SBMS Teen Press

Stories from
Team 49

Interviews and stories from the 49th group of Teen Press Reporters – Winter, 2023.

Reporters from Team 49 covered the 38th SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, running from February 8th - 18th, 2023, with interviews from the red carpet at awards events, film reviews, filmmaker interviews, and a few "Behind The Scenes" stories (on the "Our Team" page). We're still working on after-the-fact REVIEWS and INTERVIEWS, so keep checking back for our latest reporting!

The following links will take you to interviews from a specific event...(but open in a new tab. Thanks a lot, Google):

CLOSING NIGHT FILM - "I Like Movies"
PROFESSIONAL & STUDENT FILMMAKERS - Paul Dektor, Kaela Waldstein, Malcolm Tircuit
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORS AWARD - Todd Field & Martin McDonaugh
CINEMA VANGUARD AWARD - Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson
VIRTUOSOS AWARD - Many
AMERICAN RIVIERA AWARD - Brendan Fraser
VARIETY ARTISANS AWARD - Many

VARIETY ARTISANS AWARD - Many
MALTIN MODERN MASTER AWARD - Jamie Lee Curtis
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER AWARD - Cate Blanchett
MONTECITO AWARD - Angela Bassett
OPENING NIGHT FILM - "Miranda's Victim"
SBIFF PRESS CONFERENCE - Roger Durling

POST-FESTIVAL INTERVIEWS

Director MICHELLE DANNER

On February 8th, 2023, the Opening Night Film at this year's Santa Barbara International Film Festival was MIRANDA'S VICTIM, directed by MICHELLE DANNER. That night, Team 49 reporters JULIA & PHOEBE were on the red carpet, but only got a few moments with the director.

Happily, Ms. Danner agreed to a rematch, here on Zoom!

CLOSING NIGHT FILM "I Like Movies"

The CLOSING NIGHT FILM, “I Like Movies”, brought a red carpet full of filmmakers from the festival, as well as participants in the night’s feature film. It was Saturday, February 18th, 2023, and SBMS Teen Press reporters CHLOE & ROXY were on hand to interview…and BE interviewed! A local television news team from KEYT interviewed both students that evening, turning the tables on our reporters.

Meanwhile, on the actual red carpet, the team spoke with:

BREN CUKIER (Director), MARIANA ZYDEK (Actor) from the short narrative film “Thursday”
JOSH POLON (Director/Cinematographer/Producer/Writer), GERMÁN ALONSO (Subject), JONATHAN SIMS (Subject) from documentary “The Legend of MexMan”
ELFAR AÐALSTEINS (Director/Writer/Producer), ANNA MARÍA PITT (Actor), from the Icelandic feature narrative “Summerlight... and Then Comes the Night”
GARETH KELLY (Director/Producer/Writer) TRAVIS VASSALLO (Producer), JAMES RAFFERTY (Subject), of the Santa Barbara short documentary "Locals Only: The Big Little Pub"
SCOTT HAMILTON KENNEDY (Cinematographer/Director/Producer/Writer), of the documentary feature “Shot In The Arm"
JOSH NOWAK (Director), KEITH WILLIAM RICHARDS (Actor), AARON LONG (Actor), from the narrative short "Night Cafe"

And from the closing night film "I Like Movies"

PROFESSIONAL & STUDENT FILMMAKERS

Over the course of this year's Santa Barbara International Film Festival, reporters from Team 49 got the chance to interact with several filmmakers separately from the red carpet, to more deeply explore their filmmaking process. Between a professional filmmaker father at SBMS, an artist/documentarian from Albuquerque, and an SBMS alum student filmmaker, as well as a score of encounters on the red carpet, Teen Press reporters have gotten a taste of the movie-maker’s life. In this sidebar, Team 49 features interviews with three filmmakers:

PAUL DEKTOR

PAUL DEKTOR is the director of a full-length world-premiere narrative film, “American Dreamer”, with big-name stars (Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine, Matt Dillon, Danny Glover, and Danny Pudi). He is also an SBMS dad. IRIS, PHOEBE, STELLA and JULIA interviewed him about his film and filmmaking on campus.

