Les Deux Cafe, located in the Hollywood hills, features a Short Film Forum every Wednesday night
By Jeremy Tammaro
Sports Assistant
What can be done to get away and have fun on Hump Day? Well, there is a little hole in the wall stuck in the middle of urban Hollywood that might just do the trick. In fact, if you do not get lost finding the place you might be able to get lost once you are inside.
The venue, Les Deux Café, is home to fine dining and star gazing — if you are one to go gaga over celebrities, then dining here probably will do the trick for you. However, the escape is not in the pricey menu or the romantic patio atmosphere, it is in the back of the bungalow, just behind the curtain that separates the restaurant from a large, dark room filled with film producer hopefuls and the average Joe.
If you have made it this far back, then you have entered the Wednesday realm of the Short Film Forum.
The forum was created almost a year ago by recent Pepperdine Graziadio Business School grad Pernilla Nelson to allow for budding and established filmmakers to be seen and heard while offering a weekly substitute for the larger, once-a-year film festivals.
“(The Short Film Forum) was really a fluke,” Nelson said. “It wasn’t a plan at all. We wanted to do something where our friends could come together and hang out more often. But it is much more official now.”
And it is much more work than she originally thought it would be.
Nelson spends part of her week paying the bills as a freelance accounting consultant. The rest of the time is given over to her baby, the Short Film Forum.
Nelson spends that time, with help from her business partner Michael Deeney, to send out e-mails and to make phone calls to not only get the talented filmmakers to contribute but to put interested executives and producers in the audience.
On top of that, Deeney and Nelson spend hours going through boxes of submitted tapes in search of the couple that will fill the bill come mid-week.
“It’s all subjective,” Nelson said. “It’s my opinion and my partner’s opinion.”
These opinions generally factor into one selection out of every 10 hopefuls, leaving plenty of opportunity for filmmakers who wish to step up and give it a shot with their work. Nelson attributes such a low acceptance rate to the fact that the majority of her choices are all local and they are not able to tap into the national bank of short films.
“I need to get stuff from outside Los Angeles,” Nelson said. “From places like Vancouver and New York.”
However, those fortunate enough to be granted their 12 minutes of fame feel as though they are members of a lucky fraternity of filmmakers. One such filmmaker is writer, director and producer Troy Romeo, who recently had the privilege to show his latest short film, “Pay Back.”
“I was really flattered that I was that one out of 10 that she picked,” Romeo said. “Anytime you screen your film, it is an advantage to the filmmaker. You never know who is going to look at it.”
Not only is it a benefit when considering future job opportunities, but the connections these writers and directors are able to make between one another is helpful for their future work.
“It’s all about relationships,” Romeo said “The people I needed to meet that night were there.”
While the Short Film Forum is a fantastic venue for budding industry execs to showcase their skills, it still remains a wonderful escape for the local and visiting international crowd.
“It reminds me of an old film house in Sweden,” Eva Lindholm, a visitor to the café, said.
Lindholm took in the evening as she got to catch up with her old friend Nelson, who also hails from Stockholm, Sweden.
“It is just a funky atmosphere with interesting people,” Lindholm said. “This is just (so) retro to me.”
Retro and definitely lively. The back room is made up of a full bar on one side and two large, steel paneled doors on the other.
They resemble garage doors so closely that if you forget about the classy restaurant that you just walked through you might think that you wandered next door to your neighbor’s house for a Blockbuster night.
Quaint little candlelit tables scatter the room for those who wish to enjoy a nice casual setting. In fact, it is almost so romantic in the back that if it were not for the large movie screen and the crowd, it would make for a wonderful place to enjoy that first date.
Of course, if out of the ordinary is your thing, then you have just hit a gold mine.
“(Les Deux Café) is a little bit more cozy,” Romeo said, in comparison to its last home at Moomba. “I think ultimately this is a better venue.”
If you want a nice romantic $100 dinner, feel free to stay on the ritzy side of the curtain. But if you are of the daring, different, give- me-something-new breed, then come on back.
Since it is free, you will get way more than you pay for while enjoying the best short films Los Angeles has to offer.
Les Deux Cafe
1638 N. Las Palmas Ave.
Hollywood, Calif.
(323) 465-0509
Directions:
Located one block south of Hollywood Blvd., between Las Palmas Ave. & Cherokee Ave.
1. From Hollywood & Highland go two blocks east
2. Turn right (south) on Las Palmas
3. Parking lot will be to the left
October 31, 2002