Episodit
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Summary
Ash Maharaj, owner of the Harmony Motel, shares the history and significance of motels and the Harmony Motel in the Joshua Tree area. The motel was built in 1958 and has a mid-century design with a large courtyard and open windows. The name 'Harmony' comes from the musical notes on the sign. The motel gained fame when the band U2 stayed there during the making of their Joshua Tree album. Other notable guests include Snow Patrol and the filming of the movie 'Crazy Beautiful'. Ash Maharaj, originally from South Africa, came to the US in 2000 and decided to stay after the tragic loss of her mother. She purchased the Harmony Motel in 2004 and has been running it successfully for 20 years. Ash, the owner of Harmony Motel, discusses the challenges and rewards of owning a small motel in a small town. She talks about the unique experience of meeting people from all over the world and learning about different cultures. Ash also shares the economic challenges she faced, including the 2008 crash and the rise of Airbnb. Despite the challenges, she appreciates the freedom and flexibility of being her own boss. Ash emphasizes the importance of booking directly through the motel's website to support small businesses.
Takeaways
Motels originated in the US as convenient and accessible accommodations along highways.
The Harmony Motel, built in 1958, has a mid-century design and is known for its musical notes on the sign.
The motel gained fame when U2 stayed there during the making of their Joshua Tree album.
Ash Maharaj, the owner of the Harmony Motel, has successfully run the business for 20 years. Owning a small motel allows you to meet people from all over the world and learn about different cultures.
Running a small business requires constant adaptation to economic challenges, such as market fluctuations and competition.
Being your own boss provides freedom and flexibility, but also comes with the responsibility of marketing and maintaining the business.
Booking directly through the motel's website helps support small businesses by avoiding high commissions from third-party booking platforms.Harmony Motel Website for Booking
https://www.harmonymotel.com/
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/harmonymotel/
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In this episode I seit down with Author William Hillyard, author of " Welcome To Womder Valley - Ruin And Redemption In An American Galapagos"
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Puuttuva jakso?
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In this episode I talk to Heather Basile, owner of The Mojave Moon Apothecary in Twentynine Palms California.
Check out her shop HERE
Be sure to check out The Highway 62 youtube channel HERE
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In this episode I sat down at The Out There Bar in 29 Palms with Author , Chris Campion and Out There Bar owner , Ian Riekow to talk about the new deluxe art book projectabout the lost Sci-Fi film, Saturation 70. The story of this film is an incredible one and the book that's coming looks to be amazing...You can back the project on kickstarter.
Kickstarter HERE
Chris Campion website HERE
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In this episode I soeak with Matt Beurois who is the Program Director of The Yucca Valley Film Festival. Now in it's 5th year, The Yucca Valley Film Festival features some of the best indipendant films of the year. This event is sponsored by the city of Yucca Valley and is 100% free to the public.
The event takes plav=ce November 10th 11th and 12th
go to their website for details HERE
anny (00:00.914)
All right, Matt Beurois, thank you so much for joining me on the Highway 62 podcast. How are you?Matt Beurois | YVFF (00:09.187)
I'm very good. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure. I love the podcast and very happy to be here.Danny (00:13.679)
Thank you Yeah, I you know when I waslooking at the name and I'm always looking at somebody's last name like okay how am I gonna pronounce and you know just not having spoke to you at all I was like oh it's like Matt Berrios or something like that so when I asked you and you hit me I was like oh okay and offline we were just talking about Paris and I was just saying how I've met so many people out here from France lately it's crazy but so and you are would you say the director of the Yucca
Matt Beurois | YVFF (00:22.783)
How do you pronounce that?Matt Beurois | YVFF (00:39.423)
Yeah, yeah.Danny (00:48.048)
Thanks for watching!Matt Beurois | YVFF (00:48.651)
I would say program director. My job is to find the movies, yeah, the UK Film Festival, I find the movies, I find the filmmakers. We have a very small team and my job is to get people into town to attend the festival.Danny (00:50.742)
Program Director of the Yucca Valley Film Festival.All right.
Danny (01:05.346)
Wonderful. Yeah, so we'll come back and hit all the.the good details of the film festival, but I would love to hear a little bit more about your background, you're a film director yourself. I just like the end credits of The Barn are on my TV at the moment. I was going to watch over the weekend and I wasn't able to do it, so I was kind of getting through it today. I need to re-watch it. I was working a little bit today as I had it on. So, but yeah, give us the...
Matt Beurois | YVFF (01:17.155)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (01:23.938)
Oh.Matt Beurois | YVFF (01:32.974)
It's...Danny (01:37.59)
the rundown of where you're from and how you came to be out here.Matt Beurois | YVFF (01:41.545)
It's a journey. It's definitely a journey. So I'm a director, producer, filmmaker. I made a lot of short films.like 25-ish, a little bit more than that probably. And the last short film I directed and produced was a huge hit in Los Angeles and the US, and Asia and Europe, everywhere except France. So that was a French doc comedy with very famous people in France, and we got like 68 awards worldwide.