KAELA WALDSTEIN

KAELA WALDSTEIN is the producer, director, cinematographer and editor of her latest short documentary, “Cara Romero: Following the Light,” which was screened at the festival, and has been picked up by SoCal PBS. After attending one of the SBIFF's free seminars, "The Long and Short of Short Filmmaking,” in which KAELA took part, CHLOE, ESTHER, SOPHIA and TEYA interviewed her downtown at the Tamsen Gallery.

MALCOLM TIRCUIT

MALCOLM TIRCUIT is an SBMS alum filmmaker attending Santa Barbara High School, who took part in the 10-10-10 Screenwriting and Filmmaking Mentorship and Competition. High school and college participants work for 5 months with mentors from the industry to create films for the competition, which are screened on the final day of the festival. ESTHER, RUBY and STEFAN interviewed him outside the Arlington Theater, just after his film “The Green Machine” was screened—and won—in the category of high school directing.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORS AWARD

The OUTSTANDING DIRECTORS Award event was held on the penultimate night of the 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, on 2-17-23. On hand for the awards were Oscar-nominated directors TODD FIELD and MARTIN McDONAGH.

TODD FIELD
Director & Awardee

SBMS Teen Press reporters RUBY & STEFAN, research in hand, were ready for action on what turned out to be an eerily quiet night on the red carpet. It might have been Friday the 13th, but it wasn’t. Two of the four directors (the DANIELS) were no-shows, and the reporters had the exquisitely painful experience of being within seconds of interviewing one of the directors when time ran out and he was whisked away into the theater.

SCOTT FEINBERG
Critic & Moderator

On the other hand, RUBY & STEFAN got some good conversations with Oscar-nominated director TODD FIELD and the event’s moderator, and got to attend a very warmly funny and informative evening learning about the Directors FIELD & McDONAGH and their work.

CINEMA VANGUARD Award

It was Thursday night, February 16, 2023, at the CINEMA VANGUARD Award, honoring COLIN FARRELL and BRENDAN GLEESON. The SBIFF award is a recognition of actors “who have forged their own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film.” The two awardees are both from Dublin, and their career intersections have led them to become good friends.

The SBMS Teen Press reporters whose careers were intersecting that night were LUCCA & SOPHIA, who spent hours preparing questions for the two awardees, as well as some other notables whose plans to appear on the red carpet were just announced that afternoon. So in addition to pressure and eagerness being high for our reporters, they had to endure the sight of CHRIS PRATT (who produced the wrestling film “Helen | Believe” about Olympian Helen Maroulis) posing for the still cameras and then departing. And the sounds of cheering from the street as the awardees made the rounds with fans, before then being whisked up the red carpet without a stop for interviews.

RITA MORENO

Happily, SOPHIA & LUCCA got many other filmmaker interviews, one of which will go down in Teen Press history...

RITA MORENO, (Actor), MAUREEN BHAROOCHA (Director), “The Prank”
NIC DAVIS (Director), MICHAEL SHANE (Producer), ELLEN SHANE, “21 Miles in Malibu”
JOSH GREENE (Director), ASLAN DALGIC (Producer), JACK LATTIN (Cinematographer), “Waves Apart”
WILL CARINGTON, COURTNEY BUSH, JAKE GOICOECHEA “Rejoice in the Lamb”
SUDHANSHU SARIA (Writer/Director/Producer), “Sanaa”
ANIA BUKSTEIN (Dir/Actor) , DANA IVGY (Actor), “The Other Widow”
SEAN McEWEN (Writer/Director), SAM STRIKE, CORY HARDRICT (Actors), “American Outlaws”
ADI RABINOVICI, YAIR CYMERMAN (Directors), ARI NAGEL (Subject), “The Baby Daddy”
ESTEVAN PADILLA, JADEN LEVITT, AUDREY GLOECKNER-KALOUSEK, “The 50”
AUSTIN KOLODNEY (Writer/Director), “Two Chairs, Not One”
MIRIAM McSPADDEN (Director), ANDREA LYTLE PEET (Subject), “Go On, Be Brave” [also in the frame, BRIAN BECKMAN (Dir), DAVID PEET (Caregiver/Husband/Subject)]
MÅRTEN KLINGBERG (Director), “Second Act"
and an episode of Behind The Scenes - Sadness.

