Local Filmmaking Award Named for Bill Paxton

Monday, November 4

The Ojai Film Festival honors the late Bill Paxton with a new award named after him for best locally produced film. An accomplished actor/director and Ojai local, Paxton appeared in many films including The Terminator and Apollo 13. Paxton’s son James will present the award, dubbed the Bill Paxton Award for Best Gold Coast Film, at the Awards Brunch on Sunday, November 3 in the Ojai Art Center courtyard. James Paxton, born and raised in Ojai, also works as an actor and producer.

The Gold Coast Series highlights short and feature length film entries from the California coast on Monday, November 4 from 10 am to 10 pm.

Gold Coast curator Bruce Novotny said, “Ojai has a long history as a creative center, and over the years has attracted hundreds of artists and filmmakers who have made it their home. Our past president Jamie Fleming wanted to celebrate that tradition, and the local filmmaking community, with a dedicated showcase at the festival, and in 2010 the Gold Coast Series was born.”

Novotny then said, “it’s always rewarding to welcome talented filmmakers from the Ojai Valley, Ventura, Moorpark, Santa Barbara, and as far away as San Luis Obispo to screen their work in front of an appreciative audience. It’s traditionally one of the best-attended days of the festival, and most filmmakers are there to chat with the audience after their film screens.”

The series includes all genres, from animation to documentaries, shorts and features. The full day of screenings offers local Ojai writer/director Levi Holiman’s thoughtful feature film God Send, Camarillo director Miguel Orozco’s Oxnard-set film Mixteco Boy, and Ventura High graduate Ryan King’s film Mamma Mia: From Auditions to Opening Night, which follows the Ventura High production of Mamma Mia.

The list of locally produced films found in the series continues: Ojai poetry troubadour Doug Knott’s Sunset Strip Self Improvement Affirmations, Santa Barbara comedian writer/director Travis Greer’s Rock and Roll Heart, Liz Manashil’s Speed of Life, Joe Toppe’s Martinis at The Smoke House, Alex Ferrufino’s Slipping into Darkness, Krystle Hickman’s Pen and Paper, Kurt Kubicek’s Come Die With Me, Colin Summers’s period film Milligan’s Place, Nathanial Katzman’s Start with Half, Tristan Oliver’s Thru-Hike, Christopher Hills Eaton’s Split Oak and more.