On February 11th, at the red carpet for the Montecito Award, reporters WILLA and HARPER were interviewing BELLE CASARES & EZEQUIEL CASARES, filmmakers of an Argentinian documentary, "THE LAST PUESTERO".

When asked what conversations do you hope this film sparks, they replied with “That's a good one," and spoke about our connection to nature and to our past.

On February 11, at the red carpet for the Montecito Award, reporters WILLA and HARPER got to interview NOAH SMITH the Producer for “LA TORMENTA” a documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Maria destroying Puerto Rico's power grid. 

When asked about what conversations he hoped this film would spark in the community, and what he hoped people would do with this film, Noah’s response was “...first and foremost, I hope that the conversations are about the power of community, and about how, the ability to be able to rely on your neighbors, and to be a good neighbor, like, a lawnmower, or if you need some sugar, people can see the joys and the brilliance of that, and having that sense of community.”

On February 11th, at the red carpet for the Montecito Award, WILLA and HARPER were interviewing BENNETT CURRAN the director of” CALIFORNIA IS BURNING.”

When asked about the film had impacted his day-to-day life Bennett’s response was, “it’s the compassion of the community of Altadena that’s really impacted my life the most, in the way that a community that I don’t live in, but lost everything, welcomed me to film their community and encourage me to raise their voices… and the way that they treat each other, truly, it changed my life.”

On February 11, at the red carpet for the Montecito Award, reporters WILLA and HARPER got to interview the local filmmakers of “THE BEAR BENEATH”, OLIVIA HILLE, JORGE RODAL LLANO, and TATUM DAVIS.

When asked about the origin of the film, they credited UCSB Professor, Peter Alagona. “He's the best grizzly bear researcher, probably in, like, the world…And once we started talking with him, the story basically just laid itself out.”

On February 11, at the red carpet for the Montecito Award, reporters WILLA and HARPER got to interview PHILIP EMO & KILLIAN CASEY, filmmakers of
"HIS HOUSE, HOME".

When asked about what advice they would give to their younger selves, Philip replied "Oh, that's a good question. That's the best question we've got, I think. You know, the advice I would give is don't be too hard on yourself."

On February 11, at the red carpet for the Montecito Award, reporters WILLA and HARPER got to speak with TSERING BAWA, TSERING DHONDUP, PEMA BALDWIN, & NIKO CVITANIC, filmmakers of "MOTHS".

When asked about the inspiration for the film, the answer was "I wrote it in college as a play first, and then slowly, for thesis, we made it into a film. And it's inspired by a Tibetan story of a father and a son in the mountains with their yak."

On February 11, at the red carpet for the Montecito Award, WILLA and HARPER interviewed MIKAELA RUEGG who co-produced a short film from New Zealand called “INVISIBLE DRAGONS” about a father-daughter relationship and conspiracy theories.

When they asked what advice she would give to her teenage self, she replied: "Be...a little nicer to your mom around, like, 14."