Bernie Blackout Airs TONIGHT On Vice - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

I love working on projects with Pat McGee Pictures, because I know it's going to be a job that I can feel proud of being a part of, and that it matters to the world at large - the very best kind of work to have. We've worked together on Dopesick Nation, a series for Viceland about the opioid epidemic. It was one of the darkest, hardest subjects I've ever delved into, but it was important to help the nation understand what a gigantic and sad epidemic opioids have become. Then we did The Deported, about the immigration crisis, where I had to convince ICE to let us go around with them on a ride-along - heavy, awful stuff ... but again very important to understanding that issue that affects everyone in this country. Our third project working together airs tonight on Vice (as part of their new Vice Versa series), and might be the most important one yet. Bernie Blackout will take you along on the 2020 Presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders - and show you how complicit the Mainstream Media is in cheating this American treasure out of a nomination - AGAIN. This one is SUPER important to understanding just how corrupt and outrageous our elections really are ... with the hope that we can do something about it. Knowledge is power.

The call to work on this gig came at the beginning of March, just as the United States was beginning to shut down over the Covid-19 virus. We very quickly had to pivot from the plan to interview our subjects in person in New York, D.C., and California to the shift of doing all interviews via Zoom. That quickly had to pivot to Skype, as there were so many people and businesses using Zoom overnight, that our connections were garbage if the idea was to use the video interviews in a feature documentary for broadcast. There was a lot of frustration and late nights as producers met from all over the country on the phone and online to try to get this done by our deadline for the air date.

Emails flew all day and night every day, trying to land interviews with the independent journalists and leaders that were telling the REAL story about the Sanders campaign, and were as outraged as we were at the absolute 180 by the Mainstream Media that happened when they began to realize Sanders could run away with this whole thing - WOULD run away with the whole thing - and their corporate bosses just couldn't let that happen. News pieces began to treat the campaign as a joke, with obvious talking points shifting to that outlook overnight. I began to have a hard time booking people for interviews, like my old pal Boots Riley, (who Tweeted about this exact subject so much, and came out in support of Sanders, endorsing a Presidential candidate for the first time in his life!) and Dr. Cornel West, as they didn't want to have something they said be perceived in a way that could affect the outcome of the election ... everything was very walking on eggshells.

THEN Sanders suspended his campaign - in the middle of all of this! Unbelievable. The media had won, and had truly pressured out the best chance we've had at peace in this nation in a very long time. I'm still seething mad about it, as I've been a Sanders supporter forever, and very much believe in the veracity, inspiration, and possibilities that would benefit us all under a Sanders Presidency. But nope. The 1% wasn't having it. We started hearing more about general strikes brewing (Great! Do it!), and about a real case of sexual harassment brought against Joe Biden - the presumptive Democratic nominee only be default - certainly not by any kind of winning campaign strategies. Though Sanders had been cheated out of the nomination AGAIN by the DNC and the Mainstream Media (and must have felt so despondent and mistreated!), he continued to lead on the subject of healthcare (more vital than ever now!), and shifted his campaign donations to be used for Covid-19 relief. A real mensch.

Bernie Blackout was meant to air on April 23rd, the night before the New York primary. Sanders dropping out, and then the postponement of the New York primary to June 23rd pushed the air date to TONIGHT, May 13th, at 8:00 pm on Vice. This gave us a little more time to get the interviews we wanted, and the opportunity to address the suspension of the campaign in real time. America is supposed to be a Democracy, and this documentary will hopefully enrage you and inspire you enough to care about that basic tenet of our country being crushed - and to get up, stand up to do something about it. We cannot let the Mainstream Media dictate who our leaders are, who we should believe, what to do during a global pandemic, or anything really. They are there to bring us the unbiased news, end of story. Only it never is, and tonight we hope you will join us both in our collective outrage at the Media, and in our collective, heartfelt THANKS to Bernie Sanders for always being a man of We the People. Who HAVE THE POWER. Never forget that.

Thank you to Pat McGee Picture for another eye-opening, soul moving work experience, and to all the real journalists I got to meet out there doing the right thing, and fighting the power every day. We need you now more than ever. And THANK YOU BERNIE! You deserve so much more than this country has given back to you, and I humbly offer you my sincere gratitude that there are still people like you, fighting for us.

Bernie Blackout airs tonight at 8:00 pm on Vice. Please tune in, and let us know what you think!

*All photos by Gregory Taylor

Farewell Madame Varda!

I was sad to hear the news today of the passing of Agnes Varda, widely known as the mother of French New Wave Cinema. She was one of a kind.

I've written stories about her projects in the past, as I found them so moving. First, The Beaches of Agnes, which is filmed partially in Venice, and couldn't be more lovely.

More recently, I was charmed out of my socks by the wonderful Faces/Places ... and I bet you will be too.

