PAH in the Press

L.A. Independent, 12/06/2007

Dialed-In Directors

by Arin Mikailian

An innovative program puts new technology in the hands of aspiring young filmmakers.
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By Arin Mikailian

Hollywood Boulevard once again served as the backdrop for a series of movie shoots this past weekend.
But rather than a sea of professional cinematographers, producers and actors making their way along the historic street to get the right shot, the eyes of children behind the lens of a cell phone camera were the only crew to be spotted.
The small group of young aspiring filmmakers were part of a new contest, associated with the Project Accessible Hollywood Festival, that gives pre-teens and teens a chance to get a head start on their movie carreers with a little help from the latest technological gadgets.
Headed by Christopher Coppola, the brother of Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage, Circus vision is a competition designed to help budding storytellers develop their cinematic skills.
Nicholas Paine, director of PAH-Fest, said one of the main aims of the Circus Vision Competiion is to create awareness that these days presenting one’s views is a simple task to undertake.
“This festival is about how everybody has a voice,” Paine said. “Everybody has a story to tell, not just Hollywood. So we’re empowering people from all walks of life to tell their stories.”
Each child was equipped with their own Motorola Q Smartphone, which has the ability to record video similar to a video camera with a record and stop sequence.
Parallel to the traditional sights and sounds of an actual circus, the young participants were instructed to embark on a scavenger hunt and captture on video a list of items including rings, colors, “something funny” and “something that flies.”
Paine said the objects the children record are open to interpretation of rings or animals, for example.
“Kids are often times the first adopters of technology. ... Although it’s great for kids to have cell phones, we wanted to remind them that these tools are there to serve their artistic vision.”
For Coppola, the contest serves as an intersection between new technology and storytelling, a skill he said filmmakers should learn at an early age.
“Mark Twain said, ‘True greatness is when you help others to find the greatness inside themselves,’” he said. “This is what we do in PAH-Fest.”
Throughout the afternoon, the parents and their children marched up and down the 6900 block of Hollywood Boulevard as they searched for their items on the lists.
Ten-year-old Spiro Grammenos and his grandmother, Laura Sherman, recorded footage of circular wind spinners and the name American Eagle as their interpretation of rings and a flying object. Seven-year-old Alex Mora videotaped a group of sleeping dogs that were part of a Hollywood Dog Rescue display.
Sherman said she wanted her grandson to participate in the contest because it helped to create a diverse field of possible career choices.
“I, as well as his mother, believe the more children are exposed to things like this the more opportunities they have to decide as they get older,” she said.
Each contestant will have their 90-second clips screened at the contest’s closing ceremony Saturday at the Los Angeless Film School, where a winner will also be picked by judges.
The winners of Circus Vision will receive $500 for their school and themselves as well as their own Smartphone.
But even after the contest comes to an end, Coppola wants all participants to carry the notion away with them that they can work on their filmmaking skills thanks to the technological times we live in.
“If you have stuff like this you can constantly be shooting things and educating your eyes<” he said. “You’re honing your craft.”
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Contact Arin Mikailian at
amikailian@wavepublication.com