres drowned while he attended a pool birthday party for Lee’s 5-year-old son.

While many people were in attendance at the party, apparently no one saw or heard the boy as the accident happened. He was found under a flotation device in the shallow end of the pool before he was pulled out. Lee called 911 and CPR was attempted, to no avail.

Veres was pronounced dead after being taken to Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks.

This is the second drowning accident in less than a month to take place in the area. Recently, a 9-year-old boy in Calabasas, Oliver Johnston, was also the victim of drowning in a residential pool despite the fact that he knew how to swim. The Los Angeles County Fire Dept. reports that most drowning accidents occur in private pools. A majority of the victims are children.

Officials say alertness should be a priority for backyard pool users.

In a party setting, people are easily preoccupied and under the false impression that someone is watching the children in the pool. But this impression can have tragic consequences.

Malibu’s Parks and Recreation director, Paul Adams,talked about safety for backyard pool owners.

One important part of a pool safety plan, specifically during a party, should include the designation of a “water watcher,” a person who is watching the water, similar to a “designated driver.”

It may be helpful to purchase or make a key ring with a tag on it that says “lifeguard” or “water watcher.” This person should not leave the pool area until a replacement arrives.

“Often four of five parents are out watching the kids, but they get involved in other things and think somebody else is watching,” explained Adams.

By designating a water watcher, you ensure that the person will not walk off. “You can trade around the Water Watcher designation,” said Adams.

The designated water watcher should stay out of the pool so they can have an overview of what is going on.

But there are limitations to this plan. “When you have a situation with many kids who are unfamiliar with the pool (like at a party), the best thing to do is to hire a professional lifeguard,” said Adams.

They are trained to look at every situation and see the hazards that may be there.

The trick for most people is sticking to it and recognizing that the one time when you turn away is the time when an accident usually happens.

Moreover, “When people are starting to think about using their backyard pools, they need to make sure they have everything ready,” said Adams. Safety equipment is not just a life ring near the pool, it should also include a working phone available by the pool at all times.

During an emergency, running into the house to use the phone takes away precious time, explained Adams. Or if the phone rings in the house, a person leaves the pool area thinking the call will only take a minute.

Adams suggested that families have an emergency plan. “Knowing what to do if an emergency happens, just like fire safety, can increase the chances of survival in case of an accident,” he said. When every family member knows what the rules are and what to do, chances of survival are drastically increased. “There are stories every year about 5 and 6 year olds saving a sibling because they knew what to do.”

Once the pool is ready, with all the equipment, the phone and a plan, then you need to simply follow the rules that were set.

Alcohol and water don’t mix. If there is drinking going on, the people drinking should not be using the pool and they should not be responsible for watching the kids.

The American Red Cross has water safety tips on their Web site at redcross.org. It states that no one is immune from drowning, not even experienced swimmers; therefore, people should never swim alone.

Malibu Seen

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kimdevore_2
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STYLE FILE

Sculptor Robert Graham and actor Dennis Hopper watched supermodels strut their stuff at the Otis College of Art and Design’s 19th Annual Critic’s Awards Fashion Show. They joined celebrity style makers for a look at the very latest on the fashion front featuring the school’s most promising students. Judges included famed designers Nicole Miller, Cynthia Rowley and Alexandra Alfaro, who handed out this year’s Silver Thimble Awards. The runway extravaganza marks the end of an academic year, which gave students the opportunity to work under the direction of the country’s leading stylists.

HILL STREET NEWS

Music man George Benson helped jazz things up at the Urban League’s 28th Annual Whitney M. Young Awards Dinner, where mega-producer Steven Bochco was the man of the hour. The creative force behind hit-series like “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law” and “NYPD Blue” was honored for his many contributions in promoting positive role models through the media.

Bochco was hailed for his “outstanding leadership as an industry leader in promoting equal opportunities and diversity among African Americans, people of color and women.” In the words of Los Angeles Urban League President John W. Mack, “Steve has placed minorities in significant and positive roles on camera and key decision-making positions off camera. His example is one that the Urban League urges his peers to emulate.”

