THE CREATIVE COALITION

When I lived in West Hollywood in the late 80’s and worked in the entertainment industry, I associated with numerous film organizations. Some may have seen the photos I took as official photographer for the INDEPENDENT FILM PROJECT (IFP) of the SPIRIT AWARDS ceremony I've posted. Or the photos I took as their representative to the OSCARS RED CARPET in 1990 and 1991. I was also involved with WOMEN IN FILM, which was also open to men like me in the industry.
There was one group I was affiliated with for 2 years that was both interesting and very enlightening about how things really worked in Hollywood. The group was called THE CREATIVE COALITION and it was made-up of people at various stages of their careers and levels within the entertainment industry hierarchy. As the titular head of the organization was an actor, what was his name, oh yeah, ALEC BALDWIN. The meetings were held every couple months at a local restaurant or bar popular with the Hollywood crowd, usually the FORMOSA CAFÉ. There would be anywhere from a handful to 25 or more. (One of the members later became a famous and then infamous actor – Kevin Spacey.)
A good friend of mine, Mark Mori, was a documentary filmmaker. Not just that, he had been nominated for an Oscar for his 1991 documentary BUILDING BOMBS. Michael Stipe, from a little known (at that time) band from Athens, Georgia called R.E.M. was a partial funder of his film about the Savanah River Nuclear facility and its poisoning of the nearby aquifer with nuclear waste seepage from the plant. The film was narrated by Jane Alexander. (Mark would receive a second Oscar nomination for his 2012 documentary portrait BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL, about the famous pin-up model of the late 50’s and early 60’s.)
And it was – BANNED BY PBS from its documentary series. As a group of creatives, we were appalled that an Academy Award nominated film on such an important subject would be unceremoniously banned without so much as a hearing on the merits. This was, without a doubt, censorship and the only reason we could fathom was one of their corporate sponsors, and the owner of the nuclear plant, was a subsidiary of General Electric. So, we banded together and called for a picketing of the local PBS station in Los Angeles.
Expecting the usual suspects would show for the demonstration, Alec had called in favors from people all over town and there was a crowd of about 90-120 marchers surrounding the entrance to the building. Alec’s involvement also garnered some local press coverage. Not more than a week later, Mark got word that PBS had relented and agreed to showcase BUILDING BOMBS in its emerging documentary filmmaker segment the next month.
It was one of the most gratifying and pleasing political actions I have ever been involved with and it showed that a highly-motivated group focused on a specific goal, could make the powers that be bend just a bit to the will of the people united.