The Poppy Jasper International Film Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary April 10 with a star-studded opening gala at the Granada Theater in Morgan Hill, featuring the world premier of the festival’s very own music video, a keynote address from a Grammy-winning Gilroy native and a screening of a new drama by Alex Caulfield.
The gala was the centerpiece of an eight-day festival running through April 15 across venues in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista which drew filmmakers, industry professionals and community supporters who packed the downtown theater after a VIP pre-party at CURA Contemporary Art Gallery.
Radio personality Marla Davies, known from her shows on Mix 106.5 in San Jose, emceed the event. Davies is also the program director of KPJS 101.9 FM, a new community radio station for the South Valley launching in partnership with the festival. Davies also conducted interviews with visiting filmmakers throughout the event.
Mattie Scariot, the festival’s executive director and CEO for the last eight years, said she hopes to leverage the festival’s popularity to put South Valley and the larger Central Coast region on the map for filmmakers across the world.
“I saw a space that could be a destination, just like Napa, just like Santa Barbara,” she said. “We are just as cool as anyone else.”
Scariot credited festival founder Bill Leaman with setting the organization on its path and thanked about 50 industry professionals who volunteer their time each year to mentor attending filmmakers.
The keynote address was delivered by Randy Spendlove, a Gilroy native who served for many years as president of Paramount Music and has contributed to more than 450 studio films. Spendlove, a two-time Grammy winner, spoke about the power of music in storytelling and urged the assembled filmmakers to embrace new platforms and formats.
“You can create that emotion for someone who is on a subway, four stops from work,” Spendlove said. “Wherever that content is viewed, it’s important. Just know that you can touch people emotionally.”
A highlight of the evening was the world premiere of “To the Stars,” an original song and music video created collaboratively by Spendlove and a group of local South Bay musicians and producers. The song was written specifically about the festival and the spirit of the creative community it represents.
“I had the incredible fortune to work with some local musicians. Mattie called me in and said, ‘Would you participate with some local players and producers and be a part of creating something?’”
Spendlove said he was initially unsure what he could bring to the project, but ultimately agreed to help. What resulted, he said, is a moving tribute to the creators who make the festival possible.
“It’s really about you guys,” he said. “I just wanted to say what a privilege it was, for me, to be a part of the younger community here, and to be a mentor and become a part of creating something very, very special.”
Spendlove also highlighted his partnership with Project Harmony 911, a nonprofit that pairs first responders including police, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel with songwriters and music producers as a form of creative therapy.
The organization provides free mental health services to first responders and is currently completing a documentary that is expected to be submitted to next year’s Poppy Jasper festival.
The gala concluded with a screening of “What Comes Next,” a drama by Canadian filmmaker Alex Caulfield that follows a mother and teenage daughter through a family crisis after the death of a loved one. A Q&A with Caulfield followed the screening.
“It’s a filmmaker doing her first feature, and she does an amazing job,” Scariot said of the selection.
The festival, which this year encompasses more films and more venues than any previous edition in its history, concluded with closing ceremonies and awards Tuesday, April 14. Awards had not yet been announced at the time of writing.
Calvin Nuttall is a freelance writer based in Morgan Hill.