VIRTUOSOS AWARD

The VIRTUOSOS Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is one of, if not the most exciting event in the 10 nights of the festival. A panoply of breakout actors are honored, whose “noteworthy performances in film have elevated them into the national cinematic dialogue.” This year’s eight awardees have in some cases been performing for many years, some just a short time. In the words of Dave Karger, long-time moderator of the event, “It’s an impressive bunch that proves you can have a breakout moment at any point in your career.”

For this evening, February 15, 2023, two of our 9th grade reporters were on the red carpet, DANNA & RUBY, who, despite having to view many of the talent just skimming by without a word, held onto their fortitude, and got several interviews:

DAVE KARGER, Moderator
JANE LYNCH, Presenter
AUSTIN BUTLER, Actor & Virtuoso Awardee
as well as an introduction to the Virtuosos Award.

AMERICAN RIVIERA Award

It was the AMERICAN RIVIERA Award night at the 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Teen Press team of EVITA & TEYA were on the red carpet to engage with whoever they could! The American Riviera Award was “established to recognize actors who have made a significant contribution to American Cinema,” and the night’s honoree was BRENDAN FRASER, who was the highest on our team’s list of priority interviews. Happily, they managed conversations with many filmmakers and actors, in addition to the guest of honor!

The Valentine’s night (February 14th, 2023) red carpet interviews were with:

BRENDAN FRASER, American Riviera Award Recipient
JESSE HOVEY (Dir), JOSH JOHNSON (Subject) from “Telos”
MATTHEW MISHORY (Dir), BRAD SCHLEI, ROB LEVINE (Producers) from “Who Are The Marcuses?”
JONATHON HSU, LAW CHEN, JERRY HSU from “Starring Jerry As Himself"
AGATA SMOLUCH DEL SORBO (Prod), SHEILA PYE (Writer/Director) "The Young Arsonists"
JOEY ALLY (Actor) JULIA BALES (Writer/Director), TAYLOR MISIAK (Actor) "Followers"
SINÉAD O’LOUGHLIN (Dir) "Lamb"
PETE WHITE (Prod), ADAM KLUGMAN (Prod), PAUL FREEDMAN (Dir/Prod) "The Dirty Divide"
as well as an introduction to the American Riviera Award.

VARIETY ARTISANS AWARDS

On Monday, February 13th, the sixth night of the 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the people being honored were from behind the camera…some waaay behind. The evening was to celebrate the achievements of the folks who make the films possible, from costume design, to music composition, hair styling & make-up, editing, special effects, and cinematography. Taken together, the event was titled the VARIETY ARTISANS AWARDS, and of the 11 people being honored, the night’s Teen Press team of CHLOE and STEFAN managed to speak with about half of them!

This evening’s red carpet interviews were with:

RYAN LOTT, Composer
ERIC SAINDON, Visual Effects Supervisor
CATHERINE MARTIN, Costume Designer
PAUL RODGERS, Editor
MARKUS STEMLER, Sound Designer,
- and an introduction to the
Variety Artisans Awards.

MALTIN MODERN MASTER AWARD
Honoring JAMIE LEE CURTIS

The 4th night of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival #38 featured the MALTIN MODERN MASTER AWARD, named after esteemed film critic and long-time SBIFF moderator Leonard Maltin, and created to honor an “individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry.” It is the festival’s highest award, and was presented tonight to JAMIE LEE CURTIS. On tonight’s red carpet, Feb 11, 2023, EVITA & STELLA got a chance to interact with the awardee herself, as well as moderator Leonard Maltin, and many filmmakers:

Outstanding Performer of the Year Award
Honoring Cate Blanchett

Night Three of the 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and the red carpet was to honor this year's recipient of the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award--CATE BLANCHETT, returning for the third time to receive the award! SBMS Teen Press reporters DANNA & IRIS were honored to get to share a question with CATE, who made a special stop to speak with student journalists at the end of the press line. Iris & Danna also had the opportunity to speak with other filmmakers and actors, who shared some of their experiences in film & life:

