“Palisades Parade,” a documentary featuring the town’s Fourth of July celebration in 2011, will premiere on June 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Mercer Hall at Palisades High School.
Produced, directed and edited by native Palisadian Sarah Kelly and her creative partner Darren Ayres, the 67-minute film embraces the morning Will Rogers 5/10K Run, the afternoon parade and the evening’s concert and fireworks show, interspersed with dozens of interviews with participants and spectators who talk about what the Fourth of July and Pacific Palisades mean to them.
“This movie is a love letter to Pacific Palisades, a kind of modern day Mayberry that is both privileged and yet down-home, and one that is struggling to hold on to its roots and traditions as the very nature of the town is growing and changing,” said Kelly, who grew up in the community.
“Sarah pitched me the idea of making a documentary about the parade back in 2010, said Ayres. “I was a little unsure, but she invited me to go with her husband [Steve Prough, PaliHi class of 1984] to the 5K-10K races and check it out. Within five minutes I texted her and said, ‘Oh, wow! This is a slam dunk!’ I spent the entire day in the Palisades celebrating the best Fourth of July I’ve ever had.”
The next year, Kelly and Aryes had five camera crews filming the day from start to finish and ended up with 50 hours of footage. “The first cut was about four hours,” said Kelly, whose parents Andy and Marea still live in the Alphabet Streets neighborhood. “We held various screenings during the final cut phase, some with Palisadians but more importantly, with people who knew nothing about the Palisades.
“Non-Palisadians were really drawn in by the characters we interviewed on camera and felt by the end that they had become a part of the town,” Kelly said. “We are happy that the film seems to have broader appeal than for just Palisadians.”
Kelly’s brother, Dominic, served as a producer and also provided the film’s score. “My brother was crucial to the success of the film because he was a local, and he knew who would be good to interview and where the good music was playing,” Kelly said.
The film has a dark side because Kelly chose to include a segment about close to two dozen Palisades teens who have died during her life in car crashes and other tragedies. The documentary reminds people that even in a Palisades paradise, there is unimaginable loss, but also remarkable resilience.
“I felt it was a duty to remember those kids,” Kelly said. “I knew at least 10 kids who died by the time I was 18, and many more since.”
Architect Rich Wilken, a native Palisadian who was Citizen of the Year in 2010 for his role in saving the fireworks show, told Kelly after viewing the film: “The Fourth of July is a day to remember all those we have lost, from Veterans to friends.”
Kelly’s husband Steve, whose father John Prough owned a bookstore in the Palisades and served as president of PAPA (Palisades Americanism Parade Association) said, “People don’t just love the Palisades for all of the obvious reasons. Instead it is that small-town spirit that you would find in towns across the country that exists in this small part of Los Angeles and is most evident on the Fourth of July.”
Tickets for the premiere are $10 and can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce office on Antioch Street or online at palisadesparade.org. All proceeds will help PAPA defray the $100,000 needed to fund the parade, concert and fireworks.
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