Venue: Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre
Event time (screening): Noon-4:00
Event time (inspection): 11:00-3:00
Total Audience: 50+
Number of people bringing films: 10
Films screened by Gauge:
8mm: 7
Super 8: 6
16mm: 6
9.5mm: 1
28mm: 1
VHS: 1
Volunteers: 25
Kelle Anzalone, Snowden Becker, Cassie Blake, Shay Cornelius, Jovita Dominguez, Brian Drischell, Donna Ellithorpe, Dino Everett, Jere Guldin, Fritz Herzog, Tessa Idlewine, Sean Kilcoyne, Kim Luperi, Brian Meacham, Sadie Menchen Schwartz, Esther Nam, Cliff Retallick, Charles Rogers, Sean Savage, Amanda Smith, Jessica Storm, Rhonda Vigeant, Leah Wagner, Rachel Wilson, Tim Wilson, Steve Wright
Special events/screenings: Finger-food potluck to coincide with screenings
Prize sponsors: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, American Cinematheque, Cinefamily, Film Technology Co., Laemmle Theatres, Los Angeles Conservancy, Masa Pizzeria, Outfest, Pro8mm, Skylight Books, UCLA Film & Television Archive + purchased CafePress HMD logo gear
Press (pre-event and post-event): Made some calendar listings, but no feature stories. Trisha appeared on KUCI Irvine radio show, discussing archival issues.
Report submitted by: Trisha Lendo, Sean Savage
“Being able to view films I hadn’t seen in over forty years with my daughters by my side far exceeded my expectations for the day. And the friendliness and enthusiasm of everyone there made it just that much more enjoyable. I fully intend to be there next year, hopefully with more films in hand.”
–HMD-LA participant Debbie Ringo
As people were filling their plates from the finger food goodies and settling in, we ran a 16mm Kodachrome reel preserved by the Academy Film Archive. Newcomb Condee was a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge and dedicated documenter of his family and travels. This intertitled reel featured the high school graduation of (grand-?)daughter Marie, Grace Condee playing “Air Raid Warden” and horsing around with the younger kids and a glimpse of Charlie Chaplin on the tennis court.
The show proper began with HMD-LA regular Bill Jenkins, a collector of home movies, with early-to-mid-40s 8mm Kodachrome he purchased at a garage sale. The family and location were unknown, but their hijinks – including sack races, Halloween and quaint old rotary phones – were enlivened considerably by our volunteer (but still pro) pianist Cliff Rettalick.
UCLA MIAS student Robert Vaszari brought two Super-reels from 1980s, in which he appears with his twin brother on summer trips in Lake Tahoe and elsewhere. Another featured roll was shot by his grandparents in Palos Verdes.
Debbie Ringo came with reels shot by her father in the late 50s-early 60s. She hadn’t viewed them in 40 years, and simple math would tell you her daughters had never seen them. Slumber parties, go karts, brother on skateboard, and her dog Penny are all featured.
The ever-reliable Charles Rogers appeared again this year with S-8 rolls of Chicago White Sox games loyally captured by his Aunt Pat, c. 1976-7.
HMD-LA co-organizer Trisha Lendo shared an eBay find – “Garden Party” (1961) on 8mm Kodachrome.
Nicholas Spark (not The Notebook guy) has been collecting home movies for about a decade, and shared some L.A views from the 1960s. Believing he was in the clear for repurposing in his own documentary work, emcee Snowden set him straight by emphatically saying that home movies are NOT in the public domain.
Fred Kulberg was up next, making his fourth HMD appearance. From home movies he shot 1945-99, he compiled a thematic roll of Las Vegas and Reno marquees at night, with classic entertainers like Jerry Lewis, Shirley Bassey, Jimmy Durante and Buddy Hackett all appearing (well, their names in lights anyway). Also some San Francisco views and some ringside shots of a 1983 Larry Holmes fight (vs. ????).
Ziba Zehbar thought she had her VHS cued up – her father worked for Boeing and recorded over a McDonnell Douglas shareholder video and we scanned through much of it. Back to her later.
Rachel Wilson, another UCLA MIAS student, brought some 8mm & 16mm and her grandmother! The films were shot by her great grandfather, and highlights included 1940s fun in black and white – a three-legged sack race, kids blowing bubble gum bubbles, and canine shenanigans – as well as the Seattle 1962 World’s Fair in color, and Disneyland in the 70s.
Ziba’s VHS was now ready to roll, and some awkward comedy ensues as her adorable 2-year old sister tries to figure how to mount a bike with training wheels. Ziba also brought films she thought might be from pre-revolution Cuba, courtesy her ex-boyfriend’s mother, but the Super-8 turned out to be shot in Southern California.
HMD projectionist and purveyor of obscure amateur format gear and films, Dino Everett demoed an English family’s 1921 Christmas morning on 28mm and another’s visit to Stonehenge in color 9.5mm.
Debbie Ringo was up again with rolls of two different sets of Christmas festivities, 1950 in black and white starring her brother, and 1959 in color when she was about 7 years old. The films gave us a glimpse into an integrated Leimert Park of the 50’s as her and her brother played outside with neighbors. Also a family trip to Vegas, Hoover Dam, and the Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley.
Trisha wraps up the afternoon with some 16mm she acquired in a thrift store just last month – waves crashing in Redondo Beach and snow-covered trees in Yosemite.