CATE BLANCHETT, Actor & Awardee
Outstanding Performer of the Year Award Intro
KALAINITHAN KALAICHELVAN, KALAISAN KALAICHELVAN, WARREN SINNATHAMBY, Filmmakers of “Junglefowl”
ALEX PRAGER, Director/Writer/Producer of “Run”
TRISH NEUFELD & JOHN RITCHIE, Director & Producer of “Dancing With Mom”
JESÚS LLOVERAS, ALICIA LORENTE & AINARA LANDON, Director, Actor, Producer of “Ibiza Blue”
CHRISTINE YOO, Director/Producer of “26.2 Life”
RANDY SCHMIDT, CYNTHIA GIBB, BARRY MORROW, Writer/Director, Actor, Writer from “Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection”
CLARA CULLEN, ALMA FARAGO, SOPHIE BUHAI, Director, Actor, Actor of "Manuela"
DEXTER BRIERLY, MATT SEGER, NICOLAS BRUNO, Director, Director, Subject of "The Fear Cycle"

MONTECITO AWARD
Honoring ANGELA BASSETT

The first award of the 38th edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival was tonight’s MONTECITO AWARD, created to honor those whose contributions to film are both stylish and substantive. On tonight’s red carpet, Feb 9, 2023, ESTHER and ROXY got a chance to interact with the awardee herself, ANGELA BASSETT, and her award presenter RYAN COOGLER, as well as other filmmakers:

ANGELA BASSETT, Actor & Awardee
RYAN COOGLER, Director & Award Presenter
GABRIELA COWPERTHWAITE, Director of “The Grab”
GRACE DOVE, Actor, “Bones Of Crows”

OPENING NIGHT of the 38th Edition of the
Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The 38th edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival launched last night, February 8, 2023, with a red carpet and the world premiere of the film MIRANDA’S VICTIM. Many of the star-studded cast were present, as well as the producer and director. SBMS Teen Press reporters JULIA and PHOEBE were well-attired for the occasion, and even better, well-researched! They were prepared for the onslaught of actors and filmmakers…but were surprised that one of their interviewees had been the mayor of Santa Barbara! All-in-all, they managed interactions with a whole list of red carpet goers:

ABIGAIL BRESLIN, Actor, “Miranda’s Victim”
EMILY VANCAMP , Actor, “Miranda’s Victim”
RYAN PHILLIPPE , Actor, “Miranda’s Victim”
LUKE WILSON , Actor, “Miranda’s Victim”
LANDON BLAYNE HUTCHINS , Actor, “Miranda’s Victim”
GEORGE KOLBER , Writer/Producer/Actor, “Miranda’s Victim”
MICHELLE DANNER , Director, “Miranda’s Victim”
RANDY ROUSE , Mayor of Santa Barbara
DAVID ROBINSON SMITH, JACLYN PATERSON , Director, Cinematographer, “Mud Crab”
MICHAEL LEE, ETHAN TAKEKAWA , Directors, “Whale - Roads”
LESLIE SHAMPAINE, LAURIE WARRICKS, Producers, “Call Me Dancer”
MICHAEL LOVE, LISA STRATTON , Director, Subject, “Bringing Back Our Wetland”
ELENA FRANCESCA ENGEL , Producer/Director, “John Leguizamo Live at Rikers”
MAUREEN BHAROOCHA , Director, “The Prank”

SBIFF #38 Press Conference

January 18th, 2023,
Sullivan Goss Gallery

Poster by Patricia Chidlaw

ROGER DURLING

Each year, just before the Santa Barbara International Film Festival opens, ROGER DURLING, the festival's Executive Director, gives an overview of what's in store, and reveals that year's poster. Here LUCCA & STEFAN talk with Roger about the festival, his history with it, and other topics. Join in!

SEAN PRATT, SBIFF Managing Director

CLAUDIA PUIG, SBIFF Programming Director

CLAIRE WATERHOUSE, SBIFF Education Manager

PATRICIA CHIDLAW, Artist

SUSAN BUSH, Contemporary Curator, Sullivan Goss Gallery

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