Beach Jan 2018

January 18, 2018 

Volume 48, Issue 24 

Roundhouse revivalist 

Michael Greenberg 

Film activist Fitzgerald Rockefeller rocked Yoga in the round

Ralph Moore, Priscilla Hunt and Craig Leach 

Our Heartfelt Appreciation 

Ralph Scriba 

Torrance Memorial Medical Center wishes to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of the 34th Annual Holiday Festival which 

raised millions for the medical center's Donald and Priscilla Hunt Tower. 

Emmanuel and Ofelia David 

Jack Baker, Craig Leach, Richard Lundquist and Mark 

Lurie, M.D. 

Lisa Hansen and Barbara Demming Lurie 

Julie and Jackson Yang 

$100,000+ 

Billee and John Gogian 

Donald and Priscilla Hunt 

Major and Cathy Lin 

Joelene and Bill Mertz 

Loraine and Ralph Scriba 

Jackson Yang Family 

$50,000+ 

Sam and Rose Feng 

Melanie and Richard Lundquist 

Oarsmen Foundation 

$25,000+ 

Ayne and Jack Baker 

Emmanuel and Ofelia David 

Michael Greenberg 

Sunrider International - Drs. Tei-Fu 

and Oi-Lin Chen 

Ellen and Patrick Theodora 

Torrance Memorial Medical Staff 

Patricia and Gerald Turpanjian - 

TF Education Foundation 

$15,000+ 

Cindy and Paul Campbell 

COR HealthCare 

The Graziadio Family 

Keenan HealthCare 

Warren Lichtenstein and Steel Partners 

Marina and Roman Litwinski, MD 

Nixon Peabody LLP 

Sodexo 

$10,000+ 

Diana Cutler 

Bryce Fukunaga, MD and Jenny Luo, MD 

Shirley and Chih-Ming Ho, MD 

Carole Hoffman 

Marilyn and Ian MacLeod 

Roxanne and Ramin Mirhashemi, MD 

Laura and James Rosenwald 

Rick Rounsavelle, DDS and 

Kirsten Wagner, DDS 

Alfredo and Beatrice Sheng 

Kay and Sam Sheth 

Timur and Janice Tecimer 

Marshall Varon 

Cathy and Michael Wyman, MD 

Roy Young and Teri Kane 

$5,000 - $9,999 

Sandra and Tim Armour 

Association of South Bay Surgeons 

Jennifer and Brad Baker 

Cindy and Paul Campbell 

Eric and Anna Mellor, MD 

Morrow Meadows 

Murray Company 

Owens & Minor 

Pacific National Group 

Tiffany Rogers, MD and Karen Seymour 

Laura and Marc Schenasi 

The Teague Family 

Torrance Emergency Physicians 

Torrance Memorial Radiology Group 

Torrance Pathology Group 

Sara and Keri Zickuhr, MD 

$1,000 - $4,999 

2H Construction 

Betty and John Abe, MD 

Christy and Jay Abraham 

Nicholas Acosta 

AD/S Companies 

Anesthesia Medical Group 

Jeanne and Fikret Atamdede, MD 

Lori and David Baldwin 

BCM Construction 

Peggy and Cliff Berwald 

Nadine and Ty Bobit 

Marcia and Ken Boehling 

Pam and Larry Branam 

Brigante, Cameron, Watters & 

Strong LLP 

Trudy Brown 

Ann and David Buxton 

Linda and Zan Calhoun 

The Cam Family (Vinh, Judy, Wilson 

and Melody) 

Joan Caras and Family 

Bryan Chang, MD 

William and Ellen Cheng 

Ron Cloud 

Sandra and Thomas Cobb 

Francine and Phillip Cook 

Kate Crane and Honorable Milan Smith 

Pam Crane 

Randy and Luke Dauchot 

Digestive Care Consultants 

Beth Dorn, MD 

Sally and Mike Eberhard 

EMCOR 

Thyra Endicott, MD and Jonathan Chute 

Regina and Dan Finnegan 

Deanna and Lenny Fodemski 

Food Fetish 

Robert Gaudenti 

Gelbart & Associates 

Teresa Gordon 

Marnie and Dan Gruen 

Laurie Inadomi-Halvorsen and 

Greg Halvorsen 

Lisa and Steve Hansen 

Harbor Post Acute 

Cindy and Richard Harvey 

Teresa and Saffar Hassanally 

Heritage Rehabilitation Center 

Eve and Rick Higgins 

Mary Hoffman and Bob Habel 

Terry and Joe Hohm 

Daniel Hovenstine, MD 

HUB International 

Karen and Chris Hutchison 

James & Gamble Insurance 

Kathy Kellogg-Johnson and 

Brian Johnson 

Judy and Parnelli Jones 

Vince Kelly 

Heather and Rick Kline 

kpff Consulting Engineers 

Sherry and Ian Kramer, MD 

Judy and Craig Leach 

Patti and Thomas LeGrelius, MD 

Jacquie and Joe Leimbach 

Charlotte and Russ Lesser 

Linda and David Lillington 

Tracy and Amy Livian 

Lomita Post-Acute Care Center 

Pat and Rich Lucy 

Barbara Demming Lurie and 

Mark Lurie, MD 

Kristy and Eric Maniaci 

Allison and Rick Mayer 

McCarthy Building Services 

Jimmy McDonald 

Kak and David McKinnie 

Drs. Lisa Humphreys and 

John McNamara 

Medline Industries 

Brian Miura, MD 

Keith and Amanda Murphy, MD 

Sheila and Ben Naghi, MD 

Lisa and Eric Nakkim, MD 

Jeff Neu 

John and Serena Ngan 

Diana and Steve Nuccion, MD 

Corinne and Randolph O'Hara, MD 

Jacinto Orozco 

Maureen and Mario Palladini 

Payden & Rygel 

Michele and Robert Poletti 

Adriana and Greg Popovich 

Leslie and Todd Powley 

Department of Radiation Oncology 

Kelly and Chris Rogers 

Nancy and Michael Rouse 

Marge Schugt 

James Scriba 

Connie Senner 

Alex Shen, MD Family 

Monica and Sam Sim 

Laura and Tom Simko, MD 

Debra and Gerald Soldner 

South Bay Gastroenterology 

South Bay Orthopaedic 

South Bay Plastic Surgeons 

Spierer Woodward Corbalis & Goldberg 

Rose Straub 

Helen and Pasquale Theodora 

TMPN Cancer Care 

Yuki and Jeff Tom 

Torrance Health IPA (THIPA) 

Torrance Memorial Neonatology Group 

Torrance Orthopaedic Sports 

Torrance Pathology Group 

Voya Financial 

Susan and Bill Weintraub 

Cynthia Williams, MD 

Mary and Steve Wright 

MAJOR IN-KIND 

BENEFACTORS 

Choura Events 

G.S. Gaudenti Brothers 

Morrow Meadows 

Redondo Van & Storage 

Rolling Hills Flower Mart Studio 

The Zislis Group 

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. 

Thank you to all our donors. 

3330 Lomita Blvd., Torrance, CA 90505 

310-517-4703 - www.TorranceMemorial.org 

January 18, 2018 • Easy Reader / Beach magazine 3

January 18, 2018 

Volume 48, Issue 24 

BEACH PEOPLE 

ON THE COVER 

Skechers President 

Michael Greenberg. 

Photo by 

Jessie Lee Cederblom 

10 Trapeze artists by Ralph Doyle 

Redondo Union High sailors Micky Munns and Michael Fineman are 

campaigning their spinnaker flying, trapeze hanging I420 sailboat for a 

spot on the U.S. Sailing Team. 

Michael Burstein is a probate and estate planning 

attorney. A graduate of the University of California, 

Hastings College of the Law in 1987, he is admitted 

to the California, Kansas and Oklahoma Bars and 

is a member of the Order of Distinguished Attorneys 

of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. 

As an estate and probate lawyer, Michael has prepared 

approximately 3,000 living trusts and more 

than 4,000 wills. 