Varda saw the humanity in all of us everywhere, and made the viewer feel it too. I hope to touch people even just a little bit as much as she did one day, and thank this legend for her inspiration always. 90 is a great run, but the loss of this marvelous woman is still a tough one. She will be missed by the entire world. 

Vive Varda!

Roller Dreams - The Legend Of Roller Dancing In Venice

There was another gorgeous sunset in Venice last night, but the show was not over after that. It was on to Beyond Baroque for Gerry Fialka's Laughtears annual night of Venice cinema. The main event was a screening of the wonderful documentary, Roller Dreams, which tells the story of the rise (and decline) of roller dancing on the Venice Boardwalk.

The 15th annual cinematic evening of works featuring Venice had a packed house for the event, which began with live music from Sara Messenger (a star of Roller Dreams) that I was still looking at the sunset for, and then a film from Taylor Cox called PULL, about artists and people in Venice listening to their inner voices to continue to be creative. That one was a nice intro to the rest of the night, especially as Fialka is one of the main people being interviewed within the film. It's great to see filmmakers continuing to be inspired by our Venice.

It was was standing room only in the Beyond Baroque auditorium by the time Roller Dreams screened, with locals and roller skater fans crammed into the room to witness a piece of Venice history on the screen. The 80's were all about roller disco, and Venice was at its very heart. The skaters were rock stars down at the Boardwalk, and thousands of bystanders would surround them to cheer them on. You meet characters like Sally, Duval (who dressed up like Superman in a cape - RIP), Jimmy, Terrell, and the mean mug of "Mad", who was the undisputed ringleader of it all.

Times change, and the roller dancing scene was eclipsed by the skateboarding one, but that's not the only reason why things changed down there at the Boardwalk. We've been living with the gentrification for years now, which is a big part of this story, along with the issue of race. The vast majority of the awesome roller dancers in Venice were African American, and once there got to be thousands of fans packing in to watch them, the police weren't comfortable and simply put an end to it. The concrete was bulldozed up, the loud music (often Prince) they danced to was forbidden, and that was pretty much that. Except it wasn't.

All of the roller dancers featured in Roller Dreams were in the house for the screening last night at Beyond Baroque - Mad is still Mad. It was extra emotional when they all stood up at the end, because we all now knew the history, their importance to our community and to the rollerskating world, as well as a glimpse into their hearts, and what all of this meant to them. Director Kate Hickey's film was inspired by the Aussie cult film Xanadu, starring Olivia Newton-John, which began Hickey's love for roller dancing. Once she moved to Venice and learned that the pioneers of the sport were all right here (and shockingly never featured in the white-washed roller disco films of the era), she knew she had to tell their stories. She has done so with a loving and respectful tone that shares the joy and pain of the roller dancer's world.

The Venice Beach Sk8 Dancers are still down there every weekend, as entertaining and groovy as ever. Now that I know their stories, I just want to go down and watch them all the time. Or better yet, learn from them, as they all said they welcome everyone and love to teach people new tricks (and rollerskating is making a big comeback! Way cuter than rollerblades). They also need our help. The Skate Dance Plaza needs a facelift (and to be even and not crumbling), and they have a Go Fund Me set up to improve the conditions so they may continue offering fun and entertainment to the global village that passes by in the thousands each weekend. They need $20,000 (and the City isn't helping - surprise). We can do this for them. They've given the world so much for decades ... we can help them get funky for decades more. Please support our Roller Dreamers!

Go Fund the Re-Paving of Venice Skate Dance Plaza!

https://www.gofundme.com/repave-venice-beach-plaza

Thanks to Gerry Fialka and Beyond Baroque for a great night of Venice cinema!

Fahrenheit 11/9 - A Must See For ALL Americans

Holy smokes. I just saw Fahrenheit 11/9 last night, and I can't get it out of my head. And neither will you. Because you simply MUST see it. There's so much in it that hasn't been in the news, that you don't know about ... I honestly am still having a hard time shutting my jaw.

You might have a bias against Michael Moore, because you think he's slanted or bombastic or whatever, and he certainly can be (like when Trump's voice comes out of Hitler's mouth- but the point is made). But this one is equally critical about both sides of our government - and it SHOULD be. One talking head makes the point that we're still TRYING to be a Democracy, as how can you say we've been a Democracy when not everyone has even had the right to vote for very long. We're still working TOWARD a Democracy. And Democrats are just as bad as the Republicans sometimes.

I left this film with a whole different feeling toward Obama too. Did you know that he went to Flint, Michigan (Moore's hometown - it's personal), and they all thought he was coming to save the day and call their poisoned water a national disaster (with the funding that goes along with that), and he came to town and asked for a glass of water to drink to show that it was o.k (when it is literally killing people and making their babies' hair fall out from lead poisoning!)?! While sitting next to the absolute EVIL villain Michigan Governor Snyder?! Did you further know that after all they've suffered through, Flint citizens awoke one night to being BOMBED by our own U.S. Army - using their abandoned buildings as target practice - without telling anyone it was going to happen?!?! It looked like an Iraq style bombing. OUTRGEOUS. And the people of Flint are imprisoned there, because who's going to buy their homes so they can move? No one. It's enough to make you defect. But to WHERE? The whole world feels corrupt.

