The legendary entertainment giant Carl Reiner and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky were the big winners last Saturday at the closing of the third Backlot Film Festival at the Vets Auditorium.
Mr. Reiner accepted the Thomas Ince Award for excellence in filmmaking.
The Founders Award was
presented to Mr. Yaroslavsky for his support of the arts.
The festival ran Wednesday through Friday of last week, and it included 14
premieres in its four-day run, in the independent feature, documentary,
shorts and student shorts categories.
When Mr. Reiner, the veteran actor-producer-writer-director, was honored, selected episodes from the Dick Van Dyke Show and Your Show of Shows were screened.
Scenes from Mr. Reiner’s films, “The Comic,” “All of Me” and “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid,” were screened.
Plaid.”
On Friday evening, Lily Tomlin and Mr. Reiner were on hand for a Q&A on
his career that was conducted by film historian Marc Wanamaker.
Tribute also was paid to the legendary producer Arthur Freed, and screenings from his “DuBarry Was A Lady,” “Cabin In the Sky” and “Gigi”were shown.
Celebrities at the Closing Night Awards party included Rob Reiner, Penny
Marshall, Michelle Lee, Mr. Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Kat Kramer, John Kerr,
Michael Forrest and stars from films in competition that included Nichelle
Nichols (“Lady Magdalene’s”), Chase Masterson (“Yesterday Was A Lie”), Tane McClure (“The Eye of Dan”), William C. Dear (“O.J. Is Guilty — But Not of Murder, the Overlooked Suspect”) and Gillian Breshears (“Chekhov and Maria”), among others.
The Rob Landreth Quartet provided music for the reception, and
food was catered by various restaurants in Culver City, which included
Victor Jr’s, Dolce Vita, Honey’s Kettle Fried Chicken, Pacifico’s, Brunella
Trattoria, Industry Café and Jazz, Mrs. Garcia’s, Skratch and Lonzo’s
Bakery.
Culver City Mayor Alan Corlin, welcomed the guests to the awards ceremony, and he presented the award to Mr. Yaroslavsky.
The County Supervisor was recognized as having been instrumental in rebuilding and modernizing the
Hollywood Bowl, developing the Walt Disney Concert Hall and
assisting in funding for the County Museum of Art and the County
’s Museum of Natural History.
Actress Stella Stevens presented and announced the entrants for the films in
competition. Best Short Film was won by the comedy “Pencil Fighting.”
Filmmakers Paula Jimenez and JC Nunez accepted the award.
Best Documentary was won by “O.J. Is Guilty — But Not of Murder, the Overlooked Suspect,” and
accepted by private investigator-author -filmmaker William C. Dear.
“La Cucina” and “Yesterday Was a Lie” tied for Best Independent Feature.
Co-director Zed Starkovich accepted for “La Cucina,” a romantic dramedy, and
executive producer, writer and director James Kerwin accepted for “Yesterday
Was A Lie,” a sci-fi film noir.
This year the Backlot Film Festival also established the Arthur Freed Award
for Best Student Film.
Stephen A. Saltzman, a grandson of Mr. Freed, narrated a presentation
on his grandfather’s legacy. He then announced Jackie Liao as the winner for her animated short film, “Dandelion.”
School Board member Steve Gourley, introduced Rob Reiner, who began
the presentation of the prestigious Ince Award to his father. The tribute included pre-taped acknowledgements from Garry Marshall, Mr. Winkler and Ms. Tomlin in addition to humorous letters of warm wishes from colleagues, including
Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Mel Brooks
and Carol Burnett.
Rob Reiner said he learned his trade as a teenager, by watching his father work on the set of the “Dick Van Dyke
Show.” He then introduced Mr. Van Dyke, who congratulated the elder Mr. Reiner on stage.
Upon accepting his award, Carl Reiner quipped, “I didn’t know who the Backlot Film Festival was, but now they’re my favorite people in the whole world, and this is the nicest festival in the entire world.”
Sponsors for the festival included The Old Town Music Hall, Sony Pictures
Entertainment, Warner Bros., (A Time Warner Entertainment Company), Alliance
Bank, the Greater West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Area Veterans’ Alliance, Walter N. Marks Realty, Haas GPS, Ed Little Auto
Service, Damian Gerard Curran Associates, www.taxmark.com, Dolce Vita, Ugo, thefrontpageonline.com and Not Maurice.
The Backlot Film Festival was founded in 2004 by Festival Producer Ross
Hawkins.
His objective was to cultivate an appreciation of the rich heritage of the motion picture industry, in Culver City, West Los Angeles and the beach cities of Santa Monica, Venice and Playa del Rey, often referred to as ‘The Other
Hollywood,’ and to bring a greater understanding of the debt filmmaking owes to its early pioneers.
For a complete list of film shown, see www.backlotfilmfestival.com