Ninety Degrees Media

Anne Thompson did a beautiful job of moderating the “It Starts with the Script” Screenwriter’s panel at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday, January 28, 2012. She handled the five male panelists with finesse, bringing together connections and similarities between their works.

Tate Taylor, screenwriter and director on The Help, was good friends with kathryn stockett, author of the novel. She gave him the movie rights while she sought a publisher. Adapting the story before it had a fan base helped his process. Then when the book became a bestseller, the phone began to ring. He’d only directed a short film and an indie feature before, so when he told interested parties, including Viola Davis, that in order to option the script they had to bring him on as Director, he was met with some skepticism. Finally Stacey Snider at DreamWorks said, “Yes.” Taylor turned out to be the perfect director because he’d grown up in Jackson, Mississippi, where the film is set, and knew how things work in the South. Octavia Spencer, who plays “Minny Jackson”, is another good friend of Taylor’s and he had her in mind when he wrote the part.

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A couple years ago I spoke to my parents right after they’d seen a new house belonging to one of my dad’s few remaining clients. My mom said, “This place is really unique. It’d make a great topic for a video.” Then she gave me an Ablitt House bookmark. Eventually I contacted the owners, took a tour, and heard the story.

Neil Ablitt buys a 20’x 20’ lot, about the size of a two car garage, near his dry cleaning plant in a commercial district of Santa Barbara, then in 1987 wins a water hook up for it in a lottery. But it was not zoned for a residence, and it was too small to build on, or so he thought. Neighbors disapproved of a house in the alley, the Panning Commission turned him down, and even during the building he never knew how the blueprints would become a reality. Today Neil and his wife Sue give tours of their unique abode.

The film opens with some of the tiny details making up the beauty of the house. But the focus of the documentary is on the people involved. Neil remembers the shack that stood on the lot when he was a boy. He never dreamed he’d one day have a home on that very spot. In early 2000 he meets architect Jeff Shelton who figures out how to get around the commercial zone ordinances. The film shows short clips from the February 2004 Planning Commission meeting where the plans got shot down. Neil, supported by his wife, is seen walking, downcast out of City Hall.

Clips from the appeal to the City Council in April 2004 show the overturning of the decision. “But as we found out,” Neil said, “the challenges were just beginning.” Many artists contributed to the creation of the final project and a couple of them will speak on camera, as well as Jeff Shelton the architect and Dan Upton the contractor who will share how sometimes they didn’t know how to solve problems that arose. Neil took many photos during the process and some of these will be used in the film. His job was to keep his mouth shut, sweep the alley, and stay out of the way, but emotionally he was in it as much as the guys getting their hands dirty. Sue was his rock through it all. Neil, supported by his wife, is seen walking, agitated up West Haley near the building site.

The documentary shows clips from one of the tours Neil gives to thank the community, and from a party for those involved in the construction. Neil, supported by his wife, is seen walking, smiling up the refurbished alley, paseo and into their home. The theme song, “Can’t Get Rid of Me” by Sean Wiggins, plays: “A house don’t make a home. And it’s only in your arms, I’m safe, I’m not alone. As you as my guide, always by my side, our two hearts beating as one, we can take the World on.”

HGTV has featured the house on an episode of Extreme Living, and Huell Howser toured it on an episode of Visiting…With Huell Howser. But this documentary is not about the house, it’s about the people who make it a home.

Ablitt House Journey: a Short Documentary from Ninety Degrees Media on Vimeo.

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(Originally published 07/05/09) On a beautiful mid-June day when the marine layer decided to take time off, I took advantage of a rare free tour of Lotusland. Usually it’s $35 for adults and $10 for children under 18, but on select days of the year they offer comp entrance to local residents. Botanic enthusiasts will find the tour well worth the price.

Located near Cold Springs School, Lotusland is a unique 37-acre estate with 16 distinct gardens. The property has a long history dating back to 1882. But it was Madame Ganna Walska who dubbed her estate "Lotusland" in honor of the sacred Indian lotus growing in one of the ponds on the property. The docent who led the tour had many tidbits to share about Madame Walska, an operatic singers born in Poland, she died in 1984 leaving her garden and her fortune to the Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation.

While walking the gardens we saw everyday plants as well as the more than 32 rare, exotic ones. The newest garden consists of over 500 columnar cacti relocated in 2001 from Merritt Dunlap’s home in Fallbrook, California. It’s not only the flora that catches the eyes. The Butterfly Garden is designed to attract insects and birds to assist in pollination. While I listened to them buzzing around the plants I could smell the aroma the flowers give off to help themselves mixed with the sent of the rich soil. In the Cycad Garden I learned that plants increase their temperature when it comes time for them to be pollinated.

