I spent Christmas with my family in the UK and flew back into Los Angeles on 7 January – the evening the wildfires started – the plane having to fly out over the Pacific and turn back into LA to cope with the 80 mph wind gusts. That night, in the mountains, the gusts reached 100 mph and all helicopters and planes were grounded so the fires spread quickly with embers being blown up to two miles away. The winds dropped over the next few days but with the Eaton Fire and Palisades Fire having already covered vast areas and caused extensive damage, it would be over 3 weeks before the fires were fully contained.
The next day on 8 January, the Sunset Fire broke out and the Sunswept Fire started that evening which was only a mile and a half away from where I live in Studio City. Thankfully, both these fires were contained quickly but I was on alert for several days with bags packed ready to evacuate. At times, it was surreal with beautiful, blue skies in Studio City even though we were surrounded by fires – the Palisades to the west, Eaton to the east, Sunset to the south and the Hurst Fire to the north.
For most of January and February, the city was in shock and the Palisades Fire became the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history.
The film industry was, of course, affected but I did manage to shoot a day on Season 2 of, Beef. A funny little role in very funny scene. Lee Sung Jin (Sonny Lee) won many awards for his first season. He has such a crazy persepctive on life which makes his writing hugely entertaining.
As it was awards’ season, there were plenty of Spirit Award and Oscar nominated projects to watch. My favourite film being, Anora, which swept the Oscars. Like, Beef, I found myself laughing at frenzied, acrimonious situtations in spite of myself. Maybe the film isn’t everyone’s cup of tea as the older ladies at my book club weren’t that impressed but all I ever want to see is originality and this definitely ticked the box!
Recent Comments