Danny (02:08.717)
HahahaMatt Beurois | YVFF (02:20.375)
everywhere except France and the first one we gotDanny (02:22.434)
Hahaha!Matt Beurois | YVFF (02:24.887)
was the best international short film in a festival in Los Angeles. And that was the first award I ever had and I was the only French people in the room, only French guy in the room and I just got that small statue in my hands and it was like okay this is where I need to be, this is where I want to be. So that small success gave me the fuel and the will toDanny (02:30.163)
Oh wow.Danny (02:36.432)
HeheheDanny (02:44.276)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (02:52.851)
to change a whole lot of things in my life. And to basically, it took a couple of years, but then to move to the US, get the visa, and then later on get the green card and move to Yekavalli. First Los Angeles, then Burbank, then Yekavalli. And once we arrived in Yekavalli with my wife, we...Danny (03:02.951)
Mm-hmmMatt Beurois | YVFF (03:13.627)
Our business is to make film festivals. We have a bunch of them. We have some in California. We still have two, three in France. We have one in Nashville. We have business ties in New Mexico, in the US. So everywhere we travel, everywhere we make friends, we try to make business and work in good intelligence with friends. So we had all of that and...Danny (03:18.884)
Okay.Danny (03:27.401)
Interesting.Danny (03:34.93)
Yeah. Let's, to, yeah, I was going to back up a little bit and just get a little bit more of your background growing up in Europe. How did you, you know, get into filmmaking? Did you go to film school or what was your background like?Matt Beurois | YVFF (03:52.039)
I did not go to film school. I learned to make movies by making movies. We were a group of friends when I was a teenager and one of us got a camera. It was the big tapes back in the days, VHS, and every weekend for years we filmed short films. And then we edited it with two big VHS recorders.Danny (03:57.387)
Yeah, yeah.Danny (04:07.702)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (04:22.633)
So we really learned the craft by doing, by making films. So one weekend it was at my house, the next weekend it was at another friend's house, the weekend after that it was at another friend's house. So it was sleepover, writing films, filming the movies, editing the movies, and the next weekend again and again.So that was a whole adventure for years and years. And then some of us, the group of friends we were, some of us got to work into TV. Some others just dropped the whole thing. And I'm the only one who really kept going and started to make real films and feature films especially.
Danny (05:03.095)
Yeah.So and it was interesting I wanted to make sure I asked this as you were talking about the film festivals that it was an actual business for you So you're I never really thought about film festivals in that way So you and your wife travel to different areas and create these film festivals, huh? interesting
Matt Beurois | YVFF (05:21.267)
Well, it's... Yes.Yes, our company that's based in Yeka Valley, Colorado studio, we do marketing, pictures, video, social media, everything to help small businesses thrive. We do it for ourselves and we've been since we created our first festival in Paris, I think 13-14 years ago, it was just a small thing and then it became bigger and bigger and bigger and we were consistent enough and
Danny (05:29.896)
Okay.Danny (05:35.936)
Mm.Danny (05:39.201)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (05:56.089)
enough to keep delivering year after year. So what we did in Paris, France became a rendezvous, a place to be for emerging filmmakers and we started to create this whole network of people, motivated people who wanted to make films, show the films, promote the films in hopes that someday you're going to go to the next step and go working for the studios, working for a bigger productionMatt Beurois | YVFF (06:25.809)
I'm making independent films, I know what it takes. So when we do film festivals, we exactly know what it takes and the labor of love that it is to put everything together to make the film happen. And to then, when you have the movie, not to stop there, but to push it to film festival and then to push it to the streamers, distribution company, to show the movie to an audience as big as possible.Danny (06:29.792)
Yeah.Danny (06:46.274)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.Danny (06:54.871)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (06:55.929)
We started as an association in France, a non-profit, and then it became a small business. And when we moved to the US, that business became the business with which we got our original visa. So that was interesting to take everything we knew how to do and how to do well, and to transform it into something that got us the foot in the door to get and actually move to the US. So that was an interesting journey.Danny (07:00.364)
Mm-hmm.Danny (07:10.175)
Okay, gotcha.Danny (07:23.382)
Right. Sure. I bet. Now, and I was mentioning it. Oh, go ahead. Sorry.Matt Beurois | YVFF (07:27.412)
Today the UK Valley Film Festivalis very specific for us, it's very unique because that's the only film festival that we do not own. Every other thing we do, we own the copyright and the brand and the event, we do whatever we want. The Yokevallé Film Festival, the festival belongs to the town of Yokevallé, so we are here to execute their vision, the strategy they have and to work with the recreation department so they can
Danny (07:40.333)
Okay.Matt Beurois | YVFF (08:03.358)
get the residents happy and get hopefully some people into town for tourism during the weekend.Danny (08:11.118)
Yeah, I was mentioning that I was watching a little bit of your feature film, The Barn, which people can watch on Amazon. And it's always amazing to me when somebody really goes through that process of making a movie. I've never really worked in the film industry. One of the guys in my band works in reality TV as a show producer. And so I'm always hearing the stories ofMatt Beurois | YVFF (08:17.927)
