To ring in the new year, the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum presents “Making West of the West,” a lecture presented by Brent Sumner and Peter Seaman, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.
Sumner and Seaman will talk about their three year journey in making the film West of the West: Tales from California’s Channel Islands to bring the human history of the islands to the screen.
The filmmakers will discuss the inspiration for the documentary, the creative challenges they faced during production and show some of the finished product for the first time.
Seaman has numerous credits from a career spent in the motion picture business. Among his writing credits are Doc Hollywood, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Shrek the Third, and multiple Academy Award-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
In 2008, Seaman produced the documentary Citizen McCaw about the upheaval at a Santa Barbara newspaper with, among others, West of the West Producer Sam Tyler and Director and Editor Brent Sumner.
A transplanted Chicagoan, Seaman has lived in Carpinteria for 25 years, where he has the privilege of looking out at the Channel Islands every day.
He is a graduate of Harvard University and a member of the WGA, the DGA and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
He serves as a mentor for young filmmakers at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
After a diving accident out at the Channel Islands, Sumner became inspired to document the people, danger, beauty and tales that the islands have to share.
Educated at Brooks Institute of Photography, Brent started as an editor in the reality and documentary realm. His early credits include ABC’s The Bachelor and WB’s The Living Edge.
He also worked on Autograph, a documentary series which took him around the world to interview stars such as Ben Kingsley, Janet Leigh and Michael Caine.
Sumner received a gold medal at the International Film Awards for both cinematography and editing of a documentary featuring Robert Duvall.
Highlights of his career were shooting and editing a PBS documentary entitled Above Yellowstone, the first ever aerial tour of Yellowstone. He also shot and edited Above Santa Barbara and Citizen McCaw, a documentary about the future of journalism.
A members-only reception with the filmmakers will precede “Making of West of the West” from 6:15 – 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. The lecture will begin promptly after at 7 p.m.
The cost is free for museum members and $10 for general admission.
To Register, visit www.sbmm.org or call 805.962.8404 x115.
The Maritime Museum’s lecture series is sponsored by Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, John C. Woodward and Silvio Di Loreto with additional support from D’Angelo’s Bakery and Jordano’s.
— Dennis Schuett is the marketing coordinator for the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.