A 48-hour film competition begins tonight, helping kick off this year’s Scotts Valley Hitchcock Festival.
Entry costs $10 per team, though it’s free for local high schoolers. The winning creation will be screened on Sunday, March 8, during the fest.
Each film has to be written, filmed and edited within the 48-hour competition window. They can’t be more than five minutes and must all include the same specific line of dialogue. They also can’t be R- or X-rated productions.
Participants are required to use Hitchcockian techniques; “examples might include suspense through blocking, voyeuristic POV, visual motifs or sound-driven tension,” notes the entry guidelines.
“This levels the playing field and puts the focus squarely on creativity, storytelling and execution, plus honoring the master of suspense!” the festival stated on its website.
On Friday, March 6, at 6pm, the first night of the festival itself will begin. After an introduction by Scotts Valley Mayor Donna Lind at 6:45pm, a panel featuring Tere Carrubba, the granddaughter of Alfred Hitchcock, local historian Jay Topping and UCSC Professors Shelley Stamp and Logan Walker (lecturers in the Film and Digital Media department), will discuss Carrubba’s experiences growing up with her famous grandfather.
Marking 100 years since its release, the festival will show Hitchcock’s first film, “The Pleasure Garden,” at 8:45pm, which will feature piano accompaniment by Kylan DeGhetaldi, who specializes in ragtime and other early jazz genres.
Rich Karat, who has documented many Hitchcock filming locations, will share photos and discuss their significance on Saturday, March 7, at 1pm, followed by a presentation of the 1976 film “Family Plot” at 2pm. Then, at 7pm, Tony Lee Moral, author of the newly published “A Century of Hitchcock: The Man, The Myths, The Legacy,” will introduce “North by Northwest (1959),” which will screen at 8:30pm.
On Sunday, March 8, Amy Shiovitz will host the fest-within-a-fest “48-Hour Film Festival” ceremony, beginning at noon, followed by a presentation of “Rope.” And, if it goes off without a hitch, it will represent a vindication, after the film was unable to be played last year due to a technical problem.
For tickets and more information, visit hitchcockfestival.com.
The City of Scotts Valley affirmed March 2-8 as Alfred Hitchcock Week, during its Feb. 4 regularly scheduled Council meeting. Read on for more city updates.
Repairs and upgrades
With the recent passage of the federal budget, the City cheered the $682,000 now on its way from the Department of Justice for new police dispatch consoles and other technology, so it can join the county-wide Regional Interoperable Next-Generation radio network.
Mayor Lind received $66,000-plus from the former Scotts Valley Community Advocates representative Sara De Leon, for the Tot Lot installed last year, which included making the entire surface ADA-compliant rubber rather than just part of it.
The police department has applied for a traffic and DUI enforcement grant, as well as another for bike and e-bike education grant (in partnership with Ecology Action). The department is also hiring a lateral officer and a fresh trainee.
Interim Police Chief Jayson Rutherford and City Manager Mali LaGoe recently attended a two-day “City Manager” training session in Monterey that was hosted by the California Police Chiefs Association.
The Glenwood Slide repair is finally wrapping up, which includes moving the water line further in on the roadway. Caltrans and PGE have been working to move the intersection by the sinkhole near Carl’s Jr. along Scotts Valley Drive off of generator power.
In addition, the City recently met with reps from the girls softball organization about getting the Snack Shack back up and running. Staff from the Building Department and Public Works visited the ballfield to figure out how to get the facility there up to snuff.
Scotts Valley also met with three bidders for the Skypark Master Plan job.
Sue Draper, a realtor, told Council during public comment that people are thrilled with the upgrades that have happened at Skypark already.
“You have to know you did an excellent job; it’s, like, stunning,” she said. “It’s terrific.”
Lind replied that she’s heard the park is now becoming quite the destination for families from across the county.
Sales tax revenues have been flat, which the City isn’t too happy about; however, it’s in line with what fiscal planners anticipated. That was driven by lower gas prices late last summer and builder uncertainty.
“At least it’s not worse, I guess,” commented LaGoe.
Lastly, the Council met in closed session regarding a claim from Tavare Harris and voted unanimously to deny it.