Mm-hmm.Matt Beurois | YVFF (08:27.826)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (08:35.538)
Okay.Danny (08:39.85)
you know how they're getting a little bit of spec money to film this one you know pilot episode and just everything that goes into it and it just seems that like ninety percent of the time or more it never ends up going anywhere or it's a fail and it i'm just always blown away at you know having a little bit of understanding of what goes into it getting to that point of really finally creating a movie the funding and justMatt Beurois | YVFF (08:44.138)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (08:53.899)
I'm sorry.Danny (09:07.65)
putting it all together. Give us a little bit of a short story of what it was like doing that first feature film.Matt Beurois | YVFF (09:16.219)
Well, the financing of a movie is always the most challenging. It's a pain in the ass. Every filmmaker you're going to meet is going to be looking for money to make the movie happen. So what we did for the bond, we didn't wait for any money. We financed it ourselves with our company. And what we did to make it possible, we wrote a script.Danny (09:23.3)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah.Danny (09:35.123)
Mmm. Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (09:42.619)
and we knew before writing the script the locations we were going to use and all the locations in the movie The Barn it's my mom's house she's got a farm and the house it's her house the bedroom it's her bedroom the living room it's the living room the barn itself back in the days when we filmed they had sheeps before we filmed in that place and now they haveDanny (09:57.404)
Hahaha. Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (10:12.333)
So we wrote the script knowing exactly all the locations we could use for free. The all the rooms, the forest, the barn, around the barn, the road next to the house. Everything was actually on location. We never walked more than five minutes on foot to go to another location for the next scene. So we did. She was helping.Danny (10:20.118)
Gotcha.Danny (10:33.994)
Wow, okay, great. How does your mom feel? How does your mom feel now living in a house that has had a horror film made there?Matt Beurois | YVFF (10:45.407)
Well, the barn itself, it's quite different now. When we filmed, it was a mess.Danny (10:50.354)
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (10:53.555)
We almost didn't touch anything. It was a mess because it used to be like I said the ships and then it was used as storage all my crap from all my teenage years all my sister's crap Everything was there. It was a mess So we almost didn't touch it because it was it was good for the movie to have some bunch of stuff around Since then my sister took over and now she's got a horseDanny (10:59.144)
Mm-hmm.Danny (11:22.463)
Oh wow.Matt Beurois | YVFF (11:24.409)
It's neat, absolutely clean, it's beautiful, you would not recognize the place, definitely. So every scene where we killed people, every scene where the zombies escaped, you would not recognize it, it's completely different. Yeah.Danny (11:29.758)
I gotcha. You had also.Yeah, yeah. Gotcha. That's probably that's probably a good thing. You had mentioned in your email that you are working on another feature length film and you're doing it all here in, did you say Morongo Valley? You were filming.
Matt Beurois | YVFF (11:52.711)
We filmed it already. It's called American Game. We filmed in Joshua Tree, Yake Valley, Morongo, 29 Palms, a little bit in Whitewater, down the grade, everywhere around.Danny (11:54.406)
Oh, okay, already done.Danny (12:04.43)
Oh great. Yeah, yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (12:10.575)
Mostly in private lands because we didn't want to ask for permits and all this kind of stuff. So what we did we Called some friends in the community and was the hey you have a big space You have a lot of acreage. Would you help us and let us access the land for like two days and same process then the barn we Called a bunch of friendsDanny (12:20.103)
Mm-hmm.Danny (12:27.934)
Sure, yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (12:34.235)
And we said, okay, this is what we have. This is the list of locations, what we could use. And then we said, how can we write a script that fits within these locations? But that was a real, it was an excitement to film a movie right here because the landscapes are amazing. And in the desert, you could film a drama, you could film science fiction, you could film, we did an action, a short action independent movie. You could do anywhere you,Danny (12:49.75)
Mm-mm. Yeah.Danny (12:58.778)
YeahMatt Beurois | YVFF (13:04.329)
you want in the desert. The way you're gonna film it, the way you're gonna write the script, you could turn it into anything and I love that about the desert. The same way we live here, the way you enjoy the desert, Danny, it may be very different than the way I enjoy the desert. It's not right or wrong, it's just we are two different people and I'm gonna see beauty here and you're gonna see beauty there and maybe I didn't notice and that's the desert. PeopleDanny (13:12.674)
Yeah.Danny (13:26.134)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (13:34.629)
a lot and when you take time and when you connect to it it's really a very magnificent place with a lot of layers and that movie shows one side of it. The movie American Game shows the oppressive heat of the Sun in the desert and we use the wide landscape to trap the characters inside.Danny (13:35.548)
Yeah.Danny (13:43.617)
Yep.Matt Beurois | YVFF (14:03.803)
In the desert, one thing I said to the cinematographer, most of the time I said, I want to see the mountains in the background, but I never wanna see the peaks of the mountains. I don't wanna see the sky. I want to create an impression like, they will never go over that mountain here. They are always trapped in the game, the American game, except in the end when they try to escape.Danny (14:14.326)
Oh, okay.Danny (14:19.01)
Yeah.I say.
