{{Short description|Film screening organization in Los Angeles}} {{Infobox organization |name=Cinespia |founded=2002 |founder=John Wyatt |location=Los Angeles, California, United States |type=Film |website={{url|http://cinespia.org}} }}
'''Cinespia'''<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cinespia.org |title=Cinespia |publisher= Cinespia |date= |accessdate= 2011-06-18}}</ref> is an organization that hosts on-site screenings of classic films in and around Los Angeles, California. Launched in 2002, Cinespia shows films from the 1930s through the 1990s mostly in open-air settings at historic locations. Its most popular series runs weekly from May through September on Saturday (and occasionally Sunday) nights at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. In addition, it screens films, both contemporary and canonical, at other locations throughout the year.<ref name="Cinespia">{{cite web |url= http://cinespia.org/press/ |title=Cinespia |publisher= Cinespia |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref>
The al fresco Hollywood Forever screenings take place on the Fairbanks Lawn, so named for the adjacent crypt housing both Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and Jr., and films are digitally projected against the west wall of the Cathedral Mausoleum, which houses the crypt of Rudolph Valentino among many others.<ref name="Cohen">{{cite web|author=Alex Cohen|url=http://www.scpr.org/news/2009/07/24/2947/cinespia-movies-hollywood-forever-cemetery|title=Cinespia: Movies at Hollywood Forever Cemetery|publisher=scpr.org|work=KPCC|date=July 24, 2009}}</ref> Up to 3,500 patrons per screening bring blankets, pillows, picnic dinners, alcoholic beverages and candles and enjoy screenings under the stars, while a staff of 35 keep things running smoothly.<ref name="Cohen" /> DJs play music before and after the screenings over a portable sound system, and guest DJs have included Carlos Niño, Andy Votel, Cut Chemist, the Gaslamp Killer, Dam-Funk, Peanut Butter Wolf and members of the Numero Group and Dublab collectives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinespia.org/music/ |title=Cinespia |publisher=Cinespia |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref>
Cinespia has appeared in the 2008 Best of L.A. issue of the ''LA Weekly''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinespia.org/_press/laweekly_102008.pdf |title=Gendy Alimurung, ''L.A. Weekly'', September 30, 2008 |accessdate=2011-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722020935/http://www.cinespia.org/_press/laweekly_102008.pdf |archivedate=July 22, 2011 }}</ref> and was named on the "16 Best Things in L.A." by ''Los Angeles'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web |author= Lesley Balla |url= http://la.eater.com/archives/2008/04/09/la_magazines_sweet_16_best_things_in_la.php |title=''Los Angeles'', March 2009 |publisher=La.eater.com |date=2008-04-09 |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref> According to ''Vanity Fair'': "Cinespia captures the excitement of a drive-in movie date night of the 1950s but with a decidedly campy twist."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinespia.org/_press/vanityfair.pdf |title=''Vanity Fair'', May 2007 |accessdate=2011-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722021031/http://www.cinespia.org/_press/vanityfair.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-22 }}</ref>
==History== The series was the brainchild of John Wyatt, a set designer<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinespia.org/_press/bestofla.pdf |title=''Los Angeles'', August 2003 |accessdate=2011-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708060035/http://cinespia.org/_press/bestofla.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-08 }}</ref> then in his mid-twenties.<ref name="Cathcart">Rebecca Cathcart {{cite web |url=http://www.cinespia.org/_press/nytimes_6708.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2011-05-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708064727/http://cinespia.org/_press/nytimes_6708.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-08 }}, ''New York Times'', June 7, 2008</ref> A student of influential film lecturer Jim Hosney at the Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California,<ref>Shawn Hubler [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jun-27-et-hosney27-story.html], ''Los Angeles Times'', June 27, 2007</ref> Wyatt initially formed an Italian cinema club with friend Richard Petit, of which Cinespia is a natural evolution.<ref name="Cinespia"/> Both Wyatt and Petit were working for designer Brad Dunning at the time who was helping with the restoration of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
The name Cinespia is a portmanteau word from the Italian ''cine'', or "movie theater," and the third person singular conjugation of the verb ''spiare'', meaning "to observe," or more commonly, "to spy." Conjoined, ''cinespia'' was intended to suggest a film enthusiast or "watcher of films," although the actual term for film buff in Italian is ''cinofilo''. ''Cinespia'', by contrast, means literally "he spies in the movie theater" or "cinema spy."<ref name="Cinespia" />
After attending a Valentino birthday celebration at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2002, Wyatt approached the owners through a friend who worked there<ref name="Cohen" /> and arranged a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's ''Strangers on a Train'' on July 20, 2002<ref name="Duersten">Matthew Duersten [http://www.laweekly.com/2002-08-01/columns/the-cemetery-show-what-lies-beneath/], ''L.A. Weekly'', July 24, 2002</ref> using two 35mm projectors with a changeover mechanism on the back of a pickup truck. Eighty people showed up for the initial screening, and a follow-up screening of Sam Fuller's ''Pickup on South Street'' brought out an audience of a thousand. They showed four films the first season, favoring mid-century classics that might be rediscovered by a younger audience, and roughly 25 films every summer thereafter.<ref name="Cinespia" />
