Pacific Palisades residents have probably seen film producer Edward Saxon around town, driving car pool, going to his daughters’ school events’usually with a ready smile. You may even remember his face from ‘Silence of the Lambs’ as a head in a jar. He won a 1992 Best Picture Oscar for producing that movie, and his latest film, the adult comedy ‘Away We Go,’ is now showing in theaters after receiving mostly positive reviews. ‘I saw a script and thought it was the best one I had seen forever,’ Saxon said. ‘Sam Mendes [who won a 1999 Oscar for directing ‘American Beauty’] called and said he was interested.’ During filming, the crew shot in Connecticut (‘where we got a fabulous tax credit’), Arizona, Florida and Colorado. Once the film was completed, the decision was made to roll it out slowly, so that word-of-mouth would help propel it – and the buzz has been good. Saxon loves comedies, but selects his projects based on movies he’d like to see. His favorite film is ‘The Godfather Part II.’ ‘It is an extraordinary immigrant story,’ he said. ‘It has the hopefulness of coming to America as a family man and shows what happens if you don’t have a moral compass.’ He describes ‘Godfather II’ as high craft married to a great script and incredible performances. Saxon’s next film underway is an untitled wedding comedy starring Palisades High School graduate Forest Whitaker. Described as a culture-clash, the story centers on two overbearing fathers, Whitaker and Carlos Mencia, who must put aside their differences to plan the wedding of their children, played by Lance Gross (‘Meet the Browns’) and America Ferrera (‘Ugly Betty’). The movie is likely to open next spring, and Saxon, who was on the Los Angeles set on Tuesday, said, ‘So far, it’s fantastic. It’s really going great.’ When reading a screenplay, the first thing Saxon notices is the writing. He advises new screenwriters to work on their craft, noting that if the script is not carefully written, it keeps him from finishing it. ‘The intent and clarity are diminished if there are not grammatically correct words that are well-chosen,’ said Saxon, who has been reading scripts for 25 years. He notes that screenplays haven’t changed much, that only the genres go in and out of style. Today, movies are more likely to be made if there is a built-in awareness or marketing, such as with ‘Transformers’ or the Harry Potter series. ‘It’s a good time for comedy, given the economic climate,’ said Saxon, who was raised in St. Louis and attended McGill University in Montreal. He graduated with a degree in English in 1980. Saxon applied to the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC, but was turned down. He admits that it was probably his grades that caused the rejection, telling the Palisadian-Post that he was preoccupied with theater and foosball, as opposed to reading the required material for his English literature classes. He was eventually accepted at USC, graduating with an M.F.A. in 1984. During college, Saxon did everything from Shakespeare to hosting an original radio show. When asked if he has any acting aspirations, he said, ‘I never turn down a part if I’m asked, but I never get offered one either.’ Saxon jokes that show business has always been in his blood because his grandmother was a Rockette. His mom even wrote a script titled ‘My Mom was a Rockette.’ In 1984, he met director Jonathan Demme while both were working on a PBS half-hour comedy written by Beth Henley. They worked together through 2002 and produced (in addition to ‘Silence of the Lambs’) ‘Beloved,’ ‘Philadelphia,’ ‘Married to the Mob,’ Something Wild,’ and ‘The Truth About Charlie.’ The partnership ultimately ‘ran its course.’ ‘I wanted to do more producing and he wanted to go a different direction.’ Saxon produced Spike Jonze’s 2002 film, ‘Adaptation’ (written by Charlie Kaufman), and Richard Linklater’s ‘Fast Food Nation’ in 2006. ‘I like the variety which goes with producing,’ Saxon said. ‘You do a little bit of everything:’ looking at scripts, casting, finding a director, finances and visiting different locations. Saxon and his wife Kirsten Coyne, an artist who does large-scale installations and sculptures, moved to Pacific Palisades in 2005 to be closer to his extended family. His mom and four brothers live in Los Angeles, as does his sister, Leslie Saxon, a Palisadian who is chief of cardiology at USC Medical Center.   Saxon and Coyne have two daughters, Violet and Willow.

