Toasts of the town: New movies, new cocktails to premiere at Simi Film Fest

Dark spirits will prevail at Studio Movie Grill when cocktails inspired by “Poltergeist” and other films make their world premiere at the first Simi Film Fest.

The festival runs during afternoons and evenings Sunday through Tuesdayat the Simi Valley theater — located at 1555 Simi Town Center Way and known for bringing frozen margaritas, bloody marys and other drinks to patrons’ seats.

The theater’s latest drinks, designed for the film festival, include ones inspired by Oscar winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022) and “The Big Lebowski” (1998). Like “Poltergeist” (1982), they were filmed in Simi Valley.

Festival director Joseph Metcalfe is keeping details about the new cocktails a surprise, but said, “They’ve been tested. Everyone likes them.”

The cocktails are among the local connections for the festival, in which the 40–plus independent movies include some filmed in Simi Valley, Newbury Park and elsewhere in Ventura County. Those interested in attending can find the schedule and buy tickets at simiff.com.

Metcalfe and fellow festival director Katie Garibaldi, a Simi Valley couple with noteworthy experience in the music side of movies, are hoping to raise awareness about the city’s role in cinematic history.

“The thing with Simi, it’s very understated. They don’t go around bragging about what they’ve done,” said Metcalfe, a Bournemouth, England native and film composer. “My favorite thing is watching a movie and later discovering it was done right here.”

The festival will feature a field trip to Corriganville Park, a Simi Valley site where classic Westerns were filmed. CBS’ long-running “Gunsmoke" was also shot at the movie ranch-turned-park, as well as director Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 movie “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.”

Inspired in Brussels

Metcalfe and Garibaldi decided to start the Simi Film Fest after being impressed with the Brussels International Film Festival, where Metcalfe won a world soundtrack award for his score on “The King’s Daughter” (2022). Garibaldi, a singer and songwriter who’s sitting on a Simi Film Fest panel about music, was the music supervisor involved with licensing matters and the soundtrack's release for consumers.

“The level of the (Brussels) festival and its participants and honorees was outstanding,” Metcalfe said. “We thought, ‘We need to bring this to the U.S.’

“We were looking to do it in Ventura,” he said, but explained the couple decided to present the festival instead in Simi Valley where they moved in March from different cities. Metcalfe previously lived in Thousand Oaks; Garibaldi, the Bay Area where she grew up.

And Garibaldi directed one of the Simi Film Fest’s movies — “This and That,” the 22-minute story about a screenwriter trying to free herself from writer’s block.

“The inspiration came toward the end of 2019 when I wanted to get more music credits (in movies),” Garibaldi said. “It was hard to get work. But I was meeting a lot of filmmakers from virtual film festivals, and I was inspired by these people doing nonstop creating.

“I thought, ‘If this person can do it, I can do it. Why don’t I make my own short film, remain creative and practice music supervision?’” she said. “I woke up the next day with this idea for the film and started writing.”

More about the Simi Film Fest

The festival’s films also include a stop-motion animation short created by Simi Valley fifth grader Kane Keenan Pilapil. “No Dog Allowed” tells the story of a fun-loving canine who doesn’t understand why he’s not welcome to be somewhere. The dog might just do something about that.

“The concept was brilliant,” Metcalfe said. “It’s a very sweet film.”

Also at the festival is another film made in Simi Valley — “An Unkept Secret,” the story of a married couple who are trying to decide whether to report a violent crime they witnessed. As director Joe Koch's 85-minute film unfolds, viewers will discover why the couple is hesitant.

Another film, this one made in Newbury Park, is “Uncommon Negotiator," the true story of a young pastor who’s suddenly thrown into a dangerous hostage situation. The 23-minute movie is directed by Brian Glassford.

Also filmed in Ventura County was “Good Vibrations.” Director Peter Fox’s 14-minute film is about Amy Pastor, a student who gets a lesson about life from her music teacher.

Director Steve Neill filmed “But Something Is There,” a 46-minute movie made in Ventura County, and the festival schedule has this to say about what’s out there: “I never said it was aliens … you did!”

In addition to presenting his film, Neill is participating in the panel “Aliens, Star Wars and Star Trek: Sets, Props and Beyond.” Neill will discuss his work as a makeup artist on “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979), in which his first assignment was putting Spock’s pointed ears on star Leonard Nimoy.

The panel will also feature Alan Roderick Jones, an artist and production designer who worked on “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope” (1977).

The force is apparently with the festival, where other panels will cover directing and visual effects on a low budget.

"And we realize Simi is a rich film-loving community, so we cater this to the public, so everyone can have access to all the filmmakers," Metcalfe said.

Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Simi Film Fest to feature new movies, cocktails at 2023 event