There are images and statements from the current Despot/President that make your skin actually crawl, and look for barf bags. Then, just as you're fully nauseous from that pig's face, you have to admit that it was the Democrats that put him in the White House. Some of us already knew that, because we tried with all we had to elect Bernie Sanders - who a thousand percent would have won. To watch the delegates (while people who previously thought their votes counted watched and sobbed) LIE and give Hillary Clinton the nomination from states that Sanders 100% won, was to watch corruption at the highest level - and the death of Democracy (that we barely even had yet). No wonder so many people didn't bother to vote - they were made to feel like their votes didn't matter anyway. I personally lost good friends over being for Sanders over Hillary (absurd), but now I feel like maybe I should have been the one to dump them over it. The Democrats blatantly CHEATED - and now we're all paying for it. On that note - we simply MUST abolish the Electoral College. It's outdated, and was created for slave states. The popular vote being allowed its victory would never have placed us in this situation ... going back at least to Gore.

People (including myself) were yelling at the screen. Laughing out loud. Crying out loud. Hissing. Booing. Clapping. Mortified. Inspired. Inspired because the PEOPLE really DO have the power, as demonstrated by the West Virginia Teachers' strike earlier this year, that had tears running down my face at how dedicated and in solidarity they all were. THAT is what it takes. And the marches. And the activists. And the young people getting involved. And the individuals that take a stand against all of this ... what a wonderful montage that one is. I wish Moore would have ended on that (it ends on a sad, but powerful note), so that we could keep the momentum of the PEOPLE in our hearts as we left the theater ... but you still can. I can't beg you hard enough to PLEASE SEE THIS MOVIE. And then PLEASE take whatever action you can personally, because that is what it is going to take. VOTE - that's the very least you can do. DEMAND the end to the Electoral College. SUPPORT new candidates that REALLY want to improve this country - and it's obvious who they are. Only then will we be able to rightfully claim that this big experimental country really IS a Democracy. Because it sure ain't right now. It's in our hands, and history will not be a kind judge if everyone just keeps looking at their phones and thinking they can't make a difference anyway. YOU. CAN.

PLEASE go see this outrageous (in the truest sense) film as soon as you can. Even if just so I can talk to you about it.

Fahrenheit 11/9 opens everywhere tomorrow.

Leaning Into The Wind - The Art Of Andy Goldsworthy

If the world has been wearing you down, and you need something that is pure loveliness to watch, do check out Leaning Into The Wind, a documentary about the art of Andy Goldsworthy.

Goldsworthy sees our world in a completely unique and beautiful way. His work is always about our relationship with nature, whether out in a forest or right in the middle of a city (where I'm fully going to do the Goldsworthy trick of laying down on the pavement to leave your shape behind, if it ever rains again in Los Angeles!).

I had just been to the concert for Pathway To Paris the night before I saw this wonderful doc, so the environment and its endangerment were stuck in my frontal lobe as I sat down to watch. Patti Smith read a poem about our connection to this planet, and ended it by saying, "Nature gives us everything." Watching Leaning Into The Wind put an exclamation point on that statement, in an unforgettable way.

Some people just have a different way of viewing life, and Goldsworthy is one of them. He poses the question of why do we take the road, when we could go through the hedge? The flow of people through a city is like a river, and you can feel our past and present - and future - unite, if only you take the time to stop and think, and truly FEEL.

This film was a beautiful escape from what we think of as the "real world", into what truly IS real - Nature. Check it out. Let's talk. Let's feel. Let's save this beautiful Earth.

Leaning Into The Wind (2018) is available now on ITunes.

90291: VENICE UNZIPPED - A Film For Our Community

Friends ... all you have to do is walk down any street in Venice to know that there is a massive issue with income inequality in our community. I believe it is THE issue of our time for our entire country. The way that you begin to understand any issue is through the stories from the people that it affects. So, when feeling an intense need to DO SOMETHING about it, and sharing stories about it, you start to come up with ideas for solutions ... and the way to do that is always knowledge. Learning about the roots of an issue, and going from there.

My friends Colin Gray and Megan Raney Aarons ("The Sibs") are longtime Venice residents and filmmakers, with several successful documentaries already under their belts, and they saw the same multi-million dollar houses with tent cities in their Venice backyards that I did, and once we got to really talking about it all, we felt that Venice could be zoom-lensed on as an example of what is happening across this nation ... and begin to do something about it.