Danny (14:27.414)
Awesome. It sounds great. Do you have kind of a rough idea of when that will be available for people to watch? Or next year, okay.Matt Beurois | YVFF (14:35.911)
Next year, next year. We have a first draft of the movie. We need to do some sound, special effects, sound design on it. We still need to mix the dialogues and all of that, but the movie is edited. It's a feature length film. It's pretty impressive what we managed to do with only a few people and literally no money to make that film. The dedication of the team,Danny (14:44.727)
Mm-hmm.Danny (15:02.476)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (15:06.655)
It was incredible. It was challenging. Again, 11 days to film a feature film in the heat of June in the Morongo Valley. That was not easy every day. But the...Danny (15:16.302)
HahahaMatt Beurois | YVFF (15:21.619)
The script made it possible and the dedication of the cinematographer, the sound guy, the actors, the performers, of course. And it was it was an amazing experience. Yeah, I'm really looking forward for the movie to be completed so we can release it next year.Danny (15:23.691)
Yeah.Danny (15:33.666)
Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great. I'll be looking forward to that. And we'll make sure to, you know, let me know as it's getting closer so we can help to do our small part to promote and maybe even have you back on the show too to talk a little bit more about it. So the film, the Yucca Valley Film Fest, how long has that been going on? Five years now. Okay.Matt Beurois | YVFF (15:40.107)
Thank you.Matt Beurois | YVFF (15:47.199)
Thank you. Okay, yeah, yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (15:53.802)
Yeah.Five years, we're gonna celebrate the fifth anniversary. So already we started in 2019, 2019 was the first edition and then COVID hit. So we...
Danny (16:09.885)
Mm-hmm.Matt Beurois | YVFF (16:12.659)
We discussed with the town, the recreation department and the town manager and the council members and we said we don't want to stop. If we stop that means the festival is going to die. If you stop for something that it's not going to come back up again. We are building a festival, we are building a brand. We need to continue. So we built two amazing digital editions duringDanny (16:38.942)
Okay.Matt Beurois | YVFF (16:42.627)
and we could feel the appetite from the filmmakers and the enthusiasm from the community to see the event coming back in person. We underestimated the amount of people who would come to the festival actually. We tripled the attendance compared to the first in-person year in 2019. So this year we are much more prepared. We have a process in place toDanny (16:47.453)
Oh yeah.Danny (16:54.177)
Yeah.Danny (16:59.03)
HahahaMatt Beurois | YVFF (17:12.861)
know what day the filmmakers are coming, what time they arrive, all of that to get them to make it more smooth and make it a great experience for the filmmakerswho are going to come into town for just a weekend. So for a weekend, imagine you made a movie last year and you're trying to get it into festivals. And the Yerke Valley Film Festival says, hey, we want you to come to town and show the film and do the picture signing and the red carpet and everything. Everything the big festivals do, we do in Yerke Valley. So it's a mix between an ambitious event,
and something that's really community-rooted with a lot of people from around here who come to the festival, watch the movies, ask questions to the filmmakers. So for a weekend, when you are a filmmaker, Ukeveri becomes the center of your world because
Even if you're not famous, you're going to be the star of the festival. You're going to show your film. You're going to sign autographs. You're going to walk on the red carpet every night. If you want, you're going to be interviewed on the podcast of the festival. You're going to meet many other filmmakers. So it's really something that what we do today with the UKVLFM festival as the result of 15 years, almost of experience in creating events and creating film festivals, I've been to many,
Danny (18:11.423)
Sure, sure.Danny (18:34.642)
Mm-hmm.Matt Beurois | YVFF (18:39.342)
and the bigger ones, the most prestigious ones are not necessarily the ones where you have the best experience because if you go to Tribeca it's amazing Sundance or South by Southwest it's amazing but you are as an independent filmmaker you are just gonna be a face in the crowd.Danny (18:51.446)
You know, like Sundance or something, yeah.Danny (19:02.11)
Yeah, yeah, small fish in the big pond, right?Matt Beurois | YVFF (19:05.243)
Absolutely. At the UKVLFM festival, you're going to be on stage multiple times. You're going to meet with the community, meet and greets, picture signing, photo booths, red carpet. You're going to talk with people who just watch your movie. You're going to have a feedback from the audience. You're going to meet other filmmakers and maybe you're going to make movies with them later. And all of that happened. I mean, we have multiple examples of filmmakers who came to the UKVLFM festival,Danny (19:15.839)
Mm-hmm.Matt Beurois | YVFF (19:35.237)
later on made movies together, producers, script writers, cinematographers, so that's a place the networking and the social impact in the community and in the filmmaking scene also is actually more important than what we expected to do in the beginning. So that's pretty, that's a very good feeling.Danny (19:38.743)
Sure, sure, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the networking must be amazing.Danny (19:56.702)
I-I-I-I had a few questions just kind of about the film festival and film festivals in general. So you know, obviously, again, like we mentioned, you know, Sundance or some of these big ones out there, you know, everybody is submitting to those kind of festivals in, you know, like something at the size of the Yucca Valley Film Festival. When you first get it going, is it a challenge to get submissions? Or are do you reach out to filmmakers and request a submission from anybody?
