Photos by Bob Dickey, wineguydotcom@yahoo.com
(story published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 8/14/14)
High-profile events celebrating the 10th anniversary of Sideways are already underway throughout Santa Barbara County. Earlier this month, for example, it brought out director Alexander Payne and actor Paul Giamatti for a weekend among the vines in Los Alamos, located about an hour north of downtown Santa Barbara. And there’s more to come, especially when Fox Searchlight, the studio that produced the film, re-releases it in a commemorative Blu-Ray DVD this fall.
Alexander Payne at the Sideways Reunion Dinner, August 2, 2014 |
I met Payne at one of those Los Alamos events – a lavish
dinner at winemaker Jim Clendenen’s rambling ranch in Los Alamos. Co-hosted by winemaker and Hitching Post II
restaurateur Frank Ostini, it helped raise $100,000 for Direct Relief, the
Goleta-based medical services non-profit that benefits thousands of needy
patients each year, both at home and around the world. A few days later, I reconnected with the Los
Angeles-based director to get his take on the film’s reverberating influence --
and to ask him, once and for all, if a Sideways
2 is really in the works.
Me: Are you
impressed that Sideways continues to
create buzz?
Bob Dickey's original Sideways Map shows Jack's and Miles' many stops |
Me: You must
notice changes now when you head to Santa Barbara wine country.
Foxen Winery's Dick and Jenny Dore |
Me: Do you agree
that Sideways helped shape the
public’s perception of Santa Barbara wines?
AP: Oh, yes. But it also made people more aware of wine in
general – of drinking wine and how to begin to think about it. For me, personally -- I already liked wine,
but the film educated me about farmers and winemakers. Not just tasting, but becoming hip to the
whole picture. For the public, the film made
wine more accessible at the same time that home-brewed beers and craft beers were
increasing in popularity, too. It helped
the wine industry stay apace. And Santa Barbara
wasn’t the only one to benefit; I got an inquiry from the Napa Film Festival to
have a 10-year Sideways commemoration
up there. So it has been good for wine
in general.
Me: Would Sideways have worked as well if it
hadn’t been set in Santa Barbara County?
AP: Well, Rex Pickett’s book was about two guys who go to Santa Barbara because of its proximity to L.A.; you can get there in under two hours. But there is something more endearing about the fact it was a little-known wine region and Miles could feel as though he owned it. It made it intimate. Even with explosion of wine in Santa Barbara, one still feels an intimate relationship with those winemakers and wineries in a way that would not be possible in a place like Napa, where everyone’s got these vast aspirations. In that sense, Santa Barbara is more akin to Sonoma, where people who make wine are more accessible.
Me: So when will
you be working on Sideways 2?
AP: Never. Rex wrote a second book, Vertical, which I really enjoyed.
But if there’s ever a movie made about it, it won’t be with me
involved. I’ve moved on.
Me: You know, Rex
is working on a third book about Miles, based in Chile, where he recently spent
several months doing research.
AP: Oh, really? Well, then change my answer from “Never” to, “But never say never.”
Gray Hartley (of Hartley-Ostini Wines), actor Paul Giamatti, The Hitching Post II's Frank Ostini and Alexander Payne |
For upcoming events commemorating
Sideways’ 10th anniversary, check out social media: #Sideways10.
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Great piece. Linked it on my blog. Everyone loved it. Hope you got a couple extra hits off it!
ReplyDeleteif only i could find a job in that glorious area
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