90291: VENICE UNZIPPED is the film we are setting out to make. We'll embed with three families - one homeless, one middle class, and one wealthy - living in almost unimaginably different circumstances here in Venice. We'll also talk to friends and neighbors across all income and cultural divides, interview local and national thought-leaders from multiple points of view, and attempt to make some sense of it all. Will it be a cautionary tale about what not to do to a vibrant, diverse community ... or a success story about how people came together to preserve what is wonderful and historical about this place, and how we looked after our own? Time will tell ... and shooting begins soon.

All films take funds to create, and we are holding our first fundraiser at The Lantern House in Venice on June 16th, and we would love for all of you to be involved. Come to the fun event. Send a little (or big, if you can!) tax-deductible donation via our fundraising link HERE. (A detailed equity investment prospectus is also available upon request HERE. Donate to our silent auction of unique Venice items (let us know asap if that's a way you'd like to contribute, so that we may also promote you in the process!). Share your own stories with us, or point us in the direction of a good tale. This is going to be a film for our entire community, and thus, entire community involvement is crucial to telling the whole story.

We are also starting our search for the three families we’ll be embedding with in our documentary.  If anyone has a suggestion for a family who might be willing to participate in our film, please contact us HERE.  We’re looking for one homeless couple / family with or without kids, one middle class family with kids, one wealthy family with kids.  We will be very mindful of everyone’s time and space.  The plan is to film these families for 6-8 days total, each family, over the next year.

The fundraiser information, donation links, and the link to our brand new trailer are again all below. Please read, watch, share, and chime in to let us know what you think! This project is for all of us.

As a friend of Venice Beach and this eclectic, world renowned community… We Want You!  Come be a part of our feature documentary's grass roots fundraising event on Saturday June 16th from 7- 9pm.  Hot links to RSVP and for tax-deductible donations are in the attached PDF, as well as below.  

What:  90291: VENICE UNZIPPED fundraiser

Where: The Lantern House, Venice

Parking: Bike, walk, or park on street

RSVP: 90291veniceunzippedrsvp@gmail.com

Support: To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit:  https://www.documentary.org/project/unzipped

Sizzle link: https://wdrv.it/5b54d127c

The film:  90291: VENICE UNZIPPED is a provocative feature documentary about income inequality in America, told through the lens of one community and three families living in the same 90291 zip code, but at the opposite ends of the growing income divide.  In the film, we’re embedding in Venice, California, the once gritty, artistic and working class beach city, now the epicenter of gentrification in Los Angeles and a growing homelessness crisis. We’ll follow three families - one homeless, one middle class and one wealthy - living in almost unimaginably different circumstances, while putting a human face on Venice’s vanishing working and middle class.  We’ll then follow a proposed homeless housing project that’s splitting the community in two, make connections to gentrification and affordable housing issues in other cities, and investigate how poverty is being criminalized in America.  Is Venice, the last beach city of color, a cautionary tale about an eclectic community’s demise, or can solutions be found for protecting other income diverse cities across the United States?

Style: The film's point-of-view is investigative, fact-based, and deliberately non-partisan.  Rounding out our embed coverage will be interviews with local and national thought-leaders from multiple points of view.  

The team: Brought to you by long time Venice locals - writer / director Colin Keith Gray and producer Megan Raney Aarons (AKA “The Sibs” - Atari: Game Over, Being Canadian, Freedom’s Fury);  journalist / co-producer CJ Gronner (Blogtown); political consultant / co-producer, Marc Baranov;  EPs Amaechi Uzoigwe (Run The Jewels) and Lorien Gabel (Interlog, PINGG); Supervising Producers Matt Green (Refuge Wild) & Andrea McHugh (Hell’s Kitchen, Oprah Winfrey Show, Ghost Hunters); Emmy award winning editor Mohamed El Manasterly (The Square); DP Tyler Heckerman (The Cape); and Emmy award winning VR director, Ben Tricklebank (Clouds Over Cuba). Project is produced by GRAiNEY PICTURES and EVO Films USA.  

Schedule: We'll film Summer of 2018 through Spring 2019. Plan is to then complete the film by Fall 2019 in time for submission to Sundance and other premiere festivals. Goal is to then debut at a major festival and release the film Summer/Fall 2020 in advance of the 2020 Presidential elections. A larger social impact campaign will then launch around the film release to provoke further debate on the issues . Project elements include a virtual reality (VR) short film, an interactive website, an augmented reality app, and a comprehensive educational initiative.

Giving Back:  With a topic this pressing, we feel it’s important we give back.  90291: VENICE UNZIPPED will donate ten percent (10%) of the film’s total profits to leading grass roots organizations and NGOs that are actively engaged in income inequality & homelessness issues in Venice, and across America.

Funding: The project is being funded through a combination of equity investments in the Unzipped Movie LLC, non-recoupable grants, crowd-funding contributions, and tax-deductible donations to the film through its' fiscal sponsor, the International Documentary Association (please make donations by clicking on the Make A Donation tab above). A detailed investment prospectus (PPM) is available upon request.

Why you?  We'd truly value your involvement & support at our fundraiser as we craft, cast & compose this important story.  Filming to begin this Summer across Venice. 