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH

Pamela Anderson wears one, so does Cher. Mel Gibson has one and so does Arnold Schwarzenegger. What do these top stars share? They’re all sporting Bony Pony caps.

So, just what is a Bony Pony? It’s the name behind a Malibu ranch that plays host to a group called Premier Achievers. The organization is the brainchild of noted plastic surgeon Frank Ryan. The local doc and his high-profile celebrity pals have donated countless hours working to help ex-gang members turn their lives around.

For the past seven years, Ryan has been reaching out to young people, offering free services like the removal of gang tattoos. His Premiere Achievers program gives kids at a special youth home an incentive to excel in their studies and improve their lives. The kids are rewarded for their scholastic achievement and hard work with highly coveted perks like access to major movie premieres and a chance to meet their favorite stars.

A-list achievers are also treated to a day at the ranch with activities like horseback riding, hiking and surfing, which many experience for the first time. Says Ryan; “It’s a way for movie studios and stars to give something back to the community. It’s a win-win situation which has been tremendously rewarding.” More information on Bony Pony and the Premiere Achievers program can be obtained by calling 310.275.1075.

Bred for Hollywood

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13StarsManager
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A screenwriter sitting in a hip, Hollywood hotel suite has an idea for a movie. He writes it down. A studio buys the script, green lights it and starts production. Producers rent the equipment, arrange the schedule and handle the money. A year or so later, the red carpet is rolled out and the stars parade at the premiere.

Anil Sharma, a Malibu resident and president of Hollywood Rentals Production Services (HR), wants to have his hand in that entire movie making process, from inspiration to release.

His company is currently the largest provider of electrical and lighting equipment to the industry, with more than $61 million worth of gear, a fleet of 140 trucks and three hubs across the country. HR headquarters reside in two massive warehouses on 33 acres of land north of Burbank Airport. Posters of major motion pictures that rented equipment from HR line the walls of the luxury offices, while the marketing team, a small number of the 100-plus staff, buzzes on the phones with prospective clients.

And Sharma, who just bought the company in January, sits back in his office, running the show. While keeping track of the truck fleet and all the equipment, he’s also keeping his finger on the pulse of the movie biz and trying to push his reach farther and farther, with hopes of opening hubs in London and Portugal.

Even though he picked up the company recently, he’s anything but new to the film industry–his last gig was a stint as chief financial officer at Raleigh Studios, the biggest independent film production house in the world. And his daily reading is now more Variety and less Wall Street Journal.

The way he tells it, with his background in restaurant and hotel management, he was bred for the job. “It’s really customer service, just like in hotels,” he said. “You have a product and your main concern is that the customer is absolutely satisfied with it. [Director] James Cameron called at midnight from San Jose because a light wasn’t working. We have to get another one right out there–that’s what I do.”

Sharma was born in India and educated in England, and later earned his master’s in business in Chicago. His astute business sense is what got him HR. The massive and overextended Hollywood Rentals had fallen into bankruptcy, and serious concerns about writer and actor strikes were scaring off buyers. Sharma and his partners stepped in at the basement and bought the company for a bargain price.

“You have to see things both ways,” he says with a proud smile. “The [expectation of a] strike scared me, but it scared everyone else that wanted to buy the company. That strike (which never happened) is why I was able to get HR.”

And for Sharma, this is just the beginning. He wants HR to be the complete and absolute provider of motion picture services and equipment–from the muse’s moment in the hotel to the red carpet.

In the smash and grab industry where it is not uncommon to do business with 10 or more companies during a single production, HR is already somewhat of a phenomenon. Along with the grip and electric, HR, which can accommodate several dozen major shoots simultaneously, provides full production services: in-house offices, transportation, communication equipment, even coffee services. He already has a coffee shop (with the industry-appropriate name “Buzz”), has run a chain of restaurants and several hotels, and has global plans for the future of HR.

