PAH in the Press
The OBSERVER, 11/29/2007
Hollywood director seeks originality in RR
by Tom Treweek
The OBSERVERVolume XXXIV, Number 2
Sunday, January 7, 2007
George Lucas brought the world “Star Wars.” Steven Spielberg put “E.T.” and Indian Jones on the silver screen. Martin Scorcese is responsible for showing the gritty side of life in “Taxi Driver” and “Goodfellas.” And all of Hollywood seems to be looking for the next them.
All except Christopher Coppola.
“The whole world hurts because of it, that same-old, same-old,” he said.
Coppola’s search for uniqueness will bring him to Rio Rancho this spring, as he prepares digital film festival aimed at this city’s youth. He has already taken his Project Accessible Hollywood Festivals to Grants and Germany. Another PAH Festival is scheduled for Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 in Elko, Nev.
“We’re trying to find original content ,” he said. “I think the world wants that.”
Rio Rancho’s festival will likely be held in March or April.
The Coppola’s family is known for cinema greatness. His uncle is Francis Ford Coppola, whose “The Godfather” is the third best film of all time, as ranked by the American Film Institute. Meanwhile, his brother, Nicolas Cage, is known for being in front of the camera, starring in films such as “Windtalkers,” “The Rock,” and “Gone in Sixty Seconds.”
But Christopher Coppola has always gone a different way. Unlike his famous uncle and his younger brother, who have achieved the highest levels of cinema success, Coppola’s movies have thrived more on a cult following, never really reaching, or trying to reach, the mainstream.
Christopher Coppola’s movies include “Deadfall,” “G-Men from Hell,” and “Dracula’s Widow,” and he has routinely worked both Cage and his brother, Marc Coppola, into his movies. Coppola also directed eight episodes of “America’s Most Wanted.”
Coppola is also no stranger to New Mexico. Besides hosting the PAH in Grants, his media company, EARS XXI, is the presenting sponsor of the Duke City Shootout. He is also filming the television show “Biker Chef,” and his first episode takes him throughout the Land of Enchantment.
Dressed in black leather pants and a matching bandana, a Sky City T-shirt, wearing Native American jewelry, and carrying a suede bag – a coyote fur coat hanging over his chair – Coppola would have looked at home almost anywhere in New Mexico, but not necessarily at Weck’s where he met with Mayor Kevin Jackson and Rio Rancho Public Schools board member Kathy Jackson on Wednesday to discuss the project.
A self proclaimed “digivangelist,” Coppola’s goal is to encourage people to use common technology, such as cell phones and Web cams, to express themselves and create art.
The biggest benefit to the participants, Coppola said, is “getting a chance to learn technology is a tool you can be creative with,” like a paintbrush or camera, but with an instantly available showcase through the Internet. Using these tools, he said, the artists quickly learn that even the from the smallest New Mexican towns, they are part of a global picture.
Of course, pleasure is also a benefit of the festival.
“They’re having a great time,” Coppola said. “It’s fun.”
And then there’s the cash prizes. In the future, Coppola hopes the prizes will take the form of scholarships, but for now the winners will only be encouraged to use the money to further their education. He had not yet set the amounts for the Rio Rancho festival.
Cell phone and Web cam art will be the only two categories in this festival, dubbed a “mini PAH.” If there is another, and Coppola sounded confident that there would be, it could include “team mobiflicks,” in which filmmakers are selected from their submitted ideas and are helped by a coach to make their movies.
The Jackson’s gave Coppola a one-two punch, with Kevin actively pursuing the festival for Rio Rancho and Kathy laying the groundwork for the school district’s involvement. Festival participation will likely be extracurricular this time around, but could be included in the lessons or could earn student’s school credits in the future. Jackson said she would discuss the options with RRPS superintendent Dr. Sue Cleveland.
Kevin Jackson, who met with Coppola for the third time Wednesday, said it was the director’s character that convinced him this was a good fit for Rio Rancho.
“He has a heart not only for communities, he has a heart for kids,” he said.
Jackson also foresees a quality partnership between the film industry and the schools.
“His program fits perfectly in the education model,” he said.
Coppola’s attraction to New Mexico has to do with both its history and its potential.
He is fascinated with New Mexico as the birthplace of the atomic bomb. He called his festival a “digital creative bomb,” which is “much more of a healing thing.”
Like his goal for his festival artists, Coppola, also doesn’t want to see New Mexico become the next Hollywood.
“New Mexico’s not just a spill-off of Hollywood,” he said. “New Mexico can become a digital mecca.”
The metropolitan area has already spawned some cinematic hopefuls. One of the winners from the Grants PAH was a student at Albuquerque High School. That film, along with many others from the Grants and Germany festivals, is available online at www.pahfest.com. The Nevada festival will also be shown at that Web site, as will the details of the Rio Rancho mini PAH.
Meanwhile, Rio Rancho is trying to position itself as the film capital of New Mexico. With Lionsgate Films’ groundbreaking coming soon and more opportunities available for additional studios, the mayor is also looking for help from the University of Southern California, which is recognized as an elite organization in the digital media field.
“They’re making a commitment to assist us,” Jackson said.
Ideally, through it’s schools and industries, Jackson is hoping Rio Rancho becomes the place where science, technology and the arts merge.