‘Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story,’ a documentary film about Kathy Kohner Zuckerman of Pacific Palisades, will screen at the Feel Good Film Festival at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 14, in the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Zuckerman, who as a teenager living in Brentwood inspired her father’s 1957 novel ‘Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas,’ will attend the screening of the film with director Brian Gillogly and members of the cast and crew. The film, which took five years to complete, played at the Malibu Celebration of Film in 2006, where it received great reviews and critical acclaim. It was screened again in 2008 at a fundraiser honoring Paul Wendkos, director of the first three ‘Gidget’ movies, but was then shelved. Gillogly was prevented from entering ‘Accidental Icon’ in film festivals or showing it at other venues because of royalty issues. Sony (Columbia), which owned about 10 minutes of the clips used in the 64-minute film, asked Gillogly to pay $50,000 for a licensing fee. He was working on a sparse budget (like most documentary filmmakers) and was unable to pay the fee. Seeking support, Gillogly found Jack Lerner, director of the USC Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic, who took on the project pro bono. The film was re-edited in 2008 with Lerner’s help so that it would meet the fair-use standards in terms of some of the old Gidget film and TV footage. ‘He believed in the value of the project,’ Gillogly said, noting that the fair-use editing was exacting and tedious, but that he lost only about 25 percent of the original clips.”The archival footage we added replaced some of those. We restructured and rearranged some of the Hollywood footage. We were able to add great archival shots by Grant Rohloff and Dr. Don James and make some fixes. By all accounts our efforts have paid off.” In March this year, the re-edited documentary’s screening was a sellout and received a standing ovation at the Noosa Festival of Surfing in Australia.’A month later, the film played to a standing-room-only crowd at the Newport Beach Film Festival.’ ‘It’s been a long hard road, and quite an odyssey, but it’s been worth it,’ said Gillogly a resident of San Pedro, who has been nominated for best director at the Feel Good Film Festival. He also emphasized that Sony (Columbia) was not trying to stop his project, but rather ‘They had their rates for clips and I could not afford them. In the end they signed off on our final edit and will receive a modest clip fee if we make money.’ The film is narrated by Jorja Fox (‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’), produced by Gillogly and Robert Masters, and edited by Brian Denny. ‘Accidental Icon’ explores the untold story of the real ‘Gidget’ and how her diary of surfing Malibu in the mid-50s became the basis for Frederick Kohner’s best-selling novel and a series of feature films and TV shows. In the documentary, actors, directors and surfers who provide a behind-the-scenes perspective include Sally Field, Cliff Robertson, James Darren, Gregory Harrison, Caryn Richman, Paul Wendkos, Layne Beachly, Summer Romero, Mickey Mu’oz and Pacific Palisades resident Darryl Stolper, a retired Paul Revere Middle School teacher who taught Field to surf for the sitcom ‘Gidget.’ ‘ Together with Zuckerman they weave an entertaining and ultimately life-affirming true account of a young girl coming of age and the waves at Malibu’s fabled Surfrider Beach’and how a somewhat idealized vision of that girl became a true American icon. Indeed, Surfer magazine’s 40th anniversary issue in 1999 chose Zuckerman/Gidget as the seventh most influential surfer of all time. Out of 25 featured surfers, only two women were selected. In 2001, Zuckerman brought out a new edition of the book, which contains beach photos of her from the 1950s, and a foreword and introduction by writer/playwright Deanne Stillman. Gillogly, who graduated from UCLA and was the captain of the surf team, became fascinated by Zuckerman and got to know her. ‘Surfing exploded after the ‘Gidget’ movie came out,’ he said. ‘Surfer lingo was introduced to the nation’s culture. It was interesting to watch how the icon spread from Kathy and affected the country.’ After college, Gillogly wrote for sports magazines and worked on documentaries including ‘This Is Snowboarding,’ ‘Psycho Skate,’ ‘Carrot Top: Behind the Scenes’ and ‘Cinderella Man: The Real Jim Braddock Story.’ The Egyptian Theater is located at 6712 Hollywood Blvd. Tickets can be purchased on line at: www.fgff.org or at the box office on the day of the event. Cash only.