But with sunglasses on, driving slowly in his Jaguar, Sharma is laid-back and laughing, talking about his kids playing T-ball and soccer in Malibu. He talks openly about his projects, present and future. He is excited about show business, with which he has become very enamored.

“I really want to keep everything around, associated with, the entertainment industry.” And he enjoys talking about his hometown and Indian cinema.

Sharma moved to Malibu three years ago and immediately fell in love with the area. His house is perched at the top of Las Flores Canyon.

“It’s such a throw-back to the ’50s — way up there, safe. Who wouldn’t love this?”

Resident offers deal to mitigate illegal grading

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13StarsManager
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A homeowner on Porterdale Road offered a deal to the Planning Commission at its Monday night meeting–ignore a violation and he’ll give the city some ocean-view real estate and, to top it off, some cold cash.

Malibu resident David Taub made the offer hoping to get a variance for the illegal grading of a pad on his property. He offered to donate two acres of land to the city and $25,000 to build a park.

Commissioner Richard Carrigan suggested that two issues were at hand: 1) the legalization of the illegal grading and 2) the merits of the application, independent of the illegal activity.

In actuality, the grading makes it possible to build a home and avoid view impairments to neighbors and public view sheds. However, the commission concurred that the owner should have asked for approval for the grading first.

“The results he reached (after grading) made sense, but we cannot let someone get an after-the-fact variance because it will encourage this type of illegal activity,” said Commissioner Ted Vaill, in a later interview.

“I realize I used poor judgment and made a mistake,” said Taub, as he spoke before the commission.

The Planning Commission responded that it appreciated the offer, though they take illegal grading seriously, and asked Taub to come back with a clearly defined written offer to the city.

“We’re interested in compliance,” said Ed Lipnick, commission chair, emphasizing that the commission is not interested in punishment.

The matter was continued to July 16, awaiting a written offer from Taub.

In other matters the commission:

  • Quickly approved two antennae facilities requested by Sprint that would facilitate cell phone communications in Malibu for Sprint customers.
  • Voted 4-1, with Vaill in the minority, in favor of a request to build a cabana in the Big Rock area, thereby overturning staff’s recommendations and neighbors’ opposition to the project on Cool Oak Way.
  • Unanimously approved a request to build a pool on a property located on Horizon Drive, despite the steepness of the lot.

“This is the steepest lot I’ve ever seen a home built on,” said Vaill, as he spoke about the 45-angle degree of the property.

“The home is not built yet, but it was approved without the pool,” he explained. “Now they came back as they are ready to build, requesting the pool as well.”

  • Reluctantly agreed to take another bite in the continuance apple as requested by an appellant who opposed a proposal to build a new single-family residence that includes variances on Zumirez Drive.

Story poles, which indicate the future height and location of a home, were not accurate, therefore complicating and delaying the project.

  • Next week the Civic Center Village guidelines will be reviewed by the City Council. Two commission members were assigned to attend so they could answer questions from the council about revised version of the guidelines, which the commission worked on.

Successful secession tough

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13StarsManager
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I hope you don’t mind someone from the Valley giving a bit of perspective on your secession editorial. I generally enjoy reading The Malibu Times because I’d eventually like to move to your city, and I like keeping a wary eye on the odd controversy. Heck, the Malibu City Council is better than any soap.

I would guess your article comes out of frustration that the City of Malibu has not been everything you thought it would be, and I daresay you are right. Malibu was to a great extent ill-conceived, without the population needed to become a real city, one with actual control over its services. Any city that has to contract with the county for policing and other services surely loses many of the advantages of independence.

I would point to the rather obvious fact that Culver City is a better place than West Los Angeles, despite similar income levels; Beverly Hills is far better run than Bel Air; and so on. The reason is local control, and that requires a city capable of running, or at least controlling, all services.

To make this concrete, note the results of the recent election for Los Angeles Mayor. Steve Soboroff won the Valley; Antonio Villaraigosa won the central city, and the result is that we have James Hahn as a muddled compromise between the two regions. In other words, neither region got their preferred candidate, because the city is too diverse to gain consensus on the type of leader we really need.