We can't wait to make and show you this film! THANK YOU!!!

Faces Places - The Power Of Imagination

When it's May Gray days, you kind of just want to hunker down and watch a movie or something, right? There used to be a section on Netflix (when you got the dvds in the mail) where it said something like "People in Venice, CA are watching:" and it never let me down. It let me know that I was living in the right place, that my community shared my general views and tastes, and it turned me on to several films that I might not have otherwise known about. Like The Beaches Of Agnes.

Agnes Varda is the "Grandmother of the French New Wave", and was a resident of Venice, where our beach was featured in her beautiful film from 2008. The Beaches Of Agnes was so great, that I will watch every other thing she ever does, and last chilly night I snuggled in with a blanket to watch her newest film, Faces Places ... and I loved it just as much - maybe more.

Varda is a tiny little woman, who reminds one of an elderly Rachel Dratch (of SNL fame), but with a Friar Tuck-like  two-toned hair-do, for fun. I adore her. What a font of pure inspiration! She embarks on road trips around rural France with the photographer/muralist JR (a hip, young enthusiastic French dude who never takes off his shades, to Varda's annoyance), and they shoot everyday people doing everyday things, and then make them huge and grand and important looking by pasting them up on the side of giant buildings, bridges, water towers, barns ... and the result is pure beauty.

In one part of the film, Varda says, "The point is the power of imagination." And it is. Their ideas and conversations and art all celebrate both imagination and humanity, in such a lovely way that most likely you will both laugh and cry, like I did. When you see an elderly woman (who is the last person remaining in her village that is going to be torn down) come outside and see her photo on the outside of her house, and be so moved ... you can't help but be moved yourself. It reminds me a bit of the also excellent documentary Wasteland, where you witness the same sheer glory of real people.

I always go back to the Einstein quote that goes, "Remember your humanity and forget the rest", and this film helps you to do exactly that. If you're looking for a wonderful escape from all the ugliness and meanness and sadness all around us in the world today, here you go. An hour and a half where I thought of nothing but the grace and love that remains all around us, if you can just let yourself be open to it. Our own faces and places are still pretty great too, just look around.  It would be awesome if Varda and JR returned to Venice to capture some of our Visages Villages (the original French title - oh, it is in French with sub-titles, but you can do it!) Enjoy!

Thank you, Madame Varga!

Hso Hkam - The Prince Of Venice

If you've been out and about in Venice in the last two plus decades, chances are you've crossed paths with Hso Hkam. A real man about town, Hkam is always on the scene at every cool thing that goes down in Venice, but it was only recently that I got to know him better and find out the story behind the dude. And it's a good one. Like, did you know that Hso is a real life Prince? Yep, his family is from Rangoon (formerly Yangon), Myanmar (formerly Burma) and are the royal family of the Shan people. Hkam is the 19th Prince, but hasn't been back to his Burmese home since his family fled the country when he was 11 years old amid political strife. His aunt wrote a book about all of it called My Vanished World: The True Story Of A Shan Princess, and Hso is right there in the Lawksawk family tree. I mean HRH Hso!

Hkam's royal father married his mother, a commoner, which actually helped make things easier when the family left for Illinois, where his mother's family had already settled, and where his physician mother would immediately have work running a hospital. They got young Hkam into summer tennis, so by the time the school year began, he already had a bunch of friends, and easily assimilated (they also got him into martial arts, so he never had to be scared, because he could more than take care of himself!). His childhood friends are still his best friends, and it's amusing to see photos of the young Burmese Prince with a bunch of Italian Sopranos looking dudes ...and that's the beauty of America.

Tennis took him to the University of Illinois, and then winter took him to UCLA, and UCLA really took to Hkam. He joined a fraternity, and that really launched his social calendar. While at UCLA, Hkam and his frat buddies were super into skating and surfing, so would make the bus trek to Venice all the time. "We always wanted to come to Venice. We'd yell 'There's Christian Hosoi!', but it would only be the back of him because he was so fast." Skating around, he met the whole Venice Originals crew, and soon made the move to 6th and Indiana, mainly because there was a skate ramp in the backyard. The nightly machine gun fire got them out of there in only three months, but Hkam was having "adventure after adventure in Venice", and knew he was here to stay.




Shooting things for his fraternity got Hkam really bitten by the movie making bug, and one of his first short films won for Best Short at the Malibu Film Festival in 1993, so he knew he was on the right path. 1996 found his film Ghostown (about hijacking a taco truck in Venice) being sold to a Thai company, dubbing Hso and Block and crew into Thai! I have to see this. Hkam got work at a post facility, learning everything about film from shooting to editing. He continued making shorts and music videos, which were soon being featured on the old legit Venice Yo Venice! and then caught the attention of LA Weekly, where he continues to make short documentaries for their content, on everything from bands to chefs to the homeless issue. I like to think of him as kind of a new Huell Howser, capturing all the things that make L.A. great in what he says is "My dream job come true!"




