Gone Hollywood: Monarch Documentary

Straight from the final screening at the Monarch Theatre on Sunday, Your Cinema Needs You is back in Los Angeles this week at the 2024 Hollywood International Golden Age Film Festival where it's currently a semi-finalist in the Best Documentary category. 

Leave it to an L.A. film festival jury to appreciate a story about saving old cinemas. This international film festival tour for the Monarch documentary still has a handful of undecided submissions due to be reviewed this month, but the tour is set to continue all summer long.

Tail O' the Pup in Los Angeles, California

A few visuals from the iconic Tail O' the Pup hot dog stand in Los Angeles, California. 

Official Selections & A Best Director Nomination

Today happens to be my birthday, and while this would be reason enough to celebrate on any other year, this birthday already feels different because some incredibly positive news about my documentary on the Monarch Theatre has started rolling in over the last few weeks. 

With the spring film festival season only just beginning, notifications of the very first official selections for "Your Cinema Needs You" started showing up in my inbox a couple weeks ago. Previews of the documentary this month brought the story about Canada's oldest surviving cinema to Lisbon, Los Angeles, Dresden, Stockholm, Chicago, and Berlin. If that wasn't enough, I just found out this week that, "Your Cinema Needs You" was shortlisted for two Best Documentary awards, and received a festival nomination for Best Director in the feature documentary category. My chances of winning are slim, but still, a pleasure to be nominated and all that jazz.

On my birthday last year (and for much of 2023) I was deep in post-production and I posted frequently about if this movie was ever going to be finished, if I was going to get the ending I'd been holding out for, if the premiere would actually happen, and if the Monarch Theatre would finally reopen. Honestly, it would've saved me so much stress if I could've predicted that any of this would've worked out quite so well. 

I have a feeling that this is the beginning of a lot more exciting stories to share this year, so let me just say thank you again! Thank you to everyone who was involved in making this, who supported this multi-year project, who contributed to it, who attended the screenings, etc. etc. It's so awesome to see this through so many fresh eyes and to even have to opportunity to share this experience with you. 

What a great day to have cake in the house lol.

Larry Edmunds Bookshop in Hollywood, California

With its roots stretching back to 1938, the Larry Edmunds Bookshop in Hollywood, California is a historical repository of photos, scripts, posters, and books spanning all things entertainment. This store is unique not only because it's Hollywood Boulevard's last surviving bookshop, but because it's one of those authentic spaces that has welcomed artists, authors, and fans alike with direct links to the film industry. Larry Edmunds Bookshop is as classic as the content that fills the shop's shelves. What else can I say? I do love an old bookstore.  

 

Dolby Family Terrace at the Academy Museum

A few visuals from atop the sphere on the Dolby Family Terrace at the Academy Museum.

 

A Stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel

A few visuals from the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.