Stories Of Los Angeles Harbor Area (SOLAHA)
P.O. Box 5202 ~ San Pedro, California 90733
Telephone: 310/519-0756 or 310/766-4884
For Immediate Release
August 1, 2018
Contact:
Jack Baric (310)766-4884 jackbaric@hotmail.com
Stephanie Mardesich (310) 519-0756 stephaniemardesich@yahoo.com
“Stories Of Los Angeles Harbor Area: For Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow”
Oral History Debuts “Throwback Thursday” August 16
Launch Event At San Pedro Brewing Company Historic Downtown San Pedro
Stories of Los Angeles Harbor Area: For Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (SOLAHA), inaugural oral history (video/film) project, sponsored by Los Angeles County (LAC) Supervisor Janice Hahn, District 4, through LAC grant funding, will debut “Throwback Thursday” August 16 at 6 p.m., at San Pedro Brewing Company (SPBC), 331 W. 6th Street, historic downtown San Pedro. The “welcome” remarks by Supervisor Hahn and a preview of a few of the 20 interviews conducted, to create 60 stories, will be shown on television screens in the popular restaurant.
Filming took place in May. The evening launches SOLAHA that will be distributed weekly through the end of the year via internet sources and dedicated website (design in process). “No host” for beverage with some appetizers provided by SPBC. All invited to the preview
Directed by Emmy Award winning filmmaker Jack Baric, co-producer along with Stephanie Mardesich., director/founder of the LA Harbor International Film Festival (LAHIFF) and public relations consultant/free lance writer, the project was produced under the banner of Baric’s Gopher Crow Entertainment production company, with LAHIFF as 501c3 non-profit status connection.
“The goal of this oral history video project is to gather stories from a variety of people and perspectives that capture significant memories and observations about the people, neighborhoods, events, friendships, and families that have contributed to our unique history and have made the LA Harbor Area such a special place to live.,” states Supervisor Hahn in the welcome introduction for SOLAHA. “The history of the harbor area is vast and varied and deserves to be preserved for posterity, especially with “the Greatest Generation” ebbing away, and their children advancing in age.”
Baric and Mardesich, both natives of San Pedro, first met to discuss the project in May 2017. A year later the production was underway. “Stephanie and I both have a great love for our hometown and are constantly inspired by the amazing stories we’ve heard about the people that settled here. The opportunity to help capture the history is both gratifying and humbling,” comments Baric.
Both filmmakers earned bachelor of arts degrees at the University of Southern California (USC). Mardesich is also alumna of USC School of Cinematic Arts graduate school program in film history, criticism-aesthetics (aka critical studies). Baric is the son if immigrants from Croatia. Mardesich is descendant of similar heritage. This year marks the double anniversary of her paternal grandfather Joseph M. Mardesich, Sr.), a founder of the French Sardine Company (renamed Starkist c. 1953) and sole owner of Franco Italian Packing Company, arriving in San Pedro 100 years ago in 1918. He is recognized as a pioneer of the tuna canning industry, and commissioning the Victory Arch monument erected 20 years later on the athletic field of San Pedro High School in 1938 now celebrating its 80th anniversary. Mardesich was also a founding member of the Dalmatian American Club in 1926.
Baric’s debut film, acclaimed documentary Port Town (2006), has made a significant contribution to the SP historical cinematic landscape with the documentary that presents seven historical stories revealed by individuals who participated, as varied as San Pedro from sports victories to the venerated local fishing industry. Among his many other credits are feature documentary films A City Divided, that chronicles the history of the USC vs. UCLA football rivalry and the Emmy Award winning Bloody Thursday, PBS documentary that tells the story of how Great Depression era dockworkers won their union, the ILWU; and numerous commercials, corporate videos and PSAs.
The SOLAHA mission is to preserve the significant history of the people and communities of the Los Angeles harbor area that spans from the port towns of San Pedro and Wilmington, to include Lomita, Harbor City and the Palos Verdes Peninsula, to preserve the history of the region and recognizing what is inherent to inspire future generations to continue striving to make it a great place to live, work, and invest in as the area continues to progress.
“The personal stories and memories that people share are to be treasured as they are the measure of lives well lived, from mundane to magnificent,” observes Mardesich. “The sentiments of individuals that reflect the community, its history, and shared values, remind from whence we came to guide and inspire others to recall their heritage, the environment of growing up or living near the sea, and appreciate on the past, present, and looking to the future. I personally don’t want to live in the past, I just don’t want us to lose it. If we do not preserve our history today, we will not have it tomorrow.”
Plans are underway for SOLAHA Phase II in 2019. “It’s exciting to have completed ‘Phase I’ in just over a year since we committed to the project,” states Mardesich. “There were far more candidates and stories to tell than we could include in the inaugural effort and many who have expressed interest in participating or will once they see the results., and we invite those interested to contact us for consideration.”
The LAHIFF non-profit status provides potential sponsors a tax-deductible option by serving as administrator of the SOLAHA project. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent the law allows.
For more about Gopher Crow Entertainment see www.gophercrow.com; LAHIFF see www.laharborfilmfest.com
For more about SOLAHA and sponsorship opportunity inquiries contact Mardesich. (310/) 519-0756; email stephaniemardesich@yahoo.com
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