I believe the Valley secession is to some extent absurd, simply because the resulting entity is still going to be much too big and unresponsive. But it would be enormously better than having our affairs run from Downtown LA, under a historically contemptuous and unresponsive City Council.

I would be curious to hear your perspective on the actual results of Malibu secession in more detail; perhaps you could point me to an earlier editorial that covers it?

Many thanks for your publication on the web; I enjoy and appreciate it.

David Dennis

Woodland Hills, CA

Best buys of Malibu – by the numbers

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13StarsManager
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The Malibu Times

It is a fallacy to believe that when the real estate market moves in one direction, the trend is different for different areas or types of property. If Malibu homes go up 30 percent, the same rise applies generally to all kinds of homes and all local neighborhoods.

Furthermore, the popular notion that condominiums or mobile homes do not appreciate as fast as homes is incorrect also. Unless there are unusual supply and demand factors, values roughly move along the same graph.

It may be true that over a longer term, such as 20 or more years, one area may do better than others. Beach properties and a location such as Point Dume may have appreciated more than the rest of Malibu over the past generation.

On a year-to-year comparison, however, tracking value increase is a reliable exercise. In fact, all things being equal, a home value today can be closely determined using the value alterations since the last year it sold as a basis.

For example, if the market went up 50 percent since 1998 and a home that sold for $500,000 in 1998 comes on the market, it is likely the current market value is in the neighborhood of $750,000.

There are other ways to estimate the current value of a property. A full-scale appraisal or typical broker comparable market analysis using comparable recent sales can be very effective for listing purposes. It is almost assured that the estimated value will not be far off from the method above. (Often, the mere wish or imagination of the seller is utilized to establish an asking price).

Most homes on the market in the past 10 years in Malibu have sold, and many of those were in relatively the same condition as last time.

Through May, approximately 87 homes had sold in Malibu, with a median sale price at about $1,180,000. After a slow start, with primarily higher priced homes selling, the selling pace has quickened this spring, with lower priced homes getting more attention.

The following are ap-proximate increases between the median prices of all home sales in Malibu for each year in comparison to current values:

1991 30%

1992 41%

1993 59%

1994 63%

1995 74%

1996 76%

1997 62%

1998 52%

1999 15%

2000 same

Every listing that has previously sold in the past 10 years seeks a higher price than last time. Which listings are most reasonable? Which listings are most in line with the trends from their last sale?

The 10 listings described below are priced best, as of this writing, to the commensurate value increase of Malibu homes for the year it last sold.

Of course, this does not mean these are the only good buys. Fundamental flaws exist in this type of analysis (and, in fact, the purpose here is primarily for entertainment, as a guide to buyers and as recognition of sellers and/or their agents willing to price their homes most reasonably).

It may be that a home sold and then was dramatically upgraded since. Of course its current price would not be in line with the changes from its previous year sold. Effectively, it would not qualify for this study. Or, a home has suffered from deferred maintenance and it deserves to be priced lower than the trend from the last time it sold.

The changes during the year are not reflected. A home that sold in 1999 was in a market as much as 35 percent higher than earlier in the year.

Lastly, homes that sold previous to the last 10 years are excluded.

Despite the statistical shortcomings described above, the following homes, beach and landside single-family residences, rank as the most prudently-priced homes on the market in the Malibu/90265 selling area:

  • A home in Sea View Estates, up Las Flores Canyon, has come on the market at about the same price it sold for in 1991. The market went up 30 percent in the years since. The home is listed at $739,000, just 6 percent more than what it last sold for.
  • A Las Tunas Beach home sold that in 1998 and again in 1999 is on the market one more time.

Previous sale prices: $895,000 and $1,120,000. The current asking price is reasonably 12 percent above last time: $1,250,000.