The vegetation wasn’t the only sights to be seen. Fountains, statues, pounds, and grottos pop up around every bend and hide in places you may not catch them. The view of the Montecito hills also loomed majestic on this gorgeous clear day.

(Originally published 6/24/09) Last weekend while whale watching off the west end of Santa Cruz Island, blue whales could be seen from all sides of the boat. Besides the ten right in the vicinity, more geyser-like spouts could be seen in the distance. With a creature bigger than the 75 foot catamaran they are easy to spot from a ways off. Up close their breath gives them away as much as their mammoth size. You can imagine somebody burping after eating 2,000 pounds of shellfish. They are feeding on krill, small crustaceans, but they can’t digest the hard, red shells. So if you’re lucky you might see a blue whale with a trail of red streaming out behind – kids love to “eeeewww” at this.

A couple days latter, Megan McKenna, a doctoral student at Scripps, spoke to a group of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary volunteers about blue whales. Her research centers on ship noise and how it impacts marine organisms, particularly large whales. She estimates at least 16 container ships pass through the Santa Barbara Channel everyday. This figure comes from accumulated AIS (Automatic Identification System) data, which every vessel is supposed to broadcast, but may not. Blue whales also broadcast through their three distinct types of calls to their fellow cetaceans, over long distances, too—according to scientists.

The problem is the whales and the vessels don’t communicate with each other. This can pose a problem because the one thing bigger than a blue whale in the Santa Barbara Channel is a container ship. Ship collisions were blamed for four whale corpses that washed up on Southern California beaches in 2007. McKenna said these deaths were probably a minimum because usually a blue whale will sink when it’s killed. She is hoping to lobby the shipping industry to slow down to 10 knots, from an average of 23-25 knots, when blue whales are in the area. This would be good so we would have more whales around for people to watch.

(Originally published 06/08/09) Where in Santa Barbara County can you see Catalina Island and the Palos Verdes Peninsula?

I’m supposed to be covering the Santa Barbara area and here I am writing my first piece about something not connected to the town except by name. This Saturday I spent hiking Santa Barbara Island.

Driving along the Rincon we saw the glass-like sea-state, which meant we’d have an easy passage. The boat left Island Packers in Channel Islands Harbor and took about two and a half hours to travel the 38 miles to the landing cove. To get up from the platform to the visitors center is a bit of a climb, but not as daunting as the 150-plus steps on Anacapa Island. On the way up I heard the echo of sea lions barking in the inlet below, but once up top the dominate sound turned to squawking gulls.

Santa Barbara Island is an important breeding ground for Western Gulls and Brown Pelicans, and has several unique native plants. Looking around I saw clusters of stubby, stark trunks that looked dead, but these Giant Coreopsis are very much alive. In late winter and early spring they flaunt their bunches of yellow blooms. At the beginning of the trail I saw a nice specimen of the endemic Santa Barbara Island buckwheat.

Although the island is only one square mile, the trails wind around offering over five miles of hiking. The North Peak trail was closed to allow the breeding pelicans their privacy, so we headed the other way. Part of the hike passed through nesting gull territory where parents guarded newborn chicks. The gulls buzzed us, but we were told they wouldn’t dive bomb if we raised an arm in the air. Our group of hikers looked like an evangelical church with our hands waving over our heads.

At the Sutil Island overlook we observed a preying Peregrine Falcon swoop down, just missing a gull. Bob Schwemmer of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary was stationed there with his camera and filled us in on the one notable shipwreck on this island.

Then we ascended to Signal Point. I’ve walked up California Street to the Riviera many times, and this climb was steeper. We could’ve chosen to follow this trail in the opposite direction, but would going down the slope have been any easier?  

The effort paid off. At the top an ocean view spread out 360 degrees. To the south sat Catalina and to the southeast loomed Palos Verdes. Surrounded by veils of marine layers, other Channel Islands were visible—San Nicolas, San Clemente, and even as far up as San Miguel.

Back down at the landing cove, waiting to board, one of the ladies who selected to dive or snorkel said she saw lots of bat rays. On the boat ride back I visited the Island Packers galley and found they serve nice wine and beer at reasonable, non-tourist prices.  

Although Santa Barbara Island was never a part of the mainland, it is part of Santa Barbara County. In future articles I will stick closer to town and cover events like Solstice and Fiesta, local restaurants, theaters, galleries, and people.