Culver City Times

Westdoc, the premiere West Coast documentary and reality conference, has announced that for the first time this year's three-day event will take place in Culver City this September. The opening night film screening, panels, keynote presentation, PitchFest competition and vendor area will be located at Pacific Theatres Culver Stadium 12, while the Culver Hotel will serve as the social center point of the conference.

The event serves producers and directors of non-fiction/documentary and reality TV programming and the executives who fund the projects or are interested in acquiring content. The conference will feature panels, case studies, social events and exclusive networking sessions. The main event is an all-day PitchFest where documentary and…

Last Monday, the Culver City Council agreed to approve a commitment letter with Regency Centers Acquisition LLC / Red Barn for the sale of the city-owned property on the northeast and northwest corners of the Washington Boulevard and Centinela Avenue intersection for the development of a Market Hall.

The council was supposed to approve the commitment letter during its February 6 meeting, but during consideration of this item the council received public comment that raised concerns about Red Barn’s involvement in a project in the City of Hercules in Northern California. Since the February 6 meeting, city staff investigated the Hercules project and determined that there was nothing about Red…

The residents of Commonwealth Avenue in the Clarkdale section of Culver City have reason for joyousness.  The Ficus Trees were trimmed on Thursday! 

 A little back story. 

 Upon moving in to our home in 1998,  it was obvious the trees on the block were too big, I made my first phone call to Public Works after we had settled in. I spoke to a very nice man who explained there was an order to which the trees were…

At last Monday's meeting, the Culver City Councilmembers debated whether the city should continue to help fund three major Culver City cultural events: IndieCade, Taste of the Nation, and the Culver CIty Exchange Club's Car Show. In the past, the city's redevelopment agency has helped fund these events, but with the state's recent elimination of these agencies, Culver City must decide whether funding should continue.

City Manager John Nachbar recommended against funding these events out of the city's discretionary fund but suggested that the city might waive permit fees and other charges. Ultimately, the council postponed a decision until city staff could discuss funding options with representatives from each of the events.

During the deliberations, Councilmember Jeff Cooper reasoned for the value of IndieCade and against Taste of the Nation, but Councilmembers Andrew Weissman and Christopher Armenta argued that the city had to be consistent in its…

The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts Visual Art students along with art students in Kristine Hatanaka’s drawing and painting classes have received a CCUSD Education Foundation Grant to help create artwork for orphans in Honduras through a program called, “The Memory Project”.  Established in 2004, The Memory Project is a unique initiative in which art students create portraits in any medium for children and teens around the world that have been orphaned, neglected, or disadvantaged.  The goal of The Memory Project is to inspire caring, global friendship, and a positive sense of self.  The purpose of the portraits is to provide the orphans with a special memory of their youth, to honor their heritage and identity, and to help them build a positive self-image.   

The Memory Project, Founder and Director, Ben Schumaker was thrilled when Kristine Hatanaka, AVPA Creative Director of Visual Art, contacted…

Barbara Strasen's new show, “All Manner Of Things,” opens at George Billis Gallery in Culver City this Saturday, February 18th. The opening reception is from 5 pm to 8 pm, and, as always, the public is welcome. 

This is the gallery's third solo show of new work by Barbara Strasen. The show is part of a series of exhibitions associated with Pacific Standard Time. 

Barbara Strasen's work is about the potential beauty of complexity, the apparent chaos of contradictory images. Says the artist, "My perennial focus is in finding connections between unlike images that echo the way in which our perceptions are underlaid by memories and by cultural, historical, and archetypal…

For its seventh exhibition in Culver City, the George Lawson Gallery is showing examples of the work of seven Los Angeles-based painters in their 30s, including recent graduates of UCLA, Otis, Calremont and Cal State Long Beach.

The artist's reception is this Saturday, February 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. 

The gallery will also offer a panel discussion moderated by artist Marie Thibeault on Saturday, March 10, at 2:00 pm. 

George Lawson Gallery is located at 8564 Washington Blvd. in Culver City.

The Actors’ Gang’s adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 begins a short four-week run on Saturday, February 25, but previews begin this friday, February 17, and preview tickets are available now for just $10 apiece. Just go here, select the night you would like to attend, and use the code “EARLY BIRD”.

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan and originally produced by The Gang in 2006, Tim Robbins’ production of 1984 has now been seen in over 40 US states and on four…

The Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) hosted the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles on Friday, February 10.  As part of their “Alive Music Project,” the GMCLA performed for over 500 students, including a dozen classes and nearly 200 AVPA students.  The chorus performed several songs, including “Imagine” and “True Colors.”  The presentation included personal stories from several members of the chorus, sharing their experiences as gay men, overcoming prejudice, and how much joy they get from singing.

Founded over 30 years ago, the GMCLA has used music to overcome prejudice.  While every year over 85% of LGBT students in American schools experience physical or verbal abuse, the new FAIR Education Act of 2011 was passed in order to help combat bullying of LGBT students.  The act supports the inclusion of LGBT individuals and their contributions to American history and modern…