Matt Beurois | YVFF (20:13.044)
Yeah.Danny (20:28.656)
primarily, you know, is there just so many independent filmmakers out there that once they know there's a film fest that's like game on and you're going to get a ton of inquiries.Matt Beurois | YVFF (20:39.943)
It's not easy. It used 15 years ago, you could just put up a small event in a, literally in a cave, not a cave, a cellar in Paris, or an underground thing, and you would have 50 people showing up. Today, you have to, you have to give them something.Danny (20:41.543)
Okay.Danny (20:50.551)
Ha ha!Danny (21:06.786)
Gotcha. Okay.Matt Beurois | YVFF (21:07.375)
So the filmmakers, when they come to the Jokovare Film Festival, they know they're going to have the screening, they know they're going to have the Q&A's, the discussion afterwards. We have round tables, panels, we have a master class, we have meet and greets with the community, we have the red carpet, we have many things. Literally, I sent an email this afternoon to one of the filmmakers who's going to come to the festival and I sent herDanny (21:24.866)
Mm-hmm.Matt Beurois | YVFF (21:38.009)
detailed schedule almost minute by minute 15 minutes by 15 minutes and I told her at 6 p.m. you're gonna be doing this 6 15 you're gonna be on the podcast 6 40 you're gonna be on the red carpet 6 55 you're gonna be doing this and then we have the art opening and then screening starts at 7 so they need to show up on time because if they don't they're gonna miss out on something soDanny (21:50.849)
Right, right.Danny (22:02.143)
Right? Yeah, the whole thing's... Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (22:07.289)
It became kind of a big enterprise, but when we started the Yokel Valley Film Festival, to answer your question, we already had a huge network of filmmakers that we were working with and involved with. So we do accept submissions, but my job for 10 months before the festival is to go online and to go to other film festivals in different states, mostly New York, Arizona, Utah, California.Danny (22:16.373)
Okay.Danny (22:31.572)
Mmm, okay.Danny (22:37.367)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (22:37.569)
and to watch a lot of movies and to say oh this one is interesting oh this one it was filmed in Joshua Tree I should get in touch this one oh that's a sci-fi movie I've never seen something like that let's try to get this movie so the Yikavadifim festival really yes it's really yesDanny (22:45.94)
Okay.Danny (22:51.694)
Gotcha, so you're kind of curating, you know Films that you would like to have at this film festival to create that experience. GotchaMatt Beurois | YVFF (23:02.415)
Absolutely. If there is a connection to our Mojave desert, I'm going to be interested. But the film has to be good. We also get movies that are romantic comedies, filmed in a cafe in LA or Chicago, and the movie is so good and the performances are so good that we take the movie anyway. But it's really a mix between submissions,Danny (23:07.848)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (23:26.271)
that we receive and the outreach we do 10 months a year to get the best movies on The Secret to get them to come to Yorke Valley.Danny (23:35.806)
I see. Okay. Gotcha. Interesting. So, and give us the date of the event this year.Matt Beurois | YVFF (23:43.731)
The Y'Kabal de Film Festival is going to be November 10, 11 and 12. So Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 of November. And you have a...Danny (23:55.114)
And so what's the experience like then for just me as a film lover? How does it work? Do I purchase a ticket that works for the whole weekend? What do I get to do and see and all that good stuff?Matt Beurois | YVFF (24:11.219)
The Yekebade Film Festival is 100% sponsored by the Town of Yeke Valley. It is admission free. So you don't have to buy a ticket, just show up. And the first thing I tell everyone is, when you're going to arrive this year, you're going to have a tent outside, you're going to get the program, if you're a filmmaker you're going to get a badge, we're going to give you all the information, and then, first thing you do, you're going to walk the red carpet.Danny (24:17.223)
Okay. Oh.Danny (24:40.344)
Cool.Matt Beurois | YVFF (24:42.113)
on Friday and Sunday and everybody is welcome. We want everybody in the community, the kids, the dogs, everyone, the families. We want fun pictures and all the pictures we do every day the next day they are on Facebook. So you can take your own pictures out of Facebook very easy. Everything is free. Then you walk in the main room, the community center, the Yucca room, the big room.Danny (25:00.29)
Cool. Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (25:12.233)
and there is complimentary popcorn for everyone. It's free seating, we have an art exhibit during the three days, we have music playing. This year we're gonna have a podcast for the filmmakers inside the room. We have a photo booth also so if you want to take more pictures and not being under the slight light fun pressure of the red carpet. We also have a photo booth inside that's very cuteDanny (25:30.835)
Mm-hmm.Danny (25:36.866)
HeheheheMatt Beurois | YVFF (25:41.013)
Yucca Valley staff does an amazing job as decorating the full house.Danny (25:42.281)