==Hollywood Forever Cemetery== {{main|Hollywood Forever Cemetery}}
Hollywood Cemetery, formerly Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, paralleled the rise of the film industry with its founding in 1899,<ref name="Hollywood Forever">{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodforever.com/ |title=Hollywood Forever Cemetery |publisher=Hollywoodforever.com |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref> but was in significant disrepair by the time it was purchased by Tyler Cassity in 1998.<ref name="Cathcart" /> According to Wyatt, the cemetery was "dilapidated, overgrown, totally closed when the current owners took over," and money from the screenings helped to restore it to its original beauty.<ref name="Cohen" />
The cemetery, located south of Santa Monica Blvd. between Gower St. and Van Ness Ave., shares a common wall with Paramount Studios, the last of the classical studios still to be located in Hollywood.<ref name="Hollywood Forever" /> The concentration of Hollywood talent interred there made it a natural setting for the hallmarks of a century of cinematic achievement. Among the film legends laid to rest within the confines of its 65 acres, as outlined by Matthew Duersten in the ''LA Weekly'' on the occasion of the introductory screening, are the following:<ref name="Duersten" />
"Marion Davies, who perhaps knew the real secret to how Thomas Ince died on Hearst's boat; Bugsy Siegel and Harry Cohn, gangsters of different stripes but of twin hearts; Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, who was shot to death in a fight over a $50 dog reward; Col. Griffith J. Griffith, who blew a hole in his wife's head after accusing her of conspiring with the pope against the U.S. government; Virginia Rappe, violated by a Coke bottle that punctured her bladder during a party in Fatty Arbuckle's suite at San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel; and director William Desmond Taylor, next to the Black Dahlia, perhaps Hollywood's greatest unsolved killing." To that list might be added Barbara La Marr, Hollywood's first high-profile drug casualty, and Lana Clarkson, gunshot victim of Phil Spector.<ref name="Hollywood Forever" />
Other famous denizens permanently resting within earshot include Tyrone Power (''Witness for the Prosecution''), John Huston (''The Maltese Falcon''), Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone (''Rock and Roll High School''), Peter Finch (''Network''), Victor Fleming (''The Wizard of Oz''), Janet Gaynor (''A Star Is Born''), Curtis Harrington (''Night Tide''), Zoltan Korda (''The Thief of Bagdad''), Darren McGavin (''The Man with the Golden Arm''), Adolphe Menjou (''Paths of Glory''), Paul Muni (''Scarface''), Dudley Nichols (''Stagecoach''), Maila Nurmi (''Plan 9 from Outer Space''), Nelson Riddle (''Lolita''), Vito Scotti (''The Godfather''), Ann Sheridan (''They Drive by Night''), Constance and Norma Talmadge (''Intolerance'', ''Camille''), Eddie Little (''Another Day in Paradise''), Eddie Bunker (''Straight Time''), Gregg Toland (''Citizen Kane''), Edgar G. Ulmer (''Detour''), Peter Lorre (''Casablanca''), Clifton Webb (''Laura''), William Hurlbut (''Bride of Frankenstein'') and Fay Wray (''King Kong''), any number of whose films have screened at the cemetery.<ref name="Hollywood Forever" />
According to Wyatt, "All the people who worked on these films, starred in these films and were the small fry on these films: If there were an afterlife and they are here, I'm sure they would love to be seeing these films and all the people cheering and laughing at their lines."<ref name="Cohen" />
==Series Highlights== Numerous celebrities and filmmakers have shown up to introduce screenings: Tatum O'Neal for ''Paper Moon'';<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fancyitalianwords.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html |title=Fancy Italian Words |publisher=Fancyitalianwords.blogspot.com |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref> Paul Reubens for ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IetTz23nmNU |title=YouTube |publisher=YouTube |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref>''; Amy Heckerling and Drew Barrymore for ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tmz.com/2007/07/09/fast-times-director-convicts-phil-spector/ |title=TMZ, July 9, 2007 |publisher=Tmz.com |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref>''; Karen Black for ''Easy Rider<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reportfromfront.blogspot.com/2008/07/hollywood-cemetery-forever.html |title=Report from the Front |publisher=Reportfromfront.blogspot.com |date=2008-07-07 |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref>''; Alicia Silverstone and Breckin Meyer for ''Clueless'';<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/if-alicia-silverstone-surprises-fans-clueless-screening-t112107 |title='Clueless' screening without Alicia Silverstone? As if! Star surprises fans |publisher=The Today Show |date=2017-05-30 |accessdate=2021-12-20}}</ref> Richard Rush for ''The Stunt Man<ref>{{cite web |url=http://laist.com/arts_events/2008/01/ |title=LAist |publisher=LAist |accessdate=2011-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119141406/http://laist.com/arts_events/2008/01/ |archivedate=2008-01-19 }}</ref>''; Charlie Ahearn, Fab Five Freddy and Patti Astor for ''Wild Style'';<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chumpchampion.com/?tag=opening |title=Chump Champion |publisher=Chump Champion |accessdate=2011-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120715203815/http://chumpchampion.com/?tag=opening |archivedate=2012-07-15 }}</ref> Kenneth Anger for a program of his short films;<ref>{{cite web|author=ladyj1984 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sQbHZWS91E |title=YouTube |publisher=YouTube |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref> and the real Henry Hill for ''Goodfellas''.<ref>{{cite web|author=kylesellers |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRVuBw8ssPQ |title=YouTube |publisher=YouTube |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref> Michael Mann and Jon Voight were pictured in the audience in a photo that appeared in ''USA Today''.<ref>Claudia Puig {{cite web |url=http://www.cinespia.org/_press/usatoday.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2011-05-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708060040/http://cinespia.org/_press/usatoday.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-08 }}, ''USA Today'', August 4, 2003</ref>
Cinespia showed ''The T.A.M.I. Show'' as the opening night screening of the 2008 Don't Knock the Rock Festival, the music-themed film festival organized by filmmaker Allison Anders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cinemawithoutborders.com/news-issues/1625-the-t-a-m-i-show-at-hollywood-forever-cemetery.html |title=Cinema Without Borders |publisher=Cinema Without Borders |date=2008-06-27 |accessdate=2011-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003073922/http://cinemawithoutborders.com/news-issues/1625-the-t-a-m-i-show-at-hollywood-forever-cemetery.html |archive-date=2011-10-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The performer Dam-Funk played a live set before a screening of ''Purple Rain''.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} Pilots for the TV series ''Pushing Daisies'' (ABC)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_air/2007/08/pushing-daisi-1.html |title=''Variety'', August 17, 2007 |publisher=Weblogs.variety.com |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428232240/http://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_air/2007/08/pushing-daisi-1.html |archive-date=April 28, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and ''Ghost Whisperer'' (CBS)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1047318.php/In_Photos_Premiere_screening_of_Ghost_Whisperer |title=Monsters and Critics |publisher=Monsters and Critics |date=2005-09-10 |accessdate=2011-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014100938/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1047318.php/In_Photos_Premiere_screening_of_Ghost_Whisperer |archivedate=2012-10-14 }}</ref> were screened for an industry audience. Other memorable screenings have included ''Sunset Blvd.'' (filmed several hundred feet away on the Paramount lot,<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043014/locations IMDB]</ref> with Hollywood Forever denizen Cecil B. DeMille<ref name="Hollywood Forever" /> playing himself and references to Fairbanks and Valentino);<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043014/quotes IMDB]</ref> ''The Holy Mountain'', kept out of circulation for 35 years by the Beatles' manager Allen Klein (a benefit for the retiring Jim Hosney); ''The Wizard of Oz'', on what would have been the 95th birthday of star and cemetery denizen Judy Garland; ''Singin' in the Rain''; ''Chinatown'';<ref name="Cinespia" /> and logical thematic tie-in ''Night of the Living Dead''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinespia.org/photo.php |title=Cinespia |publisher=Cinespia |accessdate=2011-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613061758/http://www.cinespia.org/photo.php |archivedate=2011-06-13 }}</ref>
In recent years, Cinespia has expanded its screenings to include other venues. A semi-regular series was launched in 2008 at the open-air pool of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=127261997312008 |title=Cinespia/The Masses |publisher=Facebook.com |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref> in conjunction with the Masses, an arts collective and directors agency.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wearethemasses.com/ |title=The Masses |publisher=Wearethemasses.com |date=2011-03-11 |accessdate=2011-06-18}}</ref> A screening of the Werner Herzog 3-D documentary ''Cave of Forgotten Dreams'' was held at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on April 23, 2011,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhm.org/site/activities-programs/werner-herzog-screening-caves-forgotten-dreams |title=Natural History Museum |publisher=Nhm.org |date= |accessdate=2011-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027195441/http://www.nhm.org/site/activities-programs/werner-herzog-screening-caves-forgotten-dreams |archive-date=2011-10-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> co-sponsored by Cinefamily and the Silent Movie Theater, as part of the MOCA retrospective "Art in the Streets." (The implicit connection was that the 30,000-year-old Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave paintings depicted in the film were ostensibly the first recorded example of street graffiti.)<ref>[http://www.cinefamily.org/calendar/artinthestreets.html Cinefamily] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426140925/http://www.cinefamily.org/calendar/artinthestreets.html |date=2011-04-26 }}</ref>
==References== <references/>
==External links== * {{official|http://cinespia.org}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRWDaU7uRpw/ Cinepisa 10th Year video]
Category:Film organizations in the United States Category:Organizations established in 2002