Malibu Film Society Expands Screenings to Pacific Palisades

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The Malibu Film Society, an all-volunteer nonprofit with history dating back to 2009, recently expanded its footprint and is screening a series of films at the Bay Theater in Palisades Village.

Malibu Film Society, which previously screened its films at Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue, has been searching for a new Malibu venue due to “circumstances beyond our control,” Executive Director Scott Tallal said.

In addition to Regency Stadium 8 in Agoura Hills, the film society shared plans to screen six Netflix films at the Bay Theater, which started with “tick, tick … BOOM!” on December 12, 2021. The screening was followed by a 30-minute Q&A with actor Andrew Garfield, writer Steven Levenson and director Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Garfield stars in the biographical musical drama as Jonathan Larson, the writer of the eponymous stage musical of which the movie is based on who also went on to create “Rent.” He shared during the Q&A that when he was in “The Social Network” in 2010, he idolized Justin Timberlake.

When Miranda approached him about taking on a role that involved singing and performing, it was an “immediate yes,” and that Miranda helped a dream come true for Garfield that he forgot he had.

The film marked the directorial debut for Miranda, who performed in a version of the musical years prior. He said after watching Garfield in several shows, including “Death of a Salesman” on Broadway, he thought: “That guy can do anything.”

Miranda explained that while preparing for “tick, tick … BOOM!” he was able to meet the real-life people who were portrayed in the film, which he described as a group that works to keep Larson, who died before he was able to see the success of “Rent,” alive.

Miranda shared that throughout the course of his life and career, Larson would ask big philosophical questions—including “how do you measure a year?” All three agreed that Larson served as the “North Star” of the film and they joked about operating with the idea that it was important to do his story justice, as they did not want to be haunted by his ghost.

Filming brought its own set of challenges when they had to shut down after eight days in New York due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the set shutdown, Levenson shared that he used the time to tweak the screenplay, looking at everything in the script. He described one scene in the film, which features a set of Broadway greats from over the years, as a “Herculean task” as filming resumed with COVID-19 restrictions in place.

Miranda concluded the Q&A portion of the screening by sharing that he was always the kid with the VHS camcorder, similar to the character of Mark from “Rent,” trying to document his friends. He shared that he sees the film as marking a long way around to his first love.

The second in the Malibu Film Society’s series at Bay Theater was a screening of “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”—starring Palisadian Conan O’Brien—on Sunday, January 2, which featured Oscar-winning producer Phil Lord and director Mike Rianda as Q&A guests.

“We expect to book several more events,” Tallal shared about upcoming opportunities for screenings, “but the schedule won’t be set until the team at Netflix can coordinate with the Q&A guests.”

For more information about Malibu Film Society, including upcoming screenings and becoming a member, visit malibufilmsociety.org.