Yeah.Danny (25:46.042)
it sounds like, I mean, a really fun event for just, you know, the local community and to be able to kind of experience, you know, a red carpet and just kind of the whole, you know, shebang, the whole experience of a film fest that they're not going to get to go do it at Sundance or Tribeca, you know, but they can get to experience that on a smaller level. And I, you know, would imagine it could also be really inspirational for, you know, younger adults and teenagers or whatnot.Matt Beurois | YVFF (25:50.643)
It is. Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (26:03.659)
True.Danny (26:13.266)
who may really get inspired to go into filmmaking. And I've just always been such a film fanatic. I've talked about it before on the podcast and I hate repeating myself, but who knows? Maybe this is the first episode somebody listened to. But...Matt Beurois | YVFF (26:17.684)
Yes.Matt Beurois | YVFF (26:29.515)
Ha ha ha.Danny (26:30.218)
You know, I was lucky enough to go to a high school in Chicago that did a class called Cinema Study that I've rarely ever heard of any other high schools ever having anything like that. You got two teachers. It was a gigantic class. You had to be on you had to get on a waitlist like two years beforehand to get in the class. And it just from that class on.Matt Beurois | YVFF (26:34.581)
Yeah.Danny (26:54.03)
I have just been a lover of film and I often wish that I had gone into film instead of my music career. I know there's a lot of actors all have bands and they seem to want to be rock stars and a lot of rock stars, not that I'm a rock star, I'm a mid-level drummer in a punk rock band, but a lot of us are like, oh, I should get into some acting and getting into filmmaking and stuff.Matt Beurois | YVFF (27:07.145)
It's.It seems absolutely.
Matt Beurois | YVFF (27:21.147)
Yeah, a lot of actors want to be rock stars and a lot of rock stars want to be actors. That's what it is. But you're absolutely right. Absolutely. The learning experience.Danny (27:27.992)
Yeah. The grass always looks greener, I guess.Matt Beurois | YVFF (27:34.843)
about filmmaking, learning how do people write a script, how do you film that scene, how do you do that stunt, how was it to direct the actors, all of that. Any screening, any event during the festival, at some point we take questions from the audience and we do have a lotDanny (27:56.226)
Gotcha.Danny (28:00.018)
Yeah, that's great.Matt Beurois | YVFF (28:05.297)
implication and the involvement of the community. We have a community of people who love movies really and all the questions we get are always specific, smart, sharp and interesting and this is really it works both ways. The residents who come to the festival are gonna learn about scriptwriting, music composing forMatt Beurois | YVFF (28:35.117)
You're going to learn from the filmmakers on the making of the films, but the filmmakers also Come to town and we created we use the film festival as a platform So they learn about our community this year. They are going to meet with the wrestling team from the high school They're going to meet with the martial arts club we have in Ikebari American Adjiuji Suu Collective and Yeah, and on Sunday they are going to meet with Miss IkebariDanny (28:59.004)
Yeah, Americana. Uh huh.Matt Beurois | YVFF (29:04.757)
scholarship so it's ready for them it's also an opportunity to see oh Yerkevare is a small town I've never been and then they realize howDanny (29:07.106)
Very cool.Matt Beurois | YVFF (29:17.407)
cool we are, the many things that happen in the community and we would love them to come back and maybe film some of their next scenes in our area. So it's really, it works both ways and that's again, that's very unique for the UKVFM festival because people show up and they want they want that experience and that dialogue.Danny (29:19.092)
Yeah.Danny (29:44.018)
Yeah, I, you know, it keeps kind of revealing itself to me more and more. It wasn't something that I thought about when I moved out here. You know, for me, it was like, I like the outdoors. I like to, you know, I'm going on my motorcycle, stuff like that all the time. Uh, but now as I'm here, like I am blown away with the amount of creative people. Like the art scene, it's like art film, like it's off the.Matt Beurois | YVFF (29:57.183)
Same, same, same.Matt Beurois | YVFF (30:07.251)
Definitely.Danny (30:11.202)
I mean, there's so many people from all these different backgrounds. And, you know, I guess we are slightly, you know, it's an advantage for what seems like smaller communities out here. But because of the proximity to Los Angeles, you know, there is a lot of, you know, I met some artists and stuff this weekend during the Highway 62 art tours, you know, that are, you know,Matt Beurois | YVFF (30:29.707)
to LA.Danny (30:40.716)
worked on big projects and big films and you know but we're close enough that you know at some point they're like I want to live in maybe a smaller community but I can still work in the industry if I want to and so it's a little bit different than a smaller community that's you know not near an epicenter for music and art and music and things like that so it's just likeMatt Beurois | YVFF (30:44.121)
Yep, yep.Matt Beurois | YVFF (30:51.071)
Yeah.Danny (31:02.946)