  • A home on Ramirez Mesa sold at the bottom of the market in 1994 for $1,275,000. The market has increased more than 60 percent since then. The listing for the same house is just over $1.85 million, only about a 45 percent increase.
  • High atop all of Malibu, in the West Saddlepeak neighborhood, a home last sold in 1998 for $650,000. It is about $150,000 more now, but still well priced.
  • On La Costa Beach, a home may be a good deal on 40 feet of beach at an asking price of $3.3 million. When it sold last in 1993, it went for $2.5 million.
  • Can a home be a good value at nearly $6 million? We’ll see. A bluff top estate above Malibu Road last sold at $4.95 million in 1993. Now it’s about 20 percent higher, at $5.95 million.
  • It was just two years ago a Malibu Park home traded at $950,000. The market is up, but the price isn’t so much. It was just reduced to only $995,000.
  • Move to a little house on the beach for under $1 million and get a deal? A small 2-bedroom home on Big Rock Beach is listed at $875,000. It sold last at for about $650,000, but that was 1996. The market has increased about 76 percent since that low period, but the asking price is only 35 percent higher.
  • A home in Malibu Country Estates is a little on the high side, but that didn’t keep it from selling for almost $1.6 million in 1998. It is listed for $200,000 more now, priced well below the 50 percent increase since that time.
  • Another home in Sea View Estates caught the bottom of the market in 1995, selling for about $550,000. Now it is listed at $785,000, much higher, but reasonable.

Several other homes are listed at below the increase that the market has seen since their last sales. Likely, buyers will soon find those homes favorable to the competition.

Ultimately, buyers determine what is a good buy or not. In 1999, a home came on the market for virtually the same price that it had sold in 1994, despite a marketplace that had appreciated more than 20 percent during that time. Sure enough, the listing was bidded to a selling price 20 percent higher, as the marketplace quickly reacted to the mistakenly low list price.

In general, homes on the market now for more than double what they sold for in the last decade are overpriced, unless they undertook significant improvements. And there are plenty of such listings.

A serious seller that is overpricing will inevitably have to accept an offer that is more in line with the established appreciation trends since they bought themselves. Value is not created magically.

Rick Wallace of the Coldwell Banker Company has been a Realtor in Malibu for 13 years. He can be reached at RICKMALIBUrealestate.com

Banding for health of Solstice Canyon

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13StarsManager
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Trapped in a net, a bird frantically beats its wings in a futile attempt to escape. A man with large, gentle hands slowly untangles the bird, which immediately quiets as he holds the tiny creature. “A black-headed grosbeak,” he says with a smile.

This bird will be one of nearly 50 avians banded, catalogued and then freed on Saturday in Solstice Canyon in Malibu.

Since last month, Solstice Canyon is the site of a new bird banding MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) station, one of nearly 500 stations in the U.S. and Canada. Every 10 days, beginning May 1 until early August, a team of assistants and volunteers led by Walter Sakai, master bird bander and professor of Biology at Santa Monica College, will capture and band birds by setting up 10 mist nets strategically placed in the canyon. In the coming years, by recapturing adult birds and banding their offspring, the project can track the productivity (number of offspring) and survivorship of the resident avian population, which will help resource managers assess the health of Solstice Canyon.

On Saturday, from 6 a.m. until noon, four bird banders worked the area, checking the nearly invisible, 8-foot high by 40-foot long nets every half-hour. When a bird was caught, it was carefully extracted from the net and carried in a soft net bag to a truck that held banding equipment. The bird was weighed, examined for sex and approximate age, and the wings were measured and feathers counted. The banders also checked for a brood patch, which is a bald spot on the belly of females that indicates she is preparing to nest, or is currently sitting on a nest of eggs. Before being released, a numbered band was placed around the bird’s leg, which will identify it if captured at a later date. According to Sakai, an average of 60 birds are banded in a six-hour period. About 200 birds have been banded in Solstice Canyon since May.

The sultry day brought nature lovers to the lush green canyon. A group of children saw a bird caught in one of the nets and watched with fascination as Sakai rescued it. One woman, who said she has been birding in the area for 25 years, stopped by the truck to watch the proceedings. “This is very interesting,” she said. “But I have mixed feelings about it, the handling of birds. It’s obviously a good thing to monitor bird activity, but I wish it wasn’t necessary.”