That's the best thing I learned about Hkam, actually. His enthusiasm for good stories and people doing good reveal his own truly good heart. It's cool that he's a Prince and all, and that he can name-drop with the best of them, but he really seems to get the most excited about his work traveling all around L.A. with the homeless, health issues, and organizations like City Hearts (where 'Kids say yes to the arts!"), Coalition to Preserve LA, Housing Is A Human Right, and now also shooting things for the Southern California Burmese Association, keeping him connected with his home country. But he always comes back to Venice.

When asked what Hso was doing in Venice these days, one of his friends answered, "Teaching white people how to live!" When asked what he loves about this place, his first answer was "The tribalism of Venice. I have that in me, and it definitely exists here." It's true, and also why community means so much to Hkam - and the people he calls his friends. A painter as well, Hkam would have people over for chicken dinners while he painted every Thursday. "My biggest thing is food. I love to cook for people. My #1 is chitlins!" Chitlins! He added that any taco truck that doesn't have tripas tacos is not legit. No thank you, but I'm gonna go with him on missing Lilly's the most in Venice, and their succulent moules frites. OH, man. REALLY miss that. These days you'll likely see him at Gjelina or Canal Club (since it was Rebecca's) or James Beach, usually with a margarita.

Regarding the massive changes in Venice, Hkam says he embraces it. "If you want to be classy, go to Abbot Kinney, and if you want to be shady, you can still go to the Boardwalk and get mugged. There's no shortage of weirdo artists, they're just richer now. There will always be creatives here." Hmmm. Yeah. We can definitely agree that Venice "Should be INclusive, not EXclusive." - and that extends to greedy landlords and prohibitive rents, it should be said, as well as just the overall vibe.

While having all of his L.A. fun, Hkam is also getting ready to do his first feature film, as well as commercial directing, saying, "I'm ready for the big projects now." After being under such a microscope since he was born (as a royal), Hkam is quite content to be behind the scenes and behind the camera. Shooting all around L.A., he has gotten to know the community leaders of every area, and "I always represent Venice, but really I'm from Burma." Venice will consider Hso Hkam ours anyway, and when Hkam told me that a friend recently told him, "People in will always remember you for being so positive," I absolutely got why. He really is a Prince among men, and Venice is lucky to have him.

*Personal photos courtesy of Hso Hkam.

International Women's Day - Venice Style

Yesterday was International Women's Day, and this year it was intended to be "A Day Without Women". Women were supposed to skip work, not spend money unless it was at women-owned businesses, have a social media blackout, and wear red in solidarity with other women. I began the day at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market, and was disappointed to see hardly anyone in red. Myself and one elderly woman were in red, and actually hugged, because we got the memo. Solidarity. After a perfect outdoor lunch with women on a glorious day, I headed over to Abbot Kinney, where my wonderful friend Nana Ghana was hosting a celebration of women at Principessa.

LA Woman Rising is Nana Ghana's documentary film about 50 diverse women waking up in Los Angeles. It was the perfect project to showcase on a day that is all about Women, and the trailer was running on a loop in the back of the O. G. Venice clothing store.

In the front of the store, cocktails were flowing courtesy of Dulce Vida Tequila - and we know how L.A. Women like their margaritas.

The good vibes were flowing the moment you walked in the door, with a crowd as diverse as the women in the film. Rightly so, because many of the women present were IN the film, and in attendance to speak on a panel about the film.

But first. there were cupcakes.

The sun was casting a golden glow over the whole thing, and Nana thought we should show the town what we were all about ... by marching down the turn lane in the center of Abbot Kinney.

Rush hour traffic (which has gotten pretty much ridiculous on Abbot Kinney) was in full effect as our tribe of L.A. Women took to the street to march in a strong show of solidarity with women the world over.

Cars honked and people waved, some stopping to take their own pictures of the incredibly beautiful parade sauntering down the middle of the street. It was one of those wonderful Venice moments that take people by surprise with the sheer fun of it. It was especially special to be sharing it with such iconic and multi-faceted women as the ones walking beside me.

Once back inside Principessa, Nana had everyone take a moment to breathe it all in, saying, "Take a moment to feel Mother Earth, feel our breath as one with all the other women in the world right now." It felt extra meaningful. She spoke about how truly powerful  and limitless we all are, with each others' support. That when one woman wins, we all win. These are real facts.

Nana introduced her friend, the poet Yazmin Monet Watkins, who performed works of such depth and awareness, tears were brought to my eyes - and I wasn't alone. She read words of gratitude and love, saying she was "Grateful for my single mother upbringing". Me too. She read a poem called "Questions For The White Women I Marched Next To", asking "Will you be here tomorrow? Please stay." We will. She read one for her Grandma Lily, asking, "Grandma, how did you deal with the ignorance?" Yes, HOW?! Watkins finished with one that was called "Note To Self", reminding that each woman is brilliant, that Sisterhood lights our path, and that "This life is worth living. ROAR!" Yes. ROAR!!!

