It’s now my turn to quickly say a huge “thank you” to everyone who came to CineSpace last night for what I consider a big success. Planning this event has been an intense experience in sheer diligence, inspiration, persistence, email death, co-operation, shocking cell phone bills, missed meals, increased alcohol consumption, having the sense to say “yeah, I actually do need your help,” and the desperate attempt to stay poised in the face of potential distaster. Oh yeah, and speaking of disaster, on the day of our launch, an old man with a handicapped placard hanging from his rear-view mirror was parallel parking, as Diane and I were driving up Robertson Blvd. In his attempt to park, I realized he was hogging up way more room of our shared lane than he should have. I swerved to get the hell out of his way, when, “wham!” – he scrapes the passenger side of my car. My first thought was “My mobile phone erased all of my contact numbers yesterday and now this?” The old man said he was going to a doctor’s appointment but I suspect he was actually meeting Lindsay Lohan for breakfast up the street at The Ivy. Thankfully, I had Eagle-Eyes Diane with me who doesn’t miss a detail and what traffic court is going to argue with her witness statement? I’m not worried. Anyway…YOU WEAR IT WELL. People came. And they came. And they came. And most who came when the program started around 7 pm stayed through to the end, taking in our selection of nearly three hours of short films. (A lot to ask of anyone, really, but we at least we asked nicely.) Jeremy Scott, whose film “Starring” was part of our program, arrived with wardrobe designer and stylist Arianne Phillips, whom I’ve known since I was in college. My longtime friends Joe and Ian of Nice Collective flew in from San Francisco. Booth Moore, the style writer for the Los Angeles Times came with her husband, as did Steffie Nelson from the LA Weekly (not with Booth’s husband, but with her pal, Nia). Ned Brown. Well, you know. Ned Brown. The gorgeous Vanessa Gonzalez from MOCA arrived all lip-glossy and slinky and she gave me the heads up on the big Skin + Bones exhibition she’s working on with MOCA’s Curator of Architecture and Design, Brooke Hodge. The exhibition focuses on the relationship between fashion and architecture and I personally can’t wait. Check out: http://www.moca.org/museum/futureexhibitionslist.php And as we were inviting people to vote for their favorite film, a friend of Enrique Gonzalez (who’s films “Clinica” and “She Male” featured in our program) arrived dressed to sway the vote towards Enrique, including a big “Clinica” sign on a wooden post, on which was written, “Si, se puede!” He looked amazing. I wish I had the balls to wear a cape to parties. Friends of Diane showed up who she hadn’t seen in 20 years, and so many of my friends came to support that I felt like it was my birthday. So, once again, I say thank you. I’m proud to say that we did it and I’m inspired to watch YOU WEAR IT WELL grow, evolve and flourish.
And onto the AUDIENCE AWARD. We handed out ballots to everyone who came, to vote for their favorite film, which would be awarded the trophy crafted for us by Jon Auderson of Iceland. And…the first thing I did when i woke up this morning was count the ballots of those who followed directions.
Now, I think it should be made aware that this wasn’t necessarily a scientific election by any means. Our program started rolling at 7:30 but some people missed certain films if they showed up later, or if they had to leave before the program ended to catch their 10pm massage appointment or have their car washed and detailed before the morning. (These are some basic requirements of Los Angeles lifestyle.) However, an election is an election, even if it has built in flaws. And as I was counting the ballots, what I had expected was showing to be true.
I felt that it was going to be toss up between Ruben Toledo’s stunning film “Fashionation,” which is an exquisitely illustrated history of fashion from A to Z and….what was by and large the audience hit: Liam Sullivan’s hilarious spoof on a girl’s obsession with shoes. I watched the audience as they watched Liam, bouncing around the screen, dressed as “Kelly,” his perky, if not awkward character on a frenzied mission to buy more shoes. The crowd sang along with the song, as many had already seen the clip on the internet.
And the winner is: Liam Sullivan with “Shoes.”
Congratulations, Liam. You can see the clip here: http://www.liamshow.com/movies/shoes_video.mov HOWEVER, I personally recommend watching it with a crowd of people interested in fashion films who have been drinking booze for a few hours. “Shoes” could easily become the next “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
See you all in San Francisco, at supperclub
657 Harrison Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
tel: 415.348.0900
Thursday, 03 August 06
We’re doing 2 screenings: 8:00 and 9:30
$ 10