In May, Palisadian Howard Gordon traveled as part of a select delegation to observe the process of political and military transition in Iraq. His assessments and perspective, to be shared tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m. at the University Synagogue, 11960 Sunset Blvd., coincide with a pivotal moment in the war’s history. Just last week, President Obama announced an end to the combat mission and a major reduction in U.S. forces by the end of August.   Gordon, a 20-year entertainment-industry veteran who was executive producer of the hit series ’24,’ joined a small group of U.S. business leaders handpicked by the Pacific Council on International Policy to assess firsthand the challenges and successes of the U.S. military’s current and planned ‘drawdown’ efforts during an intensive four-day trip to Iraq. Ultimately, the delegation’s mission was to share its observations with the public as a service to the U.S. Department of Defense.   ’The caveat was that we were not experts; we were all very mindful of this,’ Gordon said during an interview on Monday. ‘We were simply guests who were willing to listen and process what we observed.’   Travel to Baghdad proved challenging. When the Iraqi government abruptly cancelled flights on Gryphon Air, a commercial contractor, the Pacific Council team was forced to travel to Bahrain, where they were able to ‘hitch a flight’ on a U.S. Navy C-23B Sherpa to Kuwait. From Kuwait, delegates were transferred to a C-130 to Baghdad, where they stayed at Saddam Hussein’s Al Faw Palace, now the U.S. military base known as Camp Victory.   While there, delegates met with top-level U.S. and Iraqi officials, including General Raymond T. Odierno, commanding general of U.S. Forces in Iraq, and Christopher R. Hill, U.S. ambassador to Iraq.   Later, members of the group flew by Black Hawk helicopter to Karbala, Shia Islam’s second-holiest city. There, they met with Amal al-Din al Hir, governor of Karbala Province, and his staff and had an opportunity to meet with Iraqi civilians, soldiers and civic leaders. The last leg of the trip back in Baghdad featured a meeting with Major General Michael Barbero, who invited members to observe Iraqi police training exercises.   ’Whether or not you supported the war when it started, the fact is we’re there,’ says Gordon, a registered Democrat who was quick to point out the nonpartisan nature of the Pacific Council, considered the premier international-affairs organization focused on policy issues of special concern to the West Coast.   ’The question now is what is our responsibility to the Iraqis and to ourselves? So many men and women have lost their lives. It’s been a huge investment as a nation. What should we do to not squander this tremendous sacrifice?’ Gordon asked.   These questions have become even more urgent as the American force in Iraq will be reduced to 50,000 transitional troops by month’s end (as compared to 144,000 military men and women when President Obama took office). A full withdrawal is anticipated by the end of 2011.   ’There’s a lot of positive news coming from Iraq,’ said Gordon, who feels frustrated by the lack of media coverage’positive or negative’and overall short attention span of the country in relation to the Iraq war. ‘It may feel like old news, but not to the Iraqis and Americans who are still there. By and large, I was impressed by everyone I met and their degree of professionalism and commitment to the mission.’   Gordon cited as a major step toward stability the success of the Iraqis holding an election in spring 2010 (despite its protracted outcome) that didn’t erupt in chaos.   ’Some of our worst fears have not come to pass,’ he says. ‘Despite this, it’s absolutely a work in progress. We won’t know the result of this transition for years to come.’   Gordon hopes to stir serious discussion during his Friday night presentation, one that will also touch upon some of the lighter moments of his trip, including how he surprised General Odierno, a huge fan of ’24,’ with a phone call from star Kiefer Sutherland.   ’It’s not an easy story to tell; it’s complex and complicated with no right answers,’ said the longtime resident, who lives here with his wife, Cambria, and their three children.   ’Assuming that a stable and democratic Iraq is in our national interest, the challenge for Council members and me is how to keep that in the minds of our citizens and the politicians they elect.’   The event, held in conjunction with University Synagogue’s Friday night Shabbat service, is open to the public.