It's like you go around a corner and all of a sudden you're like, Oh my God, look at this place and look at this, but this guy's doing, this is incredible. And it's a really exciting element of the area out here. It's in really just a vibrant scene. It's, it's really cool.Matt Beurois | YVFF (31:11.84)
You're right.Matt Beurois | YVFF (31:18.883)
It is a vibrant scene. I think we have exceptional artists around here We're gonna have once again this year at the festival many local artists competing for music videos for short films for Photography it's Every year we have more and more and I'm always amazed by the creativity of artists musiciansDanny (31:31.389)
Mm-hmm.Matt Beurois | YVFF (31:49.057)
the mindset of people coming here? I don't know. Maybe it's because of the vortexes, because it's always been historically a place where you could be free. I think it's all connected and we all want to enjoy that and that's also a reason why we don't want the Yekavalefum festival not to become too big. It has to, I really believe, we have room to grow.Danny (32:01.832)
Yeah.Danny (32:12.647)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (32:18.735)
I understand that and I want that, but it's also a community film festival.Danny (32:18.978)
Sure.Matt Beurois | YVFF (32:24.451)
So I think to keep that and to keep a close relationship with the small businesses, with the artists, we need to keep that direct interaction between a filmmaker from LA, a photographer from, I don't know, Portland, and the local artist from Joshua Tree, the guy who does pottery in Pioneer Town. We all gather in the same place for three days,Danny (32:46.69)
Mm-hmm.Matt Beurois | YVFF (32:54.345)
festival has to be a platform for that. So when it becomes too big you can lose that and I really wanted the recipe of the Yikavere Film Festival to continue being, to continue serving the community. That's really the goal we have in making it.Danny (32:56.694)
Yeah.Danny (33:13.062)
Yeah. Well, I got to tell you, Matt, it sounds I'm like, excited and I'm jacked up to like come to the film festival. I'm really looking forward to it now. And I think it's just, you know, it sounds like an amazing event. Where is the best place for people to get more information about the film fest?Matt Beurois | YVFF (33:24.799)
Thank you.Matt Beurois | YVFF (33:34.283)
www.yukavadefilmfestival.comDanny (33:37.579)
Okay.Matt Beurois | YVFF (33:37.867)
website, www.yekevadefilmfestival.com. The program is going to be announced officially November 1st maybe a little bit before, maybe a little bit after, it depends. But we have a pretty good idea already of the program. We know we have secured more than 45 filmmakers and artists to comeMatt Beurois | YVFF (34:07.921)
They are going to be coming with a cinematographer and the producer and a friend and the actress and the actor and the family members so it could easily turn into more than a hundred people Just artists flocking into town to attend the festival for three days So we know already it's going to be exciting and successful and we know that Whenever you attend Friday Saturday Sunday, you're gonna meet exceptional artists and you're gonna have qualityDanny (34:08.887)
Yeah.Danny (34:23.732)
Yeah.Matt Beurois | YVFF (34:37.841)
time to talk with them and learn about filmmaking and of course watch great movies that's what it is at the end of the day the movies there's no movie we're gonna show this year that's not good every single movie is good has something to offer and a lot of them have been filmed around here so it's always likeDanny (34:44.535)
Yeah.Danny (34:51.782)
Yeah, awesome.Matt Beurois | YVFF (35:01.595)
Amazing to see how filmmakers from the outside use our use the outdoors we live in every day and how they see that and how they put it into film We have westerns comedies science-fiction dramas We have it all and we have the kids program on Saturday animated films for the kidsDanny (35:06.538)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.Danny (35:26.942)
Oh cool, wonderful. Sounds great. I will make sure for the listeners, I'll put the show notes and, or in the show notes, I'll make sure to put the website address so you guys can find that stuff easily. And Matt, merci beaucoup.Matt Beurois | YVFF (35:40.395)
Appreciate it.Matt Beurois | YVFF (35:44.331)
Merci beaucoup and I hope to see you, Danny, at the festival and all the listeners. It's free admission, compliments to the Turner Yucca Valley. They really want the festival to be a place for the community to enjoy and have a good time. So it's all free, popcorn included. So just join. Thank you.Danny (36:00.462)
That's amazing. I will be there. -
In this episode i went to visit Seth Zaharias at his house , " Sethspool" out in Joshua Tree California. Seth runs Cliffhanger Guide services along with his wife, Sabra. What started out as 10k and a dream has turned into the largest climbing guide service in what as known as one of the worlds top rock climbing destinations. Along with running the guide service, Seth promotes emersive events in the Morongo Basin area. He is an old school Joshua Tree OG having moved here 24 years ago. He has a great take on the exponential growth that the area has seen as well as the health of the tourism market.