An Estate Planning, 

Estate Administration, 

and Probate Attorney 

l Living Trusts 

l Wills 

l Powers of Attorney 

l Asset Protection 

l Veterans Benefits 

l Pet Trusts 

l Advance Health 

Care Directives 

l Insurance Trusts 

l Probate 

l Conservatorships 

l And Much More! 

Call us to schedule an appointment or for our 

FREE Guide: 

Selecting the Best Estate Planning Strategies 

111 North Sepulveda Boulevard, Suite 250 

Manhattan Beach, California 90266 

310-545-7878 

12 Roundhouse resurrection by Mark McDermott 

Skechers president Michael Greenberg recalls the son who motivated him 

to mobilizes a $4.5 million community effort to transform the Manhattan 

Pier Roundhouse Aquarium into a world class marine education 

destination. 

18 Yoga in the round by Ryan McDonald 

Yoga practitioner and entrepreneur Evanna Shaffer rounds the edges off 

yoga mats. 

20 Documentaries for change by Bondo Wyszpolski 

Documentary maker Jon Fitzgerald writes about and teaches “Filmmaking 

for Change.” 

24 Rockefeller reinvented by Richard Foss 

What began as an upscale burgers and beer joint bring in celebrity chef to 

reinvent it’s menu. 

STAFF 

PUBLISHER Kevin Cody, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Richard Budman, EDITORS Mark McDermott, Randy 

Angel, David Mendez, and Ryan McDonald, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Bondo Wyszpolski, DINING 

EDITOR Richard Foss, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Ray Vidal and Brad Jacobson, CALENDAR Judy Rae, 

DISPLAY SALES Tamar Gillotti and Amy Berg, CLASSIFIEDS Teri Marin, DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MEDIA Hermosawave.net, 

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Tim Teebken, DESIGN CONSULTANT Bob Staake, BobStaake.com, FRONT DESK Judy Rae 

EASY READER (ISSN 0194-6412) is published weekly by EASY READER, 2200 Pacific Cst. Hwy., #101, P.O. Box 427, Hermosa 

Beach, CA 90254-0427. Yearly domestic mail subscription $150.00; foreign, $200.00 payable in advance. POSTMASTER: Send 

address changes to EASY READER, P.O. Box 427, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. The entire contents of the EASY READER newspaper 

is Copyright 2018 by EASY READER, Inc. www.easyreadernews.com. The Easy Reader/Redondo Beach Hometown News 

is a legally adjudicated newspaper and the official newspaper for the cities of Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. Easy Reader 

/ Redondo Beach Hometown News is also distributed to homes and on newsstands in Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, 

and Palos Verdes. 

CONTACT 

BEACH LIFE 

6 Calendar 

8 Beach Cities Toy Drive 

22 Trump-inspired art at Shock Boxx 

n Mailing Address P.O. Box 427, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 Phone (310) 372-4611 Fax (424) 212-6780 

n Website www.easyreadernews.com Email news@easyreadernews.com 

n Classified Advertising see the Classified Ad Section. Phone 310.372.4611 x102. Email displayads@easyreadernews.com 

n Fictitious Name Statements (DBA's) can be filed at the office during regular business hours. Phone 310.372.4611 x101. 

4 Easy Reader / Beach magazine • January 18, 2018

B E A C H 

CAL ENDAR 

Photos by over 20 Easy Reader staff and contributing photographers will be on 

exhibit at the Hermosa Beach Historical Museum through June. Opening reception 

Friday Jan. 26, 6 p.m. 710 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach. Pictured above: 

Pier Plaza arrest, July 13, 2008 by Patrick Fallon. 

January 19-21 

MB Sidewalk sale 

Downtown Manhattan Beach Sidewalk 

Sale. For more information visit 

DowntownManhattan Beach.com 

Saturday, January 20 

Hermosa book sale 

The Hermosa Beach Friends of the 

Library Book Sale is 9 a.m. - noon. 

1181 Bard Ave., Hermosa Beach, behind 

Stars Antiques. For information 

call (310) 379-8475 or visit hbfol.org. 

Underwater Parks Day 

Learn about Marine Protected 

Areas (MPAs) in Southern California 

that went into effect January 2012. 

These areas help protect fish and kelp 

forests. Speakers, presentations, interactive 

activities and handouts. 11 a.m. 

- 3 p.m. Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 

3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San 

Pedro. For information call (310) 548- 

7562 or visit cabrillomarineaquarium.org. 

Rock the garden 

The South Coast Botanic Garden 

offer live and recorded music 

throughout the 87-acre gardens and 

hiking paths. Heather Hero Roberts 

performs Jan. 20 and The Skinny Ties 

perform Jan. 27 from 11 a.m. to 3 

p.m. in the Rose Garden. Adults $9, 

seniors $6, children $4. For more information 

visit southcoastbotanicgarden.org 

Adios Richard 

Cannery Row Studios presents 

Richard Stephens’ closing reception at 

the Loft. 1 - 5 p.m. 401 South Mesa 

Street, San Pedro. (310) 291-5316. 

Water and Wood 

Nearly 100 local artists and photographers 

will exhibit their work at the 

Hermosa Beach Artists Collective 

tonight through Jan. 27. Tonight’s 

opening reception begins at 4 p.m. 

618 Cypress Ave., Hermosa Beach. 

For more information visit HBArtist- 

6 Easy Reader / Beach magazine • January 18, 2018 

collective.org 

Magical Soiree 

Woman’s Club of Redondo Beach, 

Outback Steakhouse and Balboa 

Wealth Partners present Magical 

Soiree, an evening of music, magic 

and dancing benefitting RUHS Student 

Scholarships. 6 - 10 p.m. 

Woman’s Club of Redondo Beach, 400 

S. Broadway, Redondo Beach. $65. To 

purchase, call (310) 713-4063. 

Sunday, January 21 

Yo-Yo classic 

Professional yo-yo artists show off 

their tricks at the annual Bill 

Liebowitz Yo-Yo Classic. Free. 3 - 9 

p.m. George Nakano Theatre, 3330 

Civic Center Drive, Torrance. For 

more info: Mr.skim888@gmail.com or 

check out their Facebook page: Bill 

Liebowitz Classic Yo-Yo contest. 

Thomas Fire benefit 

Saint Rocke hosts a benefit concert 

for Thomas Fire victims featuring 

Jason Ferg and Awdiv Band. $10/$15. 

Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets available 

at SaintRocke.com. 142 Pacific Coast 

Highway, Hermosa Beach 

Monday, January 22 

Beginning drawing 

Manhattan Beach artist Ray Patrick 

offers a beginning drawing class for 

teens and adults. Free. 6 - 8 p.m. Manhattan 

Beach Library, 1320 Highland 

Ave., Manhattan Beach. Contact 

Melissa McCollum at (310) 545-8595 

or mmccollum@library.lacounty.gov. 

STEAM: e-Gloves 

Ever wondered how your smartphone 

senses your touch through your 

new gloves? Make your own gloves 

compatible with the cold and touch 

screen devices. Ages: 18+. Free. 5:30 

- 6:30 p.m. Hermosa Beach Library, 

550 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach. Call 

Kathleen Sullivan for questions at 

(310) 379-8475. 

BCHD parent group 

Families Connected Parent Chat, 

presented through a partnership between 

South Bay Families Connected 

and Beach Cities Health District, is a 

free support group open to all parents. 

The session will be led by a licensed 

professional from the Thelma 

McMillen Center at Torrance Memorial 

Medical Center and provides an 

opportunity to discuss shared parenting 

challenges. 10 - 11 a.m. Beach 

Cities Health District, 514 N. Prospect 

Ave., #102, Redondo Beach. Visit 

bchd.org/familiesconnected for more 

information. 

Tuesday, January 23 

Your blood is needed 

January is National Blood Donor 

Month and the American Red Cross 

has an urgent need for blood and 

platelet donors of all blood types. 

Please donate. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Manhattan 

Beach Farmers Market, 326 

13th Street, Manhattan Beach. For 

questions and information call 1-(800)- 

733-2767 or visit redcrossblood.org. 