Sakai said that banding is a safe procedure overall, and the banders are well trained. But occasionally, a mishap occurs. “Every once in a while, a bird gets caught and tries to get out and a leg gets broken,” he said. “But it’s very rare. How else are you going to gain knowledge of this [bird productivity]?”

Jim Serikawa works in the Life Science Department at Santa Monica College and has been banding birds for four years. “Once people see what we’re doing, they’re usually supportive,” he said. “They want to see the birds up close.”

The MAPS program was created by the Institute of Bird Populations in 1989 and is supported by the Audubon Society and the National Park Service, among other organizations. Sakai said he received approximately $3,500 in financial and equipment donations for the Solstice Canyon MAPS station from the Santa Monica Bay and Los Angeles Audubon Societies and from Avinet, a New York-based company that sells banding equipment.

Sakai received his master bird bander license in 1997 and has been banding birds for 10 years. He also maintains MAPS stations in Zuma Canyon (since 1995), Zuma Creek, Joshua Tree and in the San Jacinto Mountains.

According to Sakai, the most common bird they band in the Malibu area is the wrentit. Other birds banded on Saturday included the common yellowthroat, orange-crowned warbler, black phoebe and black-headed grosbeak. Several hummingbirds were weighed and measured but released unbanded, as it takes a special license to band these tiny birds. Cause for excitement for the banders is the capture of birds that don’t often fly into the nets, such as red-tailed hawks and owls that are caught during all-night banding sessions.

Sakai told of a hard-to-catch bird that recently delighted his crew. “There was a roadrunner at Zuma Canyon last week that we banded,” he said, laughing. “It was a rush for everyone.”

Sand in my shoes

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13StarsManager
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Now that June gloom has subsided, have you noticed that we have a lot more friends than we imagined? Something about living on the beach. Those flies have got to go. I put screens in my windows and they’re still in my house. If you need a flycatcher, I’ll lend you my dog. He sees an annoying fly, takes a jump, catches it, chews it, and spits it out. Or, better yet, Jordan, our neighborhood car washer will make a house call–and yes, he does windows.

The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you’re doing, someone else does.

‘Bu who?

Barbra Streisand and husband James Brolin were seen holding hands at a charity flea market. And who was lovey dovey in the Malibu surf but Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

The perfect husband is Brad Pitt. Imagine your guy not only taking an interest and helping out with decorating, but also surprising you with the curtains of your dreams. The man of every girl’s dreams had custom-made drapes copied from a ritzy hotel just for his gal. You’ve got it made Jennifer Anniston. And Suzanne Sommers was seen at a local eatery concocting up a healthy breakfast dish that wasn’t on the menu.

Movers and shakers

Big-time litigation lawyer Tommy Schey took his mother, Vera (visiting from Detroit), to Nobu for some sushi. Seated nearby was Colette Kronick, senior vice president, business development at CurtCo Media Labs. From Malibu Wine & Cheese to sipping sake and tasting sashimi was Arthur Bright enjoying the yin to yang with guitarist Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar’s husband.

Sizing up a role

The Screen Actors Guild theatrical contract expires June 30 and one person will be hoping for a mutual agreement, for he has been rushing to wrap production before the end of June. Steven Spielberg’s new film, “Minority Report,” should be in Malibu theaters next year.

Around town

Get in on the fun, especially this time of the year at the always-rollicking Taverna Tony’s restaurant. Live music and belly laughing … I mean belly dancing, dish breaking and line dancing–it’s a Saturday night thing. And that’s not all. You’ll be glad to know that newcomer to Malibu, Trace Moss, will be playing her harp this weekend at a motivational and self-awareness conference.

Roundup

What occurs more often in June than any other month of the year? Wedding bells are ringing!

Did you know the first married couple shown in bed together on prime time television was Fred and Wilma Flintstone?