The LA Woman Rising panel was moderated by another friend of Nana's, Vic Styles, who asked the ladies assembled what made them an L.A. Woman.  There are so many parts to Los Angeles, just like there are so many parts to women, so it's a good analogy. L.A./Women can be nice, and it can be mean. It/We are all so different, but somehow we get along, and create culture here. It was discussed how L.A. is known for both its diversity and its entertainment industry, but that the two don't often reflect each other. It was asked if they considered themselves Feminists.

I've always had a hard time with special days like "Women's Day" or whatever, because I've never felt less than as a Woman. I think people are all created equal, and should be treated as such. Always have. It's only with the recent and awful new Administration in office that I've felt the need to stand up and speak out more than usual on the behalf of Women everywhere. But really, it's on the behalf of People everywhere, as we're all in this together, and that's just that. One member of the panel cracked everyone up by saying, "Go to a Rave!" The walls come down, and everyone is there just to have a good time! Everyone could learn from that. What a wonderful, inspiring afternoon celebrating and discussing women in today's world together! THANK YOU so much to everyone involved! I walked out of there feeling stronger, wiser, and more united with women than ever.

The unity continued when I found my ladies in red gathered for the evening portion of our Venice Women's Day at my dear friend, Sailene's pad. All of these strong and wonderful women were decked out in red, as we got a preview of things to come with Sailene's Privée Social Club (Stay tuned)!

After all this time, Helen Reddy might still have said it best ....

I am Woman, Hear me ROAR!

Made In Venice - In Theaters Now!

The theatrical premiere of the wonderful documentary Made In Venice was held last night at the (newly refurbished and slick) Laemmle in Santa Monica, and it was awesome. The audience was almost entirely Venetian and friends, as evidenced by the hoots and hollers throughout the film. Made In Venice tells the story of the struggle to get the Venice Skatepark built, and the history of modern skateboarding where it was invented.

When the Skatepark finally opened in October of 2009, it was a massive accomplishment, and a huge celebration ... but the struggle to keep it a world class venue continues. The maintenance and upkeep of the Park is handled almost entirely by Dogtown legend, Jesse Martinez, who with his band of friends has kept the park clean every single day since it opened. For free. With no help from the City of Los Angeles, that does nothing but benefit from the tourism this excellent facility brings. It's downright criminal, and now, even worse than I thought.

I'd already seen the film at a cast and crew screening last month, and it's just downright great. The fight to get the Park built is extra moving, and there are laugh out loud moments throughout as you get to know all the people that made this dream come true. There was a Q &A after the film, with the ever-reluctant to be in the spotlight Martinez. You see how hard he works in the film - every day - and then we find out after the film that Martinez could now be arrested for doing all of the hard work that he isn't paid for, because the Venice Skate Foundation has lost their "Right Of Entry" permit, which gives them the legal right to be there. Yes, even though Martinez performs the unbelievably hard work of keeping the Skatepark clean, the City of L.A. continues to give him harder obstacles than any he could ever skateboard on. It's not right.

As it stands now, Martinez is keeping it clean every morning anyway. He's no longer that interested in a job from the City, he just wants his ROE back so he can do his (unpaid) job without the hassle. Councilman Mike Bonin is no Bill Rosendahl when it comes to the Skatepark, as Martinez explained that his calls routinely go unanswered for weeks, if they're returned at all. If it were left up to the City, it would take a month to get a tag removed by the one guy servicing all the parks in all of Los Angeles, and up to a YEAR to get a tile replaced. Martinez and Company are not having that, and as a young lady says to open the film, "There's a lot of places that people don't fight for what they believe in - we don't stand for that here." So, they take matters into their own hands. As usual.

There was a righteous indignation that you could feel from everyone in the audience. Like, this is wrong and what are WE going to do about it?! "Venice has a way of somehow providing," said Martinez when asked what we could do for him. He said he'll continue cleaning the Skatepark for another 8 years or so (!), and then it's time for the kids of the neighborhood to take over. As they should. The City needs to realize that this gem that attracts people from around the world should be handled and kept up by the very people that made it happen, who know what's best for it. Until then, we can donate via the donation button on the Made In Venice movie page. We can purchase merchandise (cool shirts and hats!) of which all proceeds go to Martinez. We can keep talking about it, and demanding better for our incredible Venice Skatepark and the equally incredible people that made it happen, and continue to make it the superhot attraction that it is.

Moderator Dan Levy from Juice Magazine closed the event by saying that we all need to continue to fight for Jesse, for the Right Of Entry, and always, The Skatepark itself. Martinez thanked everyone for their support, and the crowd filed out to attend the after-party at Danny's Deli ("If you don't know where that is, you don't need to go!" - Victor Blue). Please go see this fantastic tribute to Venice and its people while it's in its limited theater release. The Venice Skatepark is a source of great pride in our Community, and Made In Venice lays it all out just exactly why.