Wednesday, January 24 

Bingo in Hermosa 

Join in for a free night of Bingo with 

special needs young adults of the 

Friendship Foundation. Make new 

friends and lasting bonds while playing 

Bingo and enjoying dinner. 4:30 - 

6 p.m. Hermosa Five-O Senior Activity 

Center, 710 Pier Ave., Hermosa 

Beach. For questions call (310) 318- 

0280 or visit Hermosabch.org. 

Friday, January 26 

Easy Reader exhibit 

The Hermosa Beach Historical Society 

hosts an exhibit featuring photos 

by over 20 Easy Reader staff and contributing 

photographers, from 2000 to 

2017. 6 p.m. Hermosa Beach Historical 

Museum, 710 Pier Avenue, Hermosa 

Beach. Exhibit continues 

through June. For more information 

call the museum at (310) 318-9421 or 

Easy Reader at (310) 372-4611. 

Saturday, January 27 

Community Garage Sale 

Over 100 homes are expected to 

participate in the Hermosa Beach citywide 

garage sale. 7 a.m. - noon. 

throughout town. Garage sale kits 

$10, available at Easy Reader. For 

more information or to register your 

sale: local.nixle.com/alert/6311557, 

Georgia Moe at gmoe@hermosapolice.org, 

or Leeanne Singleton at lsingleton@hermosabch.org. 

South Bay Chili Cook-off 

The Manhattan Beach Fire Department 

hosts its annual chili cook-off 

featuring offerings from dozens of the 

area’s top restaurant and personal 

chefs. $25. Under 8 free. Tickets at 

Eventbrite.com. 

Light Gate Sunset 

Twice a year the sunset aligns perfectly 

through the Light Gate keyhole 

in front of the Manhattan Beach library. 

5:20 to 6 p.m. 14th Street and 

Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach. 

Sunday, January 28 

Whale Fiesta 

Marking the start of Pacific gray 

whale annual migration to Mexico. 

Over 20 marine life organizations provide 

information to bring awareness 

and protection to these animals. Highlight 

is the “Great Duct Tape Whale 

Contest,” where model whales are 

created by all ages. Other activities include 

face painting, music, and marine 

mammal-related arts and craft 

projects, puppet show and passport 

contest for fabulous prizes. 10 a.m. - 3 

p.m. Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 

Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro. 

Free. (310) 548-7562 or cabrillomarineaquarium.org. 

Blood for life 

One pint of blood can save up to 

three lives. Donate from 12 - 6 p.m. at 

the Clark Building, 861 Valley Dr., 

Hermosa Beach. Incentives included 

a choice of a Starbucks gift card, 

coupon for a pint of Baskin & Robbins 

Ice Cream or a T-shirt. (310) 406-5907. 

Wild & Scenic Film Fest 

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land 

Conservancy host adventurous and inspirational 

films about nature. Film 

selections provide an encouraging 

look at the worldwide interest in land 

conservation. 4 p.m. Hermosa Beach 

Community Theater, 710 Pier Ave., 

Hermosa Beach. Purchase tickets by 

calling (310) 541-7613, at the door for 

$15, and online at pvplc.org for $10. 

Saturday, Feb 3 

Health and Fitness Expo 

Get ready for tomorrow’s Redondo 

Beach Super Bowl Sunday 10K/5K by 

visiting the booths of hundreds of athletic 

vendors in the Redondo Beach 

Seaside Lagoon. Free. 10 a.m. to 4 

p.m. and Sunday 6 to 11 a.m. 200 Harbor 

Drive, Redondo Beach. 

redondo10k.com/expo. 

Sunday, Feb. 4 

Super Bowl 10k/5K 

One of the nation’s largest, longest 

running 10Ks features elite runners 

chased by baby buggies and runners 

in costume, followed by the Michelob 

Ultra Post Race hospitality area (read 

beer garden). Presented by King Harbor 

Association. Custom awards presented 

to the top three male and 

female finishers in each category. $30 

(5K), $35 (10K) and $10 (Kids Run). To 

register visit Redondo10K.com. B

Considering A Major Remodeling Project? 

FREE - DESIGN & REMODELING SEMINAR 

Join us on 

Saturday January 27 th 

at 10:00 am 

R e s e r v e Yo u r S e a t s 

LEARN ABOUT THE DESIGN / BUILD PROCESS 

AND SEE AN INSPIRING ARRAY OF IDEAS 

FOR YOUR HOME

each charity 

25TH ANNUAL BEACH 

CITIES TOY DRIVE 

caps off season of giving 

T 

housands of toys were met by hundreds of 

eager hands last month for the annual 25th 

Annual Beach Cities Hermosa’s basketball 

gym was packed with wrappers of all ages. Local 

restaurateur Ron Newman provided lunch for the 

event, which began in the morning and stretched 

into the afternoon. Co-organizer Pete Tucker said 

that local fire stations and police departments, 

which served as donation points for the toys, 

seemed to fill up with gifts as fast he could take 

them away. 

PHOTOS BY RYAN MCDONALD 

1 

2 

1. Genevieve Filmardirossian and Maria Rojas, 

of the South Central Family Health Center, one 

of the charities accepting gifts from the toy 

drive, help Janice Brittain wrap gifts. 

2. Firefighters Christian McArthur and Peter 

Heck wrap up a book. 

3. City of Manhattan Beach employees try to 

make a dent in the pile of toys. 

4. Jamie Uou and Rosin Gross show off their 

work. 

5. Zeta Tau Alpha sorority alumni helped 

package toys. 

6. Members of the Manhattan Beach 

Community Emergency Response Team make 

their way through hundreds of stuffed animals. 

7. Karen Clink, Katie Welac, Natalie Collicut 

and Andrea Collicut man a table. 

8. Manhattan Beach Firefighters bring more 

loot to be wrapped. 

9. Former Manhattan Beach Fire Chief Robert 

Espinoza, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, 

Hermosa Beach Mayor Jeff Duclos, Manhattan 

City Council members Nancy Hersman and 

David Lesser, and former Manhattan 

councilmember Wayne Powell get in the 

holiday spirit. 

10. Musician Jeremy Buck and local news 

anchor Vera Jimenez take a break from 

wrapping. 

3 4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 


each sports 

Micky Munns and Michael Fineman looking for speed in their International 420 off of Palos Verdes. 

Photo courtesy of the Munns family 

high 

by Ralph Doyle 

Redondo Union High School sailors Micky Munns, 17, and 

Michael Fineman, 16, have embarked on a challenging 

campaign to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Sailing team. In 

November, Munns and Fineman placed fourth in the International 

420 West Coast Sailing Championships in San Diego. 

Last month, their efforts received a boost when they trained 

with San Diego Yacht Club head sailing coach Maru Urban, 

coach of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team in Rio De Janeiro. 

The 12-foot I420 is a technically demanding boat that requires 

its two-person crew to lean out on a trapeze 

while managing a spinnaker, as well as jib and 

main sails. 

In January, Munns and Fineman will travel 

to Miami Beach to compete in the North 

American I420 Championships. The following 

month, they will return to Miami for the I420 

Midwinter Championships. Their goal is to 

qualify for the I420 World Championships in 

Newport, Rhode Island, in August. A strong 

finish in Newport will enhance their chances 

for joining the U.S. Sailing Team. 

Munns and Fineman both compete for Redondo 

Union High in a league hosted by the 

King Harbor Yacht Club. Other local teams include 

Mira Costa, Rolling Hills Prep and Torrance. 

Munns, a Redondo Beach native, began sailing 

US Sabots and Optimist Dinghies when he 

was 7. He joined the King Harbor Youth Foundation 

FJ (Flying Junior) Race Team at 13. The 

following year he and fellow Youth Foundation 

sailor Alex Shapiro won a decisive victory over 

a fleet of 30 in the FJ Area J Junior Olympics 

in San Diego. 

Last year, Munns enlisted Fineman, who 

also raced with the King Harbor Youth Foundation. 

Like Munns, Fineman began sailing US 

Sabots and Optimists Dinghies when he was 7 

and at 13 joined the KHYF FJ race team. Last 

fall, as a Sea Hawk freshman, he a became a 

skipper on the school’s FJ racing team. 

