Writers, filmmakers, and photographers are coming together on the Central Coast to showcase the most intriguing things you may not know about local treasures. They tilt their lenses toward community, conservation, and extraordinary hidden experiences right here in our own backyard.

Nash Moreno, armed with a vision and a camera, started assembling a team in April of this year to bring attention to interesting locales. Moreno said, “I think part of the appeal is that we are all