ons stival . - California Film Institute

the MusiC never stopped
Music at the Festival, then and now
By Joshua Moore
On the eve of the 30 th anniversary of the
Mill Valley Film Festival, co-founder and
executive director Mark Fishkin and cofounder
rita Cahill sat down with longtime
Festival collaborators and music producers
Clare Wasserman and Stephanie Clarke,
to reminisce and discuss the highlights of
Festival musical events over the years. “So,
a trip down memory lane here,” rita begins,
eliciting gentle laughter as everyone settles in.
“yeah, that’s the problem!” Mark quickly
replies, “I can’t remember what the first
music show we ever did was.” More laughter,
as they put their heads together and agree
that that first event featured the great blues
guitar legend Mike bloomfield, best known
for his guitar work with bob dylan on the
classic album Highway 61 revisited. “yeah,
you know, that was the first event we did
together, rita, the bloomfield event. Oh, I had
forgotten about that!” Clare recalls.
Once upon a time, Mark Fishkin ran the
Saturday Night Movie, a crowd-pleasing
event created to showcase independent and
foreign cinema to audiences in Mill Valley.
From this successful venture he went on
to launch the Mill Valley Film Festival. Mike
bloomfield used to go to the Saturday Night
Movie and perform for everyone, and he
and Mark developed a friendship. When,
a few years later, there was a film about
bloomfield’s life, it was a natural to have
a bloomfield music event at the Mill Valley
Film Festival. “We had a movie that Marty
balin produced about Mike bloomfield,
and we decided to also present live music
that would support the essence of the film,”
Clare describes.
The bloomfield show started an annual
tradition of music at the Festival, with events
ranging from the cozy club scene to one
of the Festival’s largest, most memorable
events, in 1984: a tribute to legendary bay
Area music promoter and rock ’n’ roll Hall
of Fame member, bill Graham. Clare recalls
pitching the idea to bill: “We wanted to do
something with him, and bill lived in Mill
Valley, so we went in and had a meeting with
him, and he basically said, ‘you’re crazy, and
no one likes me and why would you want to
do a tribute, they’re all going to throw things,
and I don’t want to do it’; and we talked him
into it basically.”
MICHelle SHOCked, TOdd ruNdGreN, HAl WIllNer, MArIANNe FAITHFull, dON NOVellO (AS FATHer GuIdO SArduCCI)
online | mvff.com
Feature
It was this can-do attitude that Stephanie
remembers as the essential element in
producing great music events for the
Festival. “We started coming up with all
these crazy but wonderful ideas for shows
that sounded impossible, and I think a lot
of what the Festival became known for was
achieving the impossible.” The bill Graham
Tribute was held at the Marin Center and
emceed by actors Howard Hesseman and
saturday night Live regular don Novello
(aka Father Guido Sarducci), with support
from robin Williams, and featured live
performances by a who’s who of musicians,
including Graham’s personal favorites Jerry
Garcia, Carlos Santana and Tito Puente.
A video made prior to the event included
Mick Jagger and keith richards, elton John,
eric Clapton and the Grateful dead among
others, all saluting Graham.
In 1986, the Festival presented another
monumental event: Music in the Movies,
a celebration of music in film, held at the
Warfield Theater in San Francisco and
produced in partnership with bill Graham
Presents and with support from bMI and
ASCAP in los Angeles. The Tribute honored
17 master film composers in attendance,
including Alan and Marilyn bergman (who
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