PAH in the Press
Northwest Herald, 02/27/2008
CHRISTOPHER COPPOLA TEACHES DIGITAL FILM STUDENTS TO LIVE IN THE MOMENT
by By Kurt Begalka
Project Accessible Hollywood, dubbed “PAH-Fest,” uses video enabled mobile phones – “smart phones” – to celebrate the stories and voices of everyday people. The idea is to democratize storytelling, Coppola said during a recent visit to Lakeside Legacy Arts Park. Its motto is: Think it. Shoot it. Share it.
“I’m more interested in what the plumber has to say,” Coppola said. “It’s from the heart, to the heart.”
Examples of previous efforts are available for viewing at www.pahnation.com. Raue Executive Director Richard Kuranda didn’t have to do much research before his interest piqued.
“We’re a big fan of the moving image and we’re trying to get this whole thing going with local filmmakers,” he said. “We thought the whole use of cell phones to make a film is really interesting.”
Coppola apprenticed to composer Carmine Coppola, his grandfather, on the film “Apocalypse Now.” He later studied composition at the University of Redlands in California. But the Californian’s restless mind quickly turned to acting and directing.
Coppola studied film at the San Francisco Art Institute and later pursued digital production for film, television, and new media through his company, Plaster City Digital Post in Los Angeles, and EARS XXI – a-state-of-the-art digital studio headed by Coppola and partner Elyse Roberts of Barrington Hills. It was Roberts who helped bring the mini-PAH Fest to Crystal Lake.
Coppola has been making movies for twenty years. But he embraced digital film in 1998 after the negatives of his black comedy “Palmer’s Pick-Up” almost were destroyed. He saved the super 16 film by transferring it to digital and got hooked. His other movies include: “G-Men From Hell,” “Dracula’s Widow,” “Gunfighter,” “Deadfall” and “Bel-Air.” Recent projects include work with Premier Retail Networks to produce three-minute video art portraits airing on the Wal-Mart’s in-store television network. Coppola described Hollywood as “stodgy” and obsessed with appearance over substance. Little wonder his American hero is the plain-speaking humorist, Mark Twain.
“I’m tired of the people who want to be the next Hollywood director,” he said. “Hollywood is so exclusive. We should be doing something that is available to everybody. ... I know everyone is goal oriented. I have always been process-oriented.”
That is not to say his quest to find others fulfill their creative ambitions is not without occasional indulgences. He has a passion for motorcycles and anything Native-American. During his January visit to Lakeside Legacy Arts Park, he paired a buckskin, fringed jacket and turquoise jewelry with black leather pants, moon boots and do-rag – tucked under a felt fedora. Coppola admitted his is an eclectic look, but he remains true to himself.
“We were the poor Coppolas from Long Beach,” he said with a grin. “My dad [August] and Francis are brothers.”
It is that genuineness that appealed to Roberts and prompted her to join him in creating Ears XXI and collaborate in a host of other business ventures. They met after she filed a trademark infringement lawsuit on behalf of a business partner. Coppola was “shocked” to discover his misstep, Roberts said. But it led to a dinner invitation six years ago and a thriving friendship. “We just kind of fit together like gloves,” she said. “He is refreshing and has an exquisite mentality. ... He has a tremendous capacity to embrace new and intriguing concepts.”
They since collaborated on the 2004 film, “Creature of the Sunnyside Trailer Park,” and a weeklong PAH-Fest – which began two years ago in New Mexico. Coppola and his team since have developed PAH Fests, which challenge participants to shoot a two-minute video, and create cell phone art and “DigiPortraits” – a 2-minute self-portrait or video of another.
Their latest project is “The Biker Chef,” a cultural cooking adventure reality series that he hopes to bring to the new Italian-American Network. Coppola likened himself to a “modern-day Marco Polo,” traveling the country and meeting people.
“I kind of lean into him and do the film background work,” Roberts said. “There is no end to his theatrical talents, and he’s a Coppola. They are the biggest film family in history. ...There are eight Academy Awards in three generations.”