Munns and Fineman are enlisting support 

for their sailing campaign at 

GoFundMe.Com/I420Campaign.B 

Micky Munns and Michael Fineman have embarked on an uphill campaign 

to join the U.S.’s best sailors 

• Serving the South 

Bay for over 35 years 

• Full Service Contractor 

• Complete Installation 

• New Construction 

• Remodeling 

• Second Floors 

• Additions 

• Cabinets 

4203 Spencer St., Torrance, CA 90503 (310)214-5049 • www.pevelers.com 

Appointments Are Recommended 

Showroom Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10-5 • Friday 9-3 • Monday by Appointment 

Closed Saturday and Sunday • License #381992 

Visit Our 

Kitchen & 

Bath 

Showroom 

Barney’s Beanery 

Here at Barney’s we've got our full newspaper-sized menu available as well as 40 beers 

on draft. Daily and weekend specials and a great Happy Hour Mon - Fri, 4pm to 7pm. 

ALL DAY Happy Hour on Monday! We offer free wifi and always have the TV's tuned 

to numerous sporting events, in case you want to settle in for a long lunch or dinner. 

Either way, we are here for you so come on in and enjoy! 

100 Fisherman’s Wharf, Suite H, on the Redondo Beach Pier. 

(424) 275-4820 www.barneysbeanery.com 


each 

Harrison Greenberg's senior photo. Photo courtesy the Greenberg family

The boy and the pier 

First of two parts 

A rendering of the "reimagined" Roundhouse Aquarium, expected to open 

by Memorial Day. Courtesy Cambridge Seven Associates 

How Michael Greenberg transformed the loss of his son into a gift for the place that made him 

by Mark McDermott 

Michael Greenberg was in England on 

business when the call came that every 

parent fears most. 

It was April 7, 2015. His oldest son, 19-year-old 

Harrison Greenberg, was on the other side of the 

world. Harrison, heir to the family business, 

Skechers, was 90 days into a four month internship 

in China. He was traveling with his cousin 

Colton, and they’d taken a six day break to visit 

Thailand while en route to a work assignment in 

Vietnam. 

The call was from Michael’s brother, and 

Colton’s father, Scott Greenberg. Hotel workers 

had found Harrison dead in his room. He and 

Colton had come back to the hotel together that 

night, and Harrison had ordered room service as 

Colton went to his own room to go to bed. Harrison 

apparently choked to death while eating his 

room service meal. Michael would later watch 

the hotel’s video surveillance footage to catch a 

last glimpse of his son alive, buoyantly getting off 

the elevator with his cousin, eager, as always, to 

keep on going. 

Harrison had always been an unusual kid. He 

wasn’t a conventionally good student; he was diagnosed 

with ADD and was willfully independent 

to a sometimes maddening degree, his father 

would later recall. But he was extraordinarily 

good at self-educating, possessed a quick mind 

and broad curiosity, and had a nose for business, 

technology, and travel. He’d started learning on 

computers at the age of three, enthusiastically attended 

business conferences with his father 

throughout his boyhood, manufactured bitcoin at 

home while still in high school, and traveled extensively 

in Asia during his teenage years. 

“One thing I'll say about Harrison is that even 

though he passed early in life, he did a tremendous 

amount in a compressed amount of time,” 

his father recalled. “He traveled to Asia at least a 

half dozen times -- China, Korea, all over… He'd 

go anywhere. He had a plane ticket, he had apps 

on language translations. ‘How are you going 

to..?’ ‘I got it dad.’” 

On an Instagram post from the Guangzhou 

Baiyun International Airport in China two weeks 

before he died, Harrison combined two quotes 

generally attributed, separately, to Saint Augustine 

and the prophet Mohammed: “Don’t tell me 

how educated you are, tell me how much you 

traveled. Because the World is a book, and those 

who do not travel read only a page.” 

Michael immediately got on a plane to return 

from London. His other two kids, Chase, who 

was 16 at the time, and Mackenna, who was 13, 

were on spring break with their mother Wendy 

in the Cayman Islands. 

“I had a long flight home to reflect on what was 

going on,” Greenberg said. “I was in shock. I 

think if I had to say what concerned me the most, 

it was worrying about his mother, and his siblings. 

Because he's gone, so he's pain free, but if 

you step back, you can imagine all the pain that 

was going to happen. I was 35,000 feet up in the 

sky knowing what I was going to encounter at 

home.” 

Home was Manhattan Beach, the town Greenberg 

had adopted as his hometown 25 years earlier 

— before he had kids, before Skechers 

became the third largest shoe company in America, 

when he was 25 years old and just beginning 

to make his mark on the world. He’d moved 

around as a kid, from Boston to Florida and finally 

to the Valley to join his own father, Robert, 

with whom he helped build the shoe company 

LA Gear, and then Skechers out its ashes. 

Robert, a joyously imaginative serial entrepreneur 

who’d launched a chain of hair salons, a wig 

company, and a roller skate company before entering 

the shoe industry, had always referred to 

Skechers as “a nice family business,” even as it 

became a billion dollar, international enterprise. 

He and most of his six kids lived in the Valley. 

Michael woke up one morning in his home in 


MasterCard® 

® 

AMERICAN EXPRESS ® 

SM 

Woodland Hills and decided to 

move to the beach. A week later, to 

his family’s shock, he was living in 

Manhattan Beach. He became completely 

in thrall with the little town. 

Soon he headquartered the company 

there. He had an office on the 

200 block of Manhattan Beach 

Boulevard with a view of the pier 

and the Roundhouse. 

“I always refer to it as this enchanted 

village. It's how I felt when 

I moved here,” Greenberg said. “It's 

like I'm always on vacation. It's a 

special town….I feel really blessed 

to be able to be here. All those times 

I packed up my bags and moved — 

I have no intention of ever moving. 

I found it. I have lived over half my 

life here now, and it gave me everything. 

It gave me the life I have 

today. My kids were born and raised 

here; it was the only place they 

know. I knew so many places, from 

moving around. But who gets to live 

near the beach?” 

What was more unusual was that 

even as Skechers grew into a $2 billion 

a year business, selling 200 million 

pairs of shoes worldwide 

annually, Greenberg chose to keep 

the company in Manhattan Beach. 

“Setting up this company in a city 

that is two miles by two miles — 

who would do that? There is no 

Michael and Harrison Greenberg. Photo Courtesy of the Greenberg family 

land,” he said. “They are not producing 

more Manhattan Beach. So, 

it took a lot of planning to keep a 

company that was growing, that 

needed space, inside of Manhattan 

Beach. It's full; the houses are on 

top of one another. There is no 

farmland. There is no acreage. But 

it’s where I wanted to be.” 

He’d always marvelled when 

coming home from business trips, 

as he came over the crest of the hill 

and looked down on the the red tile 

roof Roundhouse at the end of the 

pier. “This is where I get to live,” he 

thought. 

But on that day in early April 

three years ago, Greenberg arrived 

bewildered. His first instinct was to 

immediately book another flight, to 

Thailand. 

“I started to make flights to Thailand, 

because that is where he was,” 

he remembered. “But I was thinking, 

why am I going to Thailand? 

I've got to be with the kids and Harrison's 

mother. There was a lot of 

support here.” 

There is a confusingly beautiful 

thing that often happens at a time of 

such devastating loss — an unreal 

and terrifying sense of absence is accompanied 

by profound feelings of 

love. It’s hard to fully grasp the 

enormity of a love a father has for a 

son, or a sibling for a sibling, until 

that person’s passing throws the 

feeling into sharp relief, creating a 

hole in a heart the size of this unfathomably 

large love. We often 

don’t know just how much we are 

capable of feeling until loss forces it 

upon us. That capacity is reflected 

back upon us as we rest in the love 

of those remaining. 

The outpouring of love from the 

community floored Greenberg. And 

from around the world, donations 

quickly arrived. The Harrison 

Greenberg Foundation was immediately 

established; within days, a 

quarter million dollars had been donated 

to the Foundation. 

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dation and a close family friend 

who’d known Harrison all his life, 

had an idea. Harrison had been a 

quintessential child of Manhattan 

Beach, sun-drenched with sand always 

on his feet. Perhaps his greatest 

passion had been for the ocean. 