The fight continues ... and we have their back. Thank you to ALL involved - always.

*Go fast! It's only at the Laemmle in Santa Monica until August 31st!

"Made In Venice" Premieres In Venice

The long anticipated, years in the making documentary Made In Venice premiered in Venice last Saturday at The Electric Lodge, and was more than worth the wait. It was a screening for the cast and crew, most of whom were in attendance. This wonderful film tells the story of how the dream of a Venice Skatepark came to be a fantastic reality, and all the struggle that went into it.

The movie covers the history of skating in Venice, and how it came to be known as the legendary Dogtown ("This town ain't fit for a dog!"). Though modern skateboarding was pretty much invented here, it took until 2009 for Venice to have its own skatepark, and would never had happened without the tireless work and absolute belief in the project on the behalf of skaters and activists in the community. As the audience filtered in, you saw one cast member after another arrive ... Christian Hosoi, Jeff Ho, Bart Saric (who did the film's animation sequences), Victor Blue, Tonan, Aaron Murray, Masao Miyashiro, Lauren Wiley, Dan Levy and Juice Magazine ... and finally, the true hero of the story, Jesse Martinez.

Martinez introduced the film along with its director, Jonathan Penson, who both told about the years and hurdles it took to make. They also explained that though we do now have this beautiful skatepark, the struggle continues, as the city of Los Angeles relies on Martinez and his crew to maintain and clean the park every day - without any compensation from the city. Unbelievable. But they do it. Every day, seven days a week.

The documentary is so good because the subject matter is beloved by Venice. It's incredibly lump in the throat touching at times, and laugh out loud funny at others. Venice does not lack for characters, and the ones you get to know in Made In Venice are some of our best. As pro skater Tuma Britton says in the film, "We don't do boring. This is Venice." Exactly.

"We were the bad stepsons of Venice, we were raising hell on this beach. If you were considered a Dogtown boy, you had made it," says Martinez in a clip to explain what it all meant to people. We are taken through the history of the rise and fall of both skating and skateparks, including a time when the area was briefly taken over by Rollerbladers. Dark days indeed. "We'd do almost anything to protect Dogtown," says Martinez at one point - and they certainly did.

Spearheaded by a mighty group of skatepark supporters who truly believed that skaters were the heart and soul of Venice, the dream for a world class skatepark was kept alive, and seen through. Ger-I Lewis teamed up with Heidi Lemmon (of Skatepark Association USA), and along with the tireless help of our late Councilman Bill Rosendahl (who found funds from an old oil fund!), the spirited group finally won approval for a skatepark. It was a unanimous decision from the Coastal Commission, after a touching speech by Martinez who spoke to the fact that skating had changed lives for the much better. And then it took four more years of redtape.

Construction finally began on the park on December 31, 2008 and the official opening was on October 3, 2009 - a triumphant and emotional highpoint of the film. "We did it! And I'm not too old to use it!" - Ger - I Lewis says, with obvious joy across his face. The opening day scenes are so happy and exciting ... but the work didn't/doesn't stop there.

Martinez is out there at the skatepark every morning, pre-dawn, making sure it's clean and safe to skate. This means hand scrubbing off the graffiti, cleaning up after the homeless and partiers that wreak havoc overnight, and generally 100% taking care of the park's maintenance on their own. For free. Often out of their own pockets. This clearly isn't right, and one of the hopes of the film is not only to showcase the park that more pro skaters come out of than any other in the world, but also to show its value to the City of L.A. and get these tireless workers some sorely needed compensation, although money is very obviously not what drives Martinez and his volunteer crew.

"Money you won't be remembered for, but to be a Dogtown boy {or girl}, you'll be remembered forever. This skatepark is the legacy I'll leave behind one day for my sons," says Martinez, and it's true. Both the film and the audience were filled with kids and skaters of the up and coming generations who will continue to benefit from all of the hard work and history of the Venice legends who gave them what they have today. And the future is bright.

Made In Venice closes with a soundbite from the late skate legend and friend, Jay Adams, who says, "You know how some people say, 'Oh, I love it, I'd do it for free'. Well, Jesse IS doing it for free. Why don't some of you guys start paying him?" Yes. WHY don't we? In typical Martinez fashion, he was nowhere to be found when the hoots, hollers, whistles, and "Thank you, Jesse!'s" rang out over the closing credits. I found him outside after the film, far from the crowd, and visibly uncomfortable with the attention and praise. So much so that he'll probably never even see the film, but the important thing is that now everyone else can see it and know what a true hero he is to our community. A true hero Made In Venice.

Made in Venice will debut in theaters August 25, 2016. It's a must see for anyone who knows and loves Venice.

*Merch proceeds from the film will go towards the upkeep of the Skatepark. Get yours!