Country Musician David Holt Left the Palisades of His Youth to Chase Appalachian Sounds

In 1968, a young Texas-born musician named David Holt took his banjo and traveled to the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. He visited remote mountain communities such as Kingdom Come, Kentucky, and Sodom Laurel, North Carolina, searching for the best traditional musicians. His quest paid off handsomely. Over his three-decade career, Holt has earned four Grammy Awards for albums rich with American roots music and storytelling, and he has performed and recorded with – and mentored under – many of his heroes in the industry, including Doc Watson, Grandpa Jones, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff and Chet Atkins. But the seeds of his musical journey were planted in Pacific Palisades. One might call Holt, 62, a country or bluegrass artist. On his Web site, he describes himself as a musician ‘preserving traditional American music and stories.’ He plays 10 acoustic instruments and has released numerous recordings of traditional mountain music and southern folktales. Holt has become well known in North Carolina as host of the long-running public television program ‘Folkways,’ and for his radio show, ‘Riverwalk: Classic Jazz From The Landing’ for Public Radio International. He has also guest-starred on such shows as ‘Hee Haw’ and ‘The Grand Ole Opry.’ In 2000, he appeared in the Coen Brothers’ ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou,’ starring George Clooney. The film itself did not click commercially, but the bluegrass-flavored soundtrack album became something of a phenomenon, winning a Grammy in 2001. ‘I got a lot of energy from that,’ Holt says, although the aftermath of the album’s success had limited impact on his career. ‘It didn’t do much difference. I guess it raised awareness for that music. It’s not like Angelina Jolie on ‘Entertainment Tonight’ every night, but there are millions of people who know who’s who in the music. It’s almost an underground thing.’ Holt’s various albums have garnered Grammy Award attention. ‘Grandfather’s Greatest Hits’ received a 1992 Grammy nomination for ‘Best Traditional Folk Recording,’ and featured Atkins, Watson and Duane Eddy jamming together. ‘Why the Dog Chases The Cat: Great Animal Stories,’ with fellow storyteller Bill Mooney, was nominated in 1995 for a Grammy. In 1996, ‘Stellaluna,’ a collection of bat stories, garnered two Grammys for Holt, as artist and producer. Holt’s ‘Spiders in the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends’ was nominated in 1999 for a Grammy in the Adult Spoken Word category. He and Watson shared the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording in 2002 for ‘Legacy,’ a three-CD collection chronicling Watson’s life.   A native of Garland, Texas, Holt moved with his family to Pacific Palisades during his junior high years. ‘Dad moved there from Texas because he’s an inventor [of parts for planes],’ Holt says. The Holts lived on Las Pulgas and El Medio. David attended Paul Revere Middle School. The Palisades of Holt’s childhood was a different world. ‘In 1957, Pacific Palisades was a middle class place,’ he continues. ‘There were no houses in the mountains. We could just roam. It wasn’t Westwood, and it certainly wasn’t Beverly Hills. It was a good place to start, and my dad loved the beach. ‘There was no PaliHi. Eddie Fisher owned the whole land that PaliHi was later built on. Where that highway is today, there was a deep canyon. There were caves with stalagmites and stalactites. It was quite a remarkable, natural place. Nobody but kids went down there.’ Holt and friends ‘tried to live off the land there over night eating leaves and pine nuts.’ Holt also whiled away hours in the village at such long-vanished destinations as the Hot Dog Show and the Bay Theatre, behind which ‘there was a trampoline for kids to play on.’ At age 14, Holt says, ‘My parents wouldn’t let me get drums.’ They brokered a deal with their son that if he would take lessons for a year at the Hobby Music Shop on Via de la Paz, they would get him a kit. Under the tutelage of Johnny Malone, Holt spent months practicing on a rubber pad. He got his drum kit. By the time Holt hit high school, Palisades High was built. Holt graduated in the winter of ’65, after serving as senior class president. ‘At 15, I was the drummer in a local band called the Persuaders with Chris Gordon and Byron Case,’ Holt says. ‘We played all over Los Angeles and I got my first taste of performing. At 16, we got together with members of the Sun Rays, another local Palisades band, and recorded ‘Ski Storm.’ This was a surf-style instrumental featuring me doing a big drum solo.’ ‘Ski Storm’ raced up the charts in 1964. It ranked number 13 on the Billboard charts the very week the Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ took America by storm. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara magna cum laude in biology and art, Holt began his trek to Appalachia. Along the way, he made a stop at the Bryant, Texas, home of one of his idols. ‘I sought out Carl Sprague, the first of the recorded singing cowboys,’ Holt says. ‘He taught me to play the harmonica and regaled me with old-time cowboy stories. This experience introduced me to the excitement of learning from the source: the old-timers themselves.’ In the Appalachians, Holt found old-time mountaineers with a wealth of folk music, stories and wisdom, including banjoist Wade Mainer, balladeer Dellie Norton, singing coal miner Nimrod Workman, and 122 year-old washboard player Susie Brunson. Holt not only learned to master the banjo, but such instruments as the mouth bow, the bottleneck slide guitar, and the paper bag. ‘I stumbled onto almost like a lost world,’ Holt says. ‘A culture that was not going to be here much longer. These people I was learning from were born in the 1800s. They grew up before self-doubt was invented.’ In 1973, Holt convinced his wife, Virginia Callaway of Santa Barbara, to relocate to western North Carolina. Married for 38 years, the Holts currently reside in Ashville, a town of 150,000 with a vibrant musical scene. ‘She didn’t know anything about Southern culture,’ Holt says. ‘It took her about two years to get adjusted.’ Holt explains his attachment to the region: its music.   ’To me, mountain music is very soulful,’ Holt says. ‘The music is filled with a great variety of sounds and feelings. It contains elements of blues, bluegrass, early country, jazz and folk ballads. In essence, it encompasses the history of American music.’ Sort of a musical anthropologist, Holt enjoys finding a balance in his music that honors the past without disrespecting it. ‘I don’t play these songs as a museum piece,’ Holt says. ‘I take things and make them more acceptable for modern audiences. I don’t break them, I bend them. ‘One of my main heroes is Watson. He’s added who he is to the music and that’s what I try to do.’ Today, Holt tours with his band, The Lightning Bolts. He and Watson collaborate often, even sharing a Web site (www.docwatsonanddavidholt.com). Holt’s son, Zeb, 32, lives in New York, where he works in NBC’s online division. Holt will not be visiting Los Angeles anytime soon, but American roots music fans can catch Holt and his Bolts on tour at UC Santa Cruz on October 2, and for free with Watson at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on October 4. ‘For over 40 years,’ Holt says, ‘I’ve been inspired by the great musicians I have known who play mountain music. The music I play is filled with their musical spirit. I feel part of an unbroken chain.’ Visit www.davidholt.com.

Artistic Director Dale Franzen has fashioned the Broad Stage’s second season for omnibus tastes, offering 81 performances at the Santa Monica theater between September and May. Mikhail Baryshnikov brings two U.S. premieres of dances for the opening gala and season opener on September 4 and 5. Other highlights include Broadway’s Savion Glover; Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, from London; chamber music, jazz, world music, baroque, dance, opera/voice; and family and educational programs. Faced with the continuing uncertain state of the arts, a dismal economy and a lean budget, Franzen, a Pacific Palisades resident, has managed to create programming that satisfies the sophisticated audiences she attracts. ‘No doubt, last year was challenging,’ she tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘The week after we opened, the world fell apart and everybody stayed home.’ But despite the abbreviated season (40 performances) she says that she is pleased. ‘We had 12,000 come through the door; we’ve done well.’ While the challenges for Franzen remain the same, somehow things seem to fall on the right side of the balance sheet. Her pay-as-you-go philosophy (tightening staff, making cuts and keeping services in-house) has kept the Broad within its $1.2-million budget and allowed her to focus on seeking donations, large and small. ‘Some foundations froze, but others opened up,’ says Franzen, who is also grateful for her contacts, many of whom she developed over her 20-years as a professional opera singer (lyric soprano). Certainly one of the most important angels are the Broads, who helped launch the theater with a $10-million endowment for programming and arts education. ‘Eli and Edye came into my life at the best time. It was a great piece of timing; they have been extraordinary with my board, the budget and long-term strategy. Eli is brilliant and caring. I can call him up and he helps me. He is famous for his laser ability to zero in on things.’ Other advisors include L.A. Opera’s Pl’cido Domingo, actor/producer Tom Hulce, who assisted with booking Baryshnikov for the second season, and KCRW General Manager Ruth Seymour. ‘Ruth has been a mentor to me,’ Franzen says. ‘I admire her; she had a vision and has remained flexible and timely.’ Franzen also finds her counsel as a woman instructive. ‘I trust her, she’s a woman who’s not afraid.’ Franzen has also shaped a board she thinks has the background, connections and strategic thinking skills to build a community, to move the theater from its founding-year challenges to become a longtime theatrical entity. With this in mind, the board has begun to talk about a five-year strategic plan. ‘Nonprofits can’t afford to think about themselves as nonprofits any more,’ Franzen explains. ‘The original definition of nonprofit is ‘for the public good.’ All of us need to start thinking that way. My goal even in a 500-seat theater is to try to break even, but not to lose money. In order to do this I need to be thinking more strategically about a variety of income streams. With a new board chair, Austin Veutner, and a strong passionate board, we are looking at a long term strategy to protect this nonprofit.’ Believe it or not, Franzen says, her biggest challenge is spreading the word that the Broad Stage is out there. ‘I want everybody to know about this theater, and they don’t. ‘We need to spread the net through programming, the press, articles and just people talking. You can tweet, you can e-mail, but sometimes it takes actually getting someone to come to the theater by picking up the phone.’ There will be multiple reasons for visiting the Broad in the 2009-10 season, Franzen promises. She understands that the Westside wants dance, but she decided to cut out an expanded dance series in order to bring theater. It’s simple economics: unless she gets a major underwriter, such as KCRW’s support for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, individual performers don’t require the rehearsal and tech expenses that dance and theater do. Doubtless, the opening celebration with Baryshnikov elevates the programming bar, and the story behind this coup underscores the behind-the-scenes work of an artistic director. ‘I was lucky,’ Franzen says, simply. Five years ago, she spoke with Baryshnikov’s publicist, explaining to him that what Misha was doing with his foundation (The Baryshnikov Arts Center) was similar to what she wanted to do with the Broad Stage and the smaller (126-seat) Edye Second Space. One thing led to another. Franzen began talking to Misha’s executive director, Stamford Makishi, about doing a program at the Broad. While encouraged, Franzen was not able to close the deal until March of this year, when she was ready to go to press with the season brochure and she got the call that it was a go. ‘Relationships are very important,’ she says. ‘It took me five trips to New York to get Baryshnikov.’ The legendary dancer will offer two new dances by Alexei Ratmansky’the recently appointed artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre’and Benjamin Millepied, first soloist with the New York City Ballet. Prima ballerina Ana Laguna will share the duet. Theater programs include not only Shakespeare’s ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost,’ (November) but New-York based puppeteer Basil Twist, who will perform his version of ‘Petrouchka,’ accompanied by Stravinsky’s score for two pianos in February 2010. Franzen is also presenting ‘Jane Austen Unscripted with High Tea’ at the Edye Second Space in December, which she saw at a smaller Hollywood theater last year. ‘It’s great to have the Edye to try things out; it’s our think tank.’ In reviewing the inaugural year, Franzen says that it is still too soon to know what does or doesn’t work. That’s why she is still working as hard as ever, seeing theater, listening to music and all the while ‘getting stronger and getting clearer about what our needs are.’ For information and subscription series tickets, visit www.thebroadstage.com or call 818-461-9244.

Three years ago, actress Mariel Hemingway appeared on an episode of ‘Everyday Italian,’ the Food Network cooking show hosted by Palisadian Giada DeLaurentiis.   ’My youngest daughter, Langley, was obsessed with Giada,’ says Hemingway, who appeared on the show with Langley. Today, Hemingway herself is becoming known for her culinary skills, thanks to her latest book, ‘Mariel’s Kitchen: Simple Ingredients for a Delicious and Satisfying Life’ (HarperCollins). Hemingway will sign copies of her book and greet fans tomorrow night, July 3, at Palisades-Malibu YMCA’s inaugural ‘Fun Family Friday Nights,’ 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Simon Meadow in Temescal Gateway Park.   ’Mariel’s Kitchen’ is the logical extension of Hemingway’s own obsession with fitness, wellness and stillness, the actress tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘It’s my first cook book,’ Hemingway, 47, says. ‘It was originally about greening your kitchen because I believe the way that you eat and set up your kitchen is the first step in becoming helping your environment.’ In ‘Mariel’s Kitchen,’ readers will discover course-by-course recipes including such delicacies as a cauliflower, celery, and green pea salad; cranberry ‘blisscuit’ mini muffins; roasted chicken with rosemary and root vegetables; and seared wild salmon with minted mango salsa. Hungry readers will also find a spinach and mushroom lasagna, buffalo meat loaf (‘one of the best meats you can get is buffalo; it’s just a healthy meat’) and such desserts as lemon zest cheesecake, pumpkin walnut balls (‘That was my new creation’) and pear sorbet with balsamic port syrup. ‘I created those for my kids,’ she says of her quite-emerald spinach pancakes. ‘I just love everything green.’ ‘Mariel’s Kitchen’ is organized by seasons, utilizing ingredients specific to winter, spring, summer and autumn. ‘It’s a gluten-free cookbook. Some are family recipes that I tweaked to make healthier. We over-process wheat grain so much in this country that I believe we have an allergic reaction to gluten. ‘Food in its simplicity is the best kind of food,’ Hemingway says. ‘Shopping at the farmers market, supporting local merchants.’ Hemingway believes her penchant for cooking is genetic. She credits her dad, John Hadley Hemingway. ‘My father grew up in Paris, and he never believed that anyone in America could really cook,’ Hemingway says. ‘When he married my mother, a native Idahoan, he was convinced she couldn’t cook so he sent her to Le Cordon Bleu. Julia Child was at their wedding.’ Hemingway has always been connected to food service. Divorced earlier this year, she had been married since 1984 to Stephen Crisman, a restaurateur who co-founded the Hard Rock Caf’. They have two daughters, Dree, 22, and the aforementioned Langley, 20. In the 1980s, Hemingway and Crisman ran seven Sam’s Caf’ restaurants nationwide (‘Sam’ was Crisman’s nickname for Hemingway). Hemingway, of course, is not the only author in her family. Today marks the anniversary of the death of her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, who was widely considered the 20th century’s most important American writer. He died in 1961, about four months before granddaughter Mariel was born. Hemingway starred in films representing two phases of filmmaker Woody Allen’s career: his 1979 classic ‘Manhattan,’ and 1997’s well-reviewed ‘Deconstructing Harry.’ ‘It was kind of a surreal experience,’ Hemingway recalls of shooting ‘Manhattan,’ in which she played Allen’s love interest. ‘I had never kissed anyone until I kissed Woody Allen in the film. I had to practice at home. I would look in the mirror and kiss my arm for an hour. ‘I was a kid,’ she continues. ‘I came from Idaho. I didn’t understand sexuality. It was like being on another planet. It was an amazing experience to be in ‘Manhattan’ even though I had already made ‘Lipstick.” Hemingway also played in 2001’s ‘Perfume’ (not a sequel to ‘Lipstick’). ”Perfume’ was all improvised,’ Hemingway says. ‘There was no script at all. It was scary but really fun.’ Speaking of sequels, 1987’s ‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’ may not be a career highlight for anyone involved, but Hemingway got to work with some of Hollywood’s most talented actors. ‘It was great to work with Gene Hackman, and Christopher Reeve was a gentle sweet soul,’ Hemingway says. ‘It was a great time in my life, and I was newly married.’ Earlier this year, Hemingway appeared with the late David Carradine in ‘The Golden Boys,’ ‘a period piece, a sweet, sweet film. But currently I’m producing stuff and I only work in films when something comes along that really moves me.’ Hemingway wants to get a motion picture made based on grandpa Ernest’s ‘A Moveable Feast,’ his memoir of his insouciant, intoxicated 20-something years in Paris with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Unlike her hard-drinking, hard-living grandfather, this third-generation Hemingway prefers cleaner living and healthy food with fresh ingredients. She is currently developing ‘The Mariel Hemingway Show,’ which will address her passions”health, wellness, and food’in a talk show format. ‘Everyone I pitched it to has really liked it,’ Hemingway says. ‘Nobody’s done a holistic show; it’s not just food, it’s everything.’ Translation: Giada, watch your back! www.marielhemingway.com Contact: Palisades-Malibu YMCA, (310) 454-5591.

‘Corso: The Last Beat,’ a documentary about the last surviving Beat Generation poet Gregory Corso by Palisadian filmmaker Gustave Reininger, has won the Taormina Film Festival’s Audience Jury Award. The film had been accepted as part of the official ‘Beyond the Mediterranean’ competition section of the 55th Annual Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, which took place from June 13 through 20. ‘Beyond the Mediterranean’ showcased 24 films. ‘Corso was the only American selection,’ said Reininger, phoning from a Rome airport. ‘They did not see it as a documentary. It was seen as a drama.’ Reininger had been invited to travel with the film all over Sicily by American film critic Deborah Young, the festival’s director. Reininger was very pleased with ‘Corso”s reception: ‘The audience had a lot of young people, students from all over Sicily and Southern Italy.’ ‘I was actually in the shower when I got the news,’ Reininger said. No sooner did he jump out, than there were reporters outside his door. Reininger said that the prize was awarded to ‘Corso’ in the Teatro Antico, the 2,500-year-old Greco-Roman ampitheater. Reininger was happy to premiere ‘Corso’ at the Sicilian festival.   ’Out of loyalty to Gregory, I thought I’d debut the film in Italy,’ said the filmmaker of the late Italian-American subject of his film. ‘I just had a really great time going out and getting people to see the film,’ Reininger said. ‘I didn’t get much sleep. But it was just really marvelous.’ Oddly enough, Reininger almost felt at home in the Italian burg.   ’Taormina looks just like Pacific Palisades,’ Reininger said. ‘It’s like standing at the end of Via de la Paz.’ The Palisadian-Post was the first media outlet to profile Reininger’s documentary (”Last Beat’ Standing,’ January 29). Thanks to the online version of the article, Reininger was invited to attend Taormina.