Filmmakers, actors, directors, producers, musicians and anyone who enjoys art gathered at the Performing Arts Center last Thursday to celebrate the twelfth annual Methodfest Film Festival.
Methodfest is a non-profit organization that strives to gain great sponsors and display the beautiful art that has been submitted throughout the years.
“Really great talent supports the art in all of its forms”, said Ashley Miers, lead singer and guitarist who’s band played at the festival.
Method fest will be in Calabasas from March 25- 31st, it will be a great opportunity to view cinematic art and musical art at their purest form.
Nearly 2,000 entries are filtered each year and somewhere around thirty to forty of them are shown over the six days. Some of the movies shown in Methodfest in previous years went on to the Academy Awards.
Director Justin Monroe spoke about his trouble with the law while taping “The Rock & Roll Dreams Of Duncan Christopher”.
Monroe excitedly spoke about his experiences while shooting in Oklahoma.
Director Alex Gaynor talked about how on the first day of shooting they got a tornado warning.
The second day when they went out to shoot, they watched as the tornado flew past them.
“The locals were telling us to get inside, while the guys from California watched”, said Gaynor.
Their story was about a road trip and ironically the cast would have to take a road trip of their own in order to complete the film.
Monroe and his cast had to shoot while in a moving car, so he had one of his taller cast members stretch out of the car while shooting at around forty mph.
Fortunately he was able to get the footage that he needed, however he was pulled over a few times while doing it.
All in all he was very appreciative of Oklahoma for having him there and talked very highly of their karaoke culture.
Music is also a high priority of Methodfest and they have nearly a dozen musical groups coming to play over the six-day span.
“A lot of people think that we make money from the ticket sales, but its really through great sponsors that we are able to do this” said Bob Arnef, President of Methodfest Inc.
One person that is responsible for attracting this event to Pierce College is Dennis Washburn, Executive Director of Foundation of Pierce College.
He is also a council member for the city of Calabasas and a long time supporter and mediator of the event.
Washburn seemed very pleased with the versatility of Pierces media arts and theatre departments stating, “students can come to Pierce to learn anything they need whether it be radio, journalism, broadcasting, or theatre.”
Even though many of the films were made with low budgets they were able to create scenes meant to celebrate the creativity of the individual, not high explosives and computer technology.
“Welcome to the only film festival that celebrates the actor,” said Don Franken, executive director and founder of the festival.
This motto echoed through the voices of many of the actors and directors who were called up on stage to tell stories of how their movies came to be.
The Film Festival is a means for directors and producers who do not have a whole lot of money, but a drive and motivation to find a medium in which they can share their art with the world.
The festival has had many different homes throughout the years, residing in Hermosa Beach, Pasadena, Burbank and now in Calabasas.