It's been a busy week at the city with six new fire rebuild permits issued since my last column. The pace of new applications is still anemic with only two new applications in the last 7 days by my count.
To date the City has waived $2,091,085.62 in Planning and Building & Safety fees on owner occupied homes damaged in the Woolsey Fire. To date neither the other municipalities nor the County have waived any fees for their residents. If you haven’t yet, please submit your application as soon as possible.
The City Council approved the final version of the Civic Center Way improvement Project on the 10thso we will see the commencement of this long-awaited improvement prior to June of this year. Expect to see big improvements in the ability of the road to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians while improving sightlines for automobiles and those exiting 23901 Civic Center Way.
The Malibu Film Festival will begin this Saturday at City Hall at 11AM with the last film slated to end by 10 PM. Google Malibu Film Festival for ticket options and more information about the films.
The Festival will open with “Johnny Strange: Born to fly” directed by Eamon Harrington and John Watkin. They have been working on the project for at least 2 years that I know of. A portion of all tickets sold will help fund the construction of the Johnny Strange Memorial Skatepark in Malibu.
The creator of the next film “Butterfly” spoke at the City Council Meeting on the 10thabout the concept behind this Woolsey Fire film. Definitely worth a look and free to boot.
SK8FACE by Matt Bass features Tony Hawk, Shepard Fairey, and Mark Gonzales at 2:30. It is about the influence of skateboard art and its place in art history and pop culture. Over the past few years I have noticed quite a few skateboard decks displayed as fine art and look forward to learning more. This film is also dedicating a portion of the proceeds to the new Skate Park.
I recently met Matt Mendenhall the creator of feature film “Greetings from the Unicorn” which is having its world premiere at the 5:00 showing. Matt followed his friend Chris Robinson, one of the founding members of the Black Crowes through his 6 year journey with “The Chris Robinson Brotherhood”. I’m eager to see what he has produced.
The final movie of the day is the Los Angeles premiere of “The Mustang: America’s Wild Horses” which is packaged with the Filmmaker reception.
I hope to see you there as we recognize local filmmakers.