Chris Nichols LA Mag columnist is the first to tackle the “Get LA” film contest. And like most Angelenos, he pulls out the big guns. He writes:

When I was asked to create a short film for Los Angeles magazine’s Get L.A. competition, I called upon my obsession with L.A.’s past and its future. I asked 21 of the city’s optimists, futurists, and dreamers to perform what my wife dubbed a “tone poem” originally recorded for General Motors in 1956 as a paean to the world of tomorrow. Up for the challenge of reinterpreting this classic (and testing their vocal skills) were an eclectic group of Angelenos including City Councilman Tom LaBonge, architects Dion Neutra and Frank Escher, Los Angeles Conservancy executive director Linda Dishman, histotainer Charles Phoenix, and visual futurist Syd Mead. (There was also a spiritualist scholar, a Planet of the Apes-obsessed producer, and a 13-year-old filmmaker.) I filmed them all over the city, from the Museum of Neon Art to the Penguin in Santa Monica to the tract homes in Porter Ranch. I even commissioned an original score from SpongeBob SquarePants composer Eban Schletter. So sit back and enjoy my homage to the true City of the Future: Los Angeles. I’m looking forward to seeing your homage, too.

Contest info is here.

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FRIDAY 09.07.07
WHAT: Claremont Village Art Walk
WHO: Art lovers and locals
WHEN: 6 pm
WHERE:Bonita and Yale avenues, the art walk encompasses a three square block area in the historic Claremont Village.
WHY: Good to get out of town

SATURDAY 09.08.07
WHAT: Ray Bradbury’s 87th Birthday
WHO: Well-wishers, fans, groupies, Angelenos.
WHEN: 11 am
WHERE:The Mystery Bookstore, Westwood
WHY: Cake, champagne and Ray Bradbury.

SATURDAY 09.08.07
WHAT: Southern California Culture Today and Yesterday
WHO: Steve Grody (Graffiti L.A.), Jim Heimann (Shop America) and Barbara Thornburg (L.A. Lofts), moderated by Charles Phoenix (Southern California in the 50s).
WHEN: 2pm
WHERE: Los Angeles Times Central Court, LACMA
WHY: Because everything here was better before you came.

continued…

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