Vineyard deemed a ‘cool hang’

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13StarsManager
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One could already feel a sense of energy building as the predominately young crowd began filling the 550 seats in what is known as “The House.”

The stage, empty of performers at that moment, was ready for another spiritually uplifting performance. Guitars and drums were already in place from the show that had taken place just two hours earlier.

Like a scene one would expect at a venue like the Greek Theater, the Gabe Watkins band took the stage to a bevy of shrieks and screams.

No, it wasn’t the beginning of a concert featuring various Christian artists — at least, not in the true sense of the word concert. Instead, it was the beginning of yet another Sunday service at Malibu Vineyard.

It takes only moments for even the newest of newcomers to realize the Vineyard isn’t a typical place of worship. After all, it’s probably the only church in the world that includes a recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine in its press material.

“The church wasn’t really conservative–not like you have to wear a coat and tie or whatever,” said Jason Wade, of the double platinum act Lifehouse, in an interview with David Wild, that was published in the June 7 issue of Rolling Stone. “It was more like a cool hang.”

Nevertheless, the Vineyard is not only a place for people of all ages to come and worship, but it’s also a place for all faiths. The Vineyard is a nondenominational institution. And its uniqueness lends itself to the performing arts as a means of presentation.

“I’m happy co-existing with people that are different,” said Dave Owen, senior pastor. “For us, anybody is welcome.

“We had a well-known Christian therapist speak at the church. He said he found you don’t have to be weird to be here, but you can be weird and be here. I like the sound of that.”

Owen started the Vineyard shortly after moving to California from his native South Africa in the cafeteria of Webster Elementary School in 1993. However, it has been located in its newly constructed building, which is referred to as a performing arts center as opposed to a church, since December 3, 2000.

Accessible to the Malibu community, the Vineyard is capable of staging television, film, theater and video production. The House, which is designed to “function like a speaker,” is capable of recording audio in high definition DVD format.

“We set our goals and we set our sights specifically,” said Gene Shiveley, finance director and board member of the Vineyard. “And we made sure we met those goals. We’re small in size here, but what we are is able to reach the entire world from here.”

Nearly every room at the Vineyard is fully equipped with uplink and downlink satellite communications giving it the capability of communicating anywhere in the world as well as interactive services with other organizations.

“I don’t know anyone who does the interfacing with satellite communications the way we do,” said Shiveley.

The entire premise of Malibu Vineyard centers on arts and entertainment. Nevertheless, that’s not much of a surprise considering roughly 50 percent of those who attend are somehow involved in the entertainment industry.

“We are some of the most aggressive people in the world,” said Shiveley. “We are sitting in one of the most aggressive, influential places in the world and we can do a lot of stuff. Many things we can do better than anybody else. It may sound arrogant, but that is kind of where this is.”

“Sometimes church is so hidden and not involved in real life activities,” said Owen. “That’s not how I want us to be seen. I want us to be well-rounded people. And, I want us to affirm artistic endeavor.”

Plans are in effect to open a private high school for up to 75 students with a strong desire to eventually work professionally in the entertainment industry.

“It’s an interesting concept,” said Shiveley of the school. Plans for the school, which will be housed in an as of now unused portion of the Vineyard, call for the groundbreaking to take place in 2002.

The Vineyard, which was purchased for $7.25 million, recently was appraised at a little more than $15 million as an office complex and is expected to be reappraised in the near future as a performing arts center.

Shiveley believes that appraisal could possibly be in the neighborhood of $20 million to $25 million.

“If we were looking at this from a business point of view,” said Shiveley, “it’s an incredible move, quite incredible. There are not that many places where you can triple your money in that short of time.

“Well, it’s more than real estate,” added Shively. “It’s taking it and creating something with it. The real jump is when you have vision and then you have created an

entire performing arts center.”

“We wanted to try and establish [Malibu Vineyard] with a theater-type atmosphere,” explained Owen. “I think that’s the way people should be seeing it–that they’re going into a concert environment.”

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