VIDEO VERSION of this episode is available on youtube HERE
Visit Cliffhanger Guide Services HERE
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Luke Basulto is all things desert. In this episode we talk about his journey to working in the desert conservation world, the meeting of conservation and development and, his work with the Saving Slowpoke Project.
Luke's Instagram
Saving Slowpoke Project
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In This episode we talk to Patrick Zuchowiki, founder of the inagural 20 Palms Book Festival
Website to the 29 Palms Book Festival HERE
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Blake Hadges has taken his skill as a filmaker and advertising exec and turned it into a super cool card game called Invasion and his wild Heart Ranch, imersive short term rental, might be the coolest air b&b you could ever stay at. He's got some other cool things up his sleeve comong to 20 palms soon.
Blake Instagram Here
Wild Heart Ranch HERE
Website for Wild Heart Ranch HERE
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In this episode I sit down with Chris Waldhause fron The Cascade Trails Mustang Sanctuary in Joshua Tree. Chris tells his story from growing up on a Ute reservation in Colorado, to doing security in Hollywood, to eventually bringing his dream to life and opening a mustang sanctuary.
Dontae to The Mustang Sactuary Here
Instagram for Cascade Trails HERE
Instagram for Chris HERE
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Odelia Rubin is a Joshua Tree based podcast producer who is currently working on the podcast series, " Betrayal On The Bayou", The true story of DEA Agent gone bad, Chad Scott.
Betrayal On The Bayou is part of the " Smoke Screen" series and is presented by Sony Music. You can find Betrayal On The Bayou on your favorite podcast apps and platforms.
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In this episode I sit down to chat with documentary film maker, Casey Kiernan. We discuss his new film " I Thought They Were Protected" which highlights the struggle to protect the Joshua Tree.
Instagram HERE
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In this episode we chat with Stephen Przybyloski from White Label Vinyl. WLB is super rad record and denim store in downtown twentynine palms.
73517 29 Palms Highway 29 Palms CA 92277
Thursday - Monday 11:00 AM - 6:00 PMWhite Label Instagram HERE
White Label Vinyl Website HERE
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Originally from Queens, NY, Mike started acting in New York and continued to pursue his career in Los Angelas. A battle with cancer derailed him for some time and then covid hit as he was having a secnd string of successes. HEar how his move to the desert inpsired hin to write and direct his film " Astral Plane Drifter"
Go to Astral PLane Drifter webiste here
Mikes Instagram here
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In this episode I sit and chat with Yucca Valley based artist, Gubby Beck. She works in multiple mediums but her passion lies in metal and welding.
https://www.instagram.com/GubbyBeck/
Here new gallery is called " Open Vault Studios"
https://www.instagram.com/open.vault.studios/
https://www.gubbybeck.com/
This epsideo was brought to you by The Music FActory School Of Music
https://www.theguitarfactoryoc.com/
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The Lady Chilane is th host of Drag Bingo at the Out There Bar in Twentynine Palms as well as a drag and cabaret performer all around the Hi-dez.
Drag Bingo at The out There Bar is first and third Thursdays of the month
https://www.instagram.com/theladychilane/
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In this inspiring episode, Rachael Buettell from Black Luck Vitage And Vinyl is gonna tell us how she escaped a cult and eventually opened one of the coolest vintage stores to be found anywhere.
49950 29 Palms Highway ( Highway 62) Morongo Valley , California
Black Luck Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/blackluckvintage/
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Welcome to The Highway 62 Podcast.
" Good food, Rad Beer and Desert Vibes.. That's the motto at Grnd Sqrl Gastropub in Twentynine Palms and on our very first episode, we're gonna hear from owner, Mike Usher.
Vist Grnd Sqrl at
73471 Twentynine Palms Highway , Twentynine Palms California
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/grnd.sqrl/