What better way to honor his 

memory than by donating to the 

Roundhouse Aquarium, which 

was both an enduring symbol of 

Manhattan Beach and a working 

facility where generations of children 

had been taught about marine 

life? 

Greenberg had arrived back on a 

Tuesday. By Saturday, he and Curren 

met with Lynn Gross, a board 

member for Oceanographic Teaching 

Stations, which operated the 

Roundhouse Aquarium. 

“Knowing his love for the sea, for 

Catalina Island, for always being 

on the water or in the water, visiting 

the Roundhouse Aquarium all 

the time… it was a natural fit,” 

Greenberg said. “It was a beautiful 

idea.” 

The boy 

Harrison Greenberg grew up 

never far from the water. As a little 

boy, he was preternaturally drawn 

to the Pacific Ocean and all its 

Harrison Greenberg on Catalina Island. Photo courtesy the Greenberg 

family 

teeming life. 

His family moved a few times in 

his childhood, but always within 

Manhattan Beach, always within a 

quick march to the beach. In the 

thousands of photos that documented 

his early life, most have an 

ocean backdrop, a tussle-haired 

tanned boy building sandcastles, 

bodysurfing, fishing; the closer he 

was to the water, the bigger his 

mischievous smile. 

He tooled down the pier a thousand 

times, ecstatic to run above 

the slap of the ocean, more alive 

than ever in the salt water air. He 

especially loved the Roundhouse, 

where he’d touch the animals in 

the touch tanks and gaze in wonder 

at the sharks in the big tanks. 

Sometimes the ocean would 

come to him. One photo shows a 

party at his house when he was 

two years old.The OTS crew from 

the Roundhouse Aquarium 

brought some of their animals to 

the Greenbergs’ home. Harrison 

looks like he’s being reunited with 

old friends. 

The first time he dove, on a family 

vacation to Hawaii, he hugged 

an octopus. For the rest of his short 

life he’d keep the habit he was 

taught on that first dive, holding 


his nose as he went under. 

He was a boisterous kid, even 

bold, curious about the world, unafraid 

to go beyond his own limits 

and especially those others set for 

him. It was a trait that kept growing 

all his life. 

“He was a lot of work,” said 

Michael Greenberg. “What I realized 

later was why — a lot of it was 

because he was so creative, and determined. 

It took me a while to understand 

that he wanted to do things 

that a young boy his age just didn't 

do. He wanted to travel, he wanted 

to work.” 

Because Harrison grew up in affluence 

didn’t mean he was immune 

to the difficulties that beset 

childhood. He was chubby when he 

was young; as a grade schooler at 

Robinson Elementary, he was bullied 

for it. Rather than cower, however, 

the experience seemed to 

make him even more resolute, and 

it may have drawn him closer to the 

ocean — on the water, all creatures 

are equally small relative to the immensity 

of the Pacific. 

His father recalls his early penchant 

for voyaging. The family visited 

Catalina Island perhaps a dozen 

times a year, sometimes for a day, a 

weekend, or a few weeks at at time. 

They favored the Isthmus, which is 

simple and rustic, with a single 

hotel and restaurant, rather than the 

more touristy Avalon. By the time 

he was a teenager, Harrison would 

take the family fishing boat out 

alone. 

“He was an avid fisherman,” 

Michael Greenberg said. “This kid 

would fish for hours. We have a 

Grady White. he'd take it out and I 

wouldn't see him for nine hours. 

He'd go on the backside of the island. 

And I was a little worried because 

they didn't get reception; the 

radio on the boats, the antennas -- 

there's got to be line of sight.” 

By this time he’d learned to trust 

his son, who each year seemed to 

grow more defined, physically and 

otherwise. 

“He really started to understand 

who he was and have confidence,” 

Greenberg said. “He figured out 

who he was supposed to be.” 

He’d always taken an interest in 

the family business. He’d grown up 

Skechers, as had all the kids; his 

brother, Chase, famously had his diapers 

changed by his mother on the 

boardroom table at the New York 

Stock Exchange the morning Skechers 

went public. 

“I remember saying, ‘You can’t, 

we don’t have time,’ and she said, ‘I 

am changing him,’” Michael Greenberg 

said. “There is no telling a 

mother. She puts him on this iconic, 

world leaders’ conference table that 

is longer than my office; many dignitaries 

have sat around this. We are 

in this grand room and she plops 

him on that table. And the head of 

the exchange, [Richard] Grasso, he's 

looking and he says, ‘Well, that's 

never happened.’” 

When Harrison was four, his father, 

playing the role of “shoe-ologist” 

by doing a little market 

research on his child, asked him if 

he liked the Skechers he was wearing. 

“Yes, Daddy, I like them,” the boy 

said. 

“Do you like Nike or Adidas?” his 

father asked. 

“What is that?” Harrison replied. 

He had no idea other shoes existed. 

Nearly every trip the family 

took they’d stop at at least one 

Skechers store to check things out, 

and thus by means of osmosis the 

family business was being transferred 

to the next generation. As 

Harrison grew older, he formed 

strong opinions on the Skechers line 

— he’d tell his dad what was cool, 

what wasn’t, and what was missing. 

“The kids are all very opinionated,” 

Greenberg said. “They are not 

shy, and they are critics. Children 

are their parents’ biggest critics. You 

know, we are not cool. They forget 

I was 19 and I know all the shit you 

are doing. Maybe I invented some 

of the shit you are doing.” 

Harrison had become a magnetic 

personality as he grew into a young 

man. He’d always been as comfortable 

speaking with adults as with 

kids; his eclectic circle of friends included 

the entrepreneur Rob 

Gough, a 32-year-old cancer survivor 

who’d launched a half dozen 

successful businesses, including 

Coupon.com and the DOPE apparel 

line. 

“He was incredible,” Gough said. 

“He was a curious soul who loved to 

learn. To be honest, he would have 

been a monster in the business 

world. You could put him anywhere 

and he would survive and come out 

better than anyone else. He just had 

a talent for figuring things out and 

making things happen, but he also 

had just a massive heart for everyone.” 

“He had gotten into bitcoins years 

ago,” Gough added. “I mean, he just 

had an innate understanding of how 

things worked. He was definitely a 


Harrison Greenberg was an avid fisherman. Photo courtesy the Greenberg 

family 

visionary.” 

Several of his friends were 

equally ambitious, but in different 

ways — such as future UCLA quarterback 

Josh Rosen, and University 

of Washington basketball player K.J. 

Garrett, who grew up with Harrison 

in Manhattan Beach. 

“We surround ourselves with likeminded 

friends,” Garrett said. “We 

were all very ambitious. I mean, 

one of our friends is going to be a 

top pick in the NFL draft this year. 

We all loved where we grew up and 

wanted to stay in that community, 

and that’s not easy.” 

But even among his friends, 

something about Harrison stood 

out. 

“His ambition and passion just radiated,” 

Garrett said. “When you 

were around him, he had this energy 

— I don’t know how to describe 

it, but people just wanted to 

be around him at all times, like a 

magnet. Anything he wanted, he’d 

just put his mind to it...He had 

skills, with technology and business, 

that I never had. It was admirable. 

And he just had so much 

love for me, I could never understand 

why. He’d just make me feel 

at home whenever I was with him.” 

And so it was a natural progression 

when, at 19, he ventured out 

into the world. He enrolled at Loyola 

Marymount, but he had little 

patience for academic life and took 

the spring semester off to do a four 

month internship across the Pacific. 

“He wanted to take over Skechers,” 

Robin Curren said. “He 

wanted to learn as much as he 

could and please his mom, his dad, 

and his grandfather. He really 

wanted to go far.” 

His father tries not dwell on what 

could have been. But sometimes he 

can’t help himself. 

“He was a very, very bright young 

man and had lots of ideas,” he said. 

“I don't want to get emotional, but 

I will. You know, I think about what 

he could have done…” 

But if the world is a book, as Harrison 

wrote on his last voyage, then 

he left behind a bookmark. Some 

day in the not very distant future a 

school bus is going to pull up at the 

foot of the Manhattan Beach pier. A 

group of kids, maybe from LA, or 

Compton, or Palos Verdes, will pour 

out and run to the Roundhouse at 

the end of the pier. Their voyage 

will have just begun. 

Next month: the pier, history and 

future. For more information on the 

project, and to donate, see harrisongreenbergmemorialfund.mydagsit 

e.com/home. B 


each 

business 

Round peg 

in a 

square hole 

Evanna Shaffer 

tries to upend 

the yoga world 

with circle-themed 

Chakya 

Evanna Shaffer’s Chakya Go is equal parts meditation cushion, towel, blanket and backpack. Photos by Brad Jacobson (CivicCouch.com) 

18 Easy Reader / Beach magazine • January 18, 2018 

by Ryan McDonald 

Evanna Shaffer was in the midst of a “lifequake.” 

After the onset of the recession, 

Shaffer had formed a business with her 

then-husband focused on finding jobs for people 

in the tech industry. But two weeks after the business 

launched, her husband said he no longer 

wanted to be with her. 

Shaffer dealt with the blow by developing a 

deep yoga practice, and engaging in daily meditation 

at the end of the Hermosa Beach Pier. 

Around that time, she also began having dreams 

with circles as a recurring motif. 

Drawing from her art school background, she 

set out to make something. She began tinkering 

with designs, feeling her way through as she 

measured and folded various materials. She 

worked entirely out of local coffee shops. People 

would pass through and gawk in curiosity. Interest 

in her and her creation began building without 

her even being aware of it. 

The result is Chakya, a line of circular yoga and 

lifestyle products linked by their round shape. 

Shaffer’s goal is that the circular Chakya can 

soften the edges of how people view yoga — to 

upend the increasingly popular perception that it 

is a set of poses to hold with militant rigidity. 

“And that’s when I had this epiphany,” she said. 

“Not everybody can do all of the poses, but everyone 

can be inspired by that feeling you get.” 

Those who have worked with Shaffer describe 

her as a tireless worker, and she does not shy 

away from her entrepreneurial ambition in conversation. 

But at a time when even the basest of 

Silicon Valley startups gild their efforts with the 

language of making the world a better place, 

Shaffer comes across as a true believer. 

Her first product, the Chakya Go, is a combination 

meditation cushion, towel, mat, blanket 

and backpack. Folded up, it resembles a small pillow, 

but it’s pliable enough to hold a laptop or a 

volleyball. Shaffer is fond of taking it with her on 

airplanes, preferring its microfibers to the typical 

“cootie blanket.” She recently concluded an IndieGogo 

campaign for the product, and is tirelessly 

pitching it in the area, while working with 

residents of the South Bay for every aspect of the 

business. It’s the start, she hopes, of something 

much bigger. 

“Hermosa has so many fitness and yoga lovers. 

I want to launch a whole new movement, and I 

want to do it from right here,” she said. “ 

Life moves in a circle 

Shaffer grew up on a farm in upstate New 

York. She lovingly describes her parents as 

“artists and hippies.” 

“There were no sweets. And everything mom 

cooked came from our ground,” she said. 

She left home to attend to art school outside 

Philadelphia, then decided to head to school in 

London. She didn’t have enough money for tuition 

when she left but, in a manner that reveals 

much about her world view, assumed things 

would work out. On arriving, she got a call from 

her mom, informing her that she had won a longshot 

scholarship she had applied for; a $10,000 

check was sitting in the mail. She had always 

dreamed of ending up by the Pacific Ocean, and 

an apprenticeship with a Malibu-based artist 

brought her to Southern California 

“There’s a certain amount of research and planning, 

but sometimes you just have to go for it,” 

she said. 

Her sentinel-like presence on the Hermosa Pier 

helped her get her project off the ground. In the 

project’s early days, she reached out to manufacturing 

firms to see who could meet her demands 

for a uniquely designed, responsibly sourced 

product. Among those she contacted was Sean 

Saberi, who runs FabFad, a customized textile 

printer in the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles. 

As the two started talking, Shaffer said, 

Saberi revealed that he was a Hermosa resident, 

and recalled seeing her meditating on the pier. 

Saberi, who also runs a company called C 

Print, said his businesses can handle everything 

needed for manufacturing, from patent advice to 

marketing, leaving their clients free to focus their 

creative energies on design. Combined with its 

made-in-the-U.S.A labor practices and willingness 

to use sustainable materials, Shaffer was 

sold. 

Although Saberi said the firm has large accounts 

such as Under Armor, he estimated that 

50 to 60 percent of his clients are startups. His 

business has worked with major yoga brands, including 

the El Segundo-based Manduka. 

Shaffer’s vision demanded a lot of back-andforth; 

he estimated the current Chakya Go is the

Evanna Shaffer with the round yoga mat at the Hermosa Beach pier, where 

she was inspired to launch her company. 

result of eight production cycles. 

All the time that Shafer spent 

meditating by the ocean seems to 

have sunk in. Saberi makes some of 

Shaffer’s products from a polymer 

derived from refuse, like plastic 

water bottles and fishing nets, that 

wash up on shore. The two plan on 

rolling out more products in the 

coming year, including a line of 

yoga pants. 

Shaffer, Saberi said, manages to 

combine the creativity of a designer 

with the focus of an entrepreneur. 

“She’s a great artist, and very high 

energy, but she’s also definitely on 

top of stuff all the time,” he said. 

The vision 

Roughly translated from Sanskrit, 

“Chakya” translates as “to awaken 

from within.” 

The next product in the line is a 

circular yoga mat. Almost all yoga 

mats on the market are rectangular, 

something Shaffer muses may be 

related to fiting as many people as 

possible into a yoga studio. 

“When I’m on a linear mat I feel 

like I’m a little soldier,” she said. 

Her circular, color-wheel mat is 

based around the chakras, an idea 

in the yogic tradition that posits 

there are seven different energy 

centers in the body. Each chakra is 

linked with a color, a part of the 

body, and an aspect of the soul. For 

example, the fifth chakra, located in 

the throat, is blue, and signifies 

communication. 

Shaffer’s circular mat is split up 

into six colored segments, and a 

white circle, for the seventh 

“crown” chakra, in the center. The 

colors are arranged to provide reminders 

for practice, she said, that 

may elude someone on a traditional 

mat. For example, based on the way 

the colors are arranged, if she is 

overdoing core work, associated 

with the yellow chakra, it will be 

difficult to occupy the purple part 

of the mat, that signaling the chakra 

responsible for intuition. 

“The chakras are always displayed 

in a linear fashion,” Shaffer 

said. “But it makes so much more 

sense to me this way. Doing it in a 

circle unlocked so many mysteries.” 

Among the idea’s proponents is 

David Romero, a prominent local 

yoga teacher who also leads regular 

sound baths. Shaffer assisted 

Romero when he gave a TEDx 

demonstration on sound healing, 

and often shows up to offer the 

Chakya Gos as cushions at his regular 

offerings. 

“I’m a huge believer in it. I look 

at things from the perspective that 

the human body is one big vibrating 

piece of material made of earth elements 

of different densities. She 

sees things through color, which is 

also a vibration. It’s just further up 

the spectrum of light,” Romero said. 

The goal, Shaffer said, is ultimately 

to use the mats as part of 

specialized classes she has designed. 

The energy flow would resemble 

a traditional yoga class, with 

a gentle beginning, a peak in vigor 

near the middle, and gradual comedown. 

But Shaffer describes the experience 

as something closer to a 

Disneyland ride, concluding people 

softening into the bliss of meditation. 

She’s currently looking for a 

space in the area to launch the effort, 

and is also pitching existing 

studios to let her try it as a workshop. 

Shaffer knows that getting people 

to see new things in a discipline that 

is thousands of years old will be difficult. 

But her attitude lifts her high 

enough that she can see it becoming 

reality. 

“By the time we finish, you 

should be feeling as though you are 

above the clouds,” she said. B 


each people 

Lights! 

Camera! 

Change! 

Jon Fitzgerald and social impact cinema 

Jon Fitzgerald. Photo by Bondo Wyszpolski 

by Bondo Wyszpolski 

Movies can simply amuse us or they can jolt up awake and leave 

us considering things from a new, unexplored perspective. Speaking 

with Jon Fitzgerald, it’s clear from the start which sort of motion 

picture he prefers, and why. 

“In the last decade or so I’ve gravitated to what I would call social impact 

films. Films that have something to say.” The title of his book, recently 

published in a second edition, doesn’t mince words: “Filmmaking for 

Change: Make Films that Transform the World.” 

But who is Jon Fitzgerald, what’s his background or experience, and why 

should we care? 

So let’s go back to the mid-’90s, shall we? 

Film student to festival director 

Jon Fitzgerald was born and raised in Redondo Beach (his parents attended 

Redondo Union High School), but then went to UC Santa Barbara 

and earned a degree in Film Studies. 

“After making an independent film that didn’t get into the Sundance Film 

Festival,” he says, “me and a couple of other guys started the Slamdance 

Film Festival, more as an opportunity for us to promote our films. And, 

for whatever combination of reasons, it really struck a chord with the community, 

with the industry, and with journalists. It became a bit of a Cinderella 

story. 

“That was 1995, over 20 years ago now, and it’s still going strong. I was 

the festival director for the next two years, and then AFI (the American 

Film Institute) brought me in to be their festival director.” 

He ran that much-heralded film festival from 1997 to 1999. 

“So I’ve had an opportunity to see literally thousands of films over the 

years.” 

This is where Fitzgerald’s resume begins branching into several directions 

at once. 

Periodically he’s been called in to direct film festivals, regional and national, 

as well as international. Abu Dhabi is an example of the latter. And, 

along the way, he’s also helped launch new film festivals in places like Orlando 

and the Bahamas. “When I started Slamdance,” he says, “there were 

less than 500 film festivals. Now there’s over 5,000.” 

To attend them all, we’d need to take in several each day, but cab fare 

would be prohibitive. 

While serving as the executive director of the Santa Barbara International 

Film Festival in 2003 something big crossed his mind. “It dawned on me 

that I was talking to a lot of independent filmmakers and advising them 

about how to play the festival circuit. And then there were festival directors 

launching in random places all over the country.” They’d heard about Slamdance 

and how it got started, and so they said to their buddies: “If these 

guys can start this thing out of their garage, then why can’t we? We’ve got 

a theater, let’s start a festival.” 

Well, yes and no. How many Cinderella stories can we have, after all? 

But Fitzgerald had been to the ball and danced with the prince, and instead 

of merely being on the ropes he’d climbed them to the top. 

“So I started a business called Right Angle Studios,” he says. It was a consulting 

firm that assisted filmmakers, helping them with marketing and 

distribution strategies and getting their work to film festivals. Because, if 

you aren’t being seen, who’s going to know if you’re the next Jim Jarmusch 

or Guillermo del Toro? 

Of course, nudging others into the public eye isn’t quite the same as making 

and financing your own pictures. And Fitzgerald wanted to transition 

back to that. 

“In 2010, my first documentary came out. It’s called ‘The Back Nine,’ 

and it was about seeing if it’s possible to become a professional athlete 

after turning 40. And it’s about golf.” 

He then went on to direct and/or produce a few other documentaries, 

including “The Highest Pass” (mountains and motorcycles, not football), 

“The Milky Way” (breastfeeding, not stargazing), “Woman One,” and 

“Dance of Liberation.” For some budding filmmakers he became advisor, 

mentor, guru, because everyone just starting out needs a little help. 

A guide for the journey 

“It was around that time that I had a panel discussion with book publisher 

Michael Wiese. His company has always been the leader in film-related 

books for film schools.” So Fitzgerald said to Wiese, “Have you ever 

done a book about the development of social impact movies, filmmaking 

for change?” “No,” said Wiese, “but that’s a good idea. Why don’t you write 

a table of contents and a first chapter, and let’s see what it could be about.” 


“Within a few weeks I had a book deal,” Fitzgerald says. To a certain extent, 

his concept for the book drew from Joseph Campbell’s seminal “The 

Hero with a Thousand Faces,” a book that examines the mythic-heroic archetype 

down through the ages, and describes, in a dozen stages or so, just 

what it is the hero has to encounter as he, or she, combats obstacles before 

finally reaching the goal, be it the Golden Fleece or a Golden Globe award. 

I think it’s common knowledge that George Lucas honed in on Campbell’s 

book as well for his initial vision of “Star Wars,” although the recent “Star 

Wars” films are only slightly more appealing than the Black Plague. 

So Fitzgerald condensed the heart and soul of Campbell’s book (for the 

hero’s quest it’s largely faith and guts) “and applied it to the social impact 

space and into documentaries. In the last ten years documentaries have 

evolved. There’s a more interesting flavor and different styles and personalities 

now, whereas before it was a lot of talking heads, a lot of static camera.” 

Among the films he cites that meet this criteria, Fitzgerald mentions “An 

Inconvenient Truth,” “The Cove,” “Super Size Me,” and “The Fog of War.” 

“Filmmaking for Change” is in some ways a how-to book, although the 

author states early on that while “Social impact films are made with a goal 

in mind,” he later adds that “One of the best things about the film business 

is this: There are no rules.” 

It sounds like we’re in Zen country now, but not really. The last part of 

Fitzgerald’s book is weighted with case studies or resources, and during 

our conversation he singles out “Warrior One,” which is about underprivileged 

girls living in Florida trailer parks later finding themselves trekking 

up the Andes to Machu Picchu. It’s a film about building leadership and 

confidence, in this case for youngsters who certainly weren’t born with 

silver spoons in their mouths. 

“I don’t want the book to just be for people in film school,” Fitzgerald 

says. “It should be for the average Joe who wants to pick up a camera and 

tell a story that could make a difference. You don’t need to have worked 

Fitzgerald cont. on page 27 

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each art 

TRUMP-INSPIRED ART 

at ShockBoxx 

S 

hockBoxx on Cypress Avenue in Hermosa 

Beach hosted the opening night of 

“Enough!,” a politically themed art show on 

Jan. 6. The show featured paintings, photography, 

sculpture, mixed-media and assemblage from 

local artists and some from as far away as 

Chicago. Most of the works dealt with the tumultuous 

first year of the Trump Administration. The 

exhibit runs through Jan. 24. 

PHOTOS BY RYAN MCDONALD 

1 

2 

1. Blandine Saint-Oyant. 

2. Claudia Berman. 

3. Maria Cracknell. 

4. William Kieffer. 

5. Tammie Valer. 

6. Sharon Lee Rosenbaum. 

7. Daniel Molina. 

8. Michelle Victoria. 

9. Lisa Pedersen. 

10. ShockBoxx co-owner Michael Collins. 

3 4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 



each dining 

Revolution at The Rockefeller 

by Richard Foss 

The Rockefeller’s Chris Bredesen with his American Prime Burger and Sweet Potato Bomb. Photos by Brad Jacobson 

What started out as a burger-and-a-beer spot unveils a new menu by Primo Italia chef Michelangelo Aliarga 

Building a brand is more than a matter of a 

catchy name and an interesting logo. Those 

things are helpful but have to represent 

something, some theme that makes the business 

itself stand out from the crowd. Once you have 

that, so a marketer would say, you should build 

on it but never change the ideas that are at the 

core. 

The people who run The Rockefeller evidently 

don’t believe in this logic, because the restaurant 

has undergone a slow but almost complete transformation. 

The place that started out as a gourmet-burger-and-a-beer 

spot still serves burgers 

and beers, and a few of the sandwiches and tacos 

that were on the menu when they opened, but 

the energy is elsewhere. They’ve become more 

upscale and eclectic. A winter menu crafted by 

consulting chef Michelangelo Aliarga of Primo 

Italia has taken the menu to a new heights in subtlety 

and style. 

The new menu is served at both outposts of 

The Rockefeller. I experienced it at the Manhattan 

Beach location because I happen to like the 

more low-key style there. The one in Hermosa is 

more the showplace thanks to mosaic pillars and 

other fancy architecture, but Manhattan Beach is 

more cozy. The feel is slightly like a rustic cabin, 

a comfortable place to settle in for some appetizers 

and a glass of wine before dinner. 

Appetizers include the new octopus lollipop 

and also the Rockefeller Mess, which has been 

on the menu for a while. The name of that latter 

item is as accurate as it is amusing, because the 

pile of fries topped by pickled fresno chiles and 

onions, guacamole, and allagash queso sauce is a 

sloppy joy. The flavors go together surprisingly 

well and there’s an interesting mix of hot and 

cold items and different textures. I wish they 

used cottage fries or waffle cut chips because it 

would make this so much easier to eat with a 

fork, and there’s no other way to do this without 

wearing some of it. 

The octopus lollipop was a daintier portion, a 

skewered and grilled chunk of the thick part of 

the tentacle over a slice of griddled potato, served 

with both a kalamata olive aioli and a dab of Peruvian 

green sauce. The green and purple sauces 

looked lurid but tasted great. I could have easily 

eaten a full plate of this as a main course. 

Another relatively new item is actually a twist 

on an idea a century old. Stuffing an avocado 

with lobster meat seems to have occurred to 

someone around 1920, when the California Avocado 

Society published a recipe. In that one the 

seafood was simply mixed with mayonnaise and 

garnished with parsley, but the one served by The 

Rockefeller reflects modern tastes. The shellfish 

is mixed with chopped green onion and tomato, 

then ladled into the avocado, topped with breadcrumbs, 

and run under the broiler. It’s necessarily 

a small portion because avocados aren’t very 

big, but it’s completed with a green salad and 

toast and is satisfying. 

During a recent visit, I verified that the burgers 

here are still quite good, but the most exciting entrée 

was from the new menu. It’s braised pork 

cheeks and polenta in a tomato and vegetable 

sauce that contains chimichurri and cilantro. 

While this item was created by an Italian chef 

and includes tomato sauce with olive oil and garlic, 

it’s not Italian – the herbs are the French 

mirepoix of onions, carrots, and celery. The flavors 

are almost Southern U.S. thanks to the similarity 

between polenta and properly made grits, 

but the sprinkling of cilantro gives it a dash of 

South America. It’s a luxurious companion to the 

meat, and since pork cheeks have a rich character 

and cook to disintegrating softness the meat 

has the character of a perfect pot roast. It’s a fantastic 

winter dish and as far as I can tell the standout 

on the menu. (I say as far as I can tell because 


I have tried to order another item, 

the sea bass in chermoula sauce, 

but they were sold out of it twice. 

If it is more popular than the 

braised pork cheeks, it must be 

amazing.) 

The Rockefeller doesn’t serve 

liquor but has a good selection of 

beers and wines, some from unusual 

producers. They briefly offered 

a wine from Idaho that was 

worthwhile for the novelty value, 

but I preferred the Ripper 

Grenache from Booker, near Paso 

Robles. The selection changes and 

sometimes they offer by-the-glass 

items that aren’t on the regular 

menu, so it’s always worth asking 

if there’s something new. 

The Rockefeller has matured in 

a way that is unpredictable and interesting, 

and I hope they continue 

in this vein. Their success may 

confound some of the usual rules 

of marketing, and is all the more 

admirable for it. 

There are two locations: 1209 

Highland, Manhattan Beach and 

422 Pier in Hermosa Beach. (A 

third location is planned for Redondo 

Riviera Village.) Open daily 

at 5 p.m., close 10:30 p.m. Sun. - 

Wed, 11 p.m. Thurs. - Sat., 

Street parking, full bar, 

wheelchair access okay. Some vegetarian 

items. Menu at EatRockefeller.com. 

B 

The Rockefeller American Prime 

Burger. 


$50 Off 

Radiesse* 

1.310.373.5000 

*1.5 mL syringe, Expires 1/31/18 


Fitzgerald cont. from page 21 

on ten movies.” Apart from a 

sound idea or vision, perhaps all 

that’s necessary is some software 

and a used camera. “For less than 

five grand you can have all the 

tools you need to go make a 

movie.” 

Of course, for a more polished 

look one might hire or consult with 

a director of photography or try 

and coax Daniel Day-Lewis out of 

retirement. Maybe also you’ll want 

to see James Franco’s “The Disaster 

Artist,” which is an original and 

curious look at how amateur entrepreneur 

Tommy Wiseau created 

“The Room,” which critics and 

fans like to dub the worst movie 

ever made. Well, worst or not, 

everybody now knows about it, 

right? 

“The point is,” Fitzgerald says, 

“there are people turning to film as 

a tool of mass communication to 

create change in the world. With 

politics and education and the environment 

and social issues and 

gender issues there are so many issues 

now, and people are looking 

to film to get some answers.” 

A couple of points I would interject, 

one being that a filmmaker 

doesn’t necessarily have to show 

all sides of an issue, but people 

might shy away from out-and-out 

propaganda, and of course no one 

likes to be preached to, except perhaps 

the choir. 

Regarding point of view, is any 

film ever wholly objective? Some 

filmmakers don’t try, “This is my 

spin,” they’ll say. “Take it or leave 

it.” And that’s fine. “But there are 

filmmakers,” Fitzgerald notes, “that 

do want to show both stories,” so 

that we, the audience, can draw 

our own conclusions. “But I also 

think it depends on the goal: What 

is the goal for that particular 

movie?” 

It should also be pointed out that 

“cause cinema” or “social impact 

films” do not need to be documentaries 

but can be fictional or narrative 

films. Fitzgerald mentions 

“Moonlight” and “Mudbound,” 

“Schindler’s List” and “El Norte,” 

which no one would call documentaries 

even if they are rubbing 

shoulders with socially relevant topics. 

And then there’s someone like 

Werner Herzog who espouses the 

ecstatic or poetic truth as opposed 

to the accountant’s truth, the result 

being that his documentaries have a 

fictive element. But then, he’s 

Werner Herzog, and you’re… Who 

are you again? 

A bigger concern for the unenlightened 

public is this: What do I 

watch? It’s a celluloid jungle out 

there. 

“At the same time I was writing 

the book,” Fitzgerald says, “I started 

a company called Cause Cinema, 

and my intention is to bring more 

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awareness to a lot of these social impact 

movies that the big studios 

don’t release. You’re on Netflix and 

Amazon and HBO, and you’re looking 

through all these carousels, 

through hundreds of movies. (There 

are) between 100 and 200 at any 

given time in the documentary 

carousels, so how do you know 

which ones to watch? 

“With Cause Cinema, I want to 

guide people to the best of these 

movies. So, I started a podcast and 

I’m going to do a blog, all of that 

with ‘Filmmaking for Change.’” 

Start early, stay late 

All of which leads us to VistaMar, 

the private high school in El Segundo 

with less than 300 students, 

which has put up new buildings and 

created an exploratory arts program, 

part of what is being called 

the Creative Commons. Now they 

have state-of-the-art film, music, 

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and theater rooms, plus the latest 

equipment and gear. 

“I taught ‘Filmmaking for 

Change’ in the fall,” Fitzgerald says, 

and as part of the initial exploratory 

arts program had 15 students in his 

class. 

They’re about to move from the 

theoretical to the practical. 

“I’m doing a filmmaking course, 

where kids are actually going to be 

able to put their hands on a camera 

and make a short film by the end of 

the semester.” 

Hollywood, watch out, you may 

soon have competition. 

Jon Fitzgerald will be talking 

about “Filmmaking for Change” on 

Saturday, Jan. 27, from 11 a.m. to 

noon, at the Redondo Beach Main 

Library. For more information about 

Fitzgerald, his efforts and 

accomplishments, go to 

CausePictures.com or filmmakingforchange.com. 

B 

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Hermosa Beach 

2000 to 2010 in photos 

Featuring the work of over 20 Easy Reader staff and contributing 

photographers. Presented by the Hermosa Beach Historical Society 

Opening reception: Friday, January 26, 6 p.m. 

Hermosa Beach Historical Museum, 710 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach 

For more information call the museum at (310) 318-9421 or Easy Reader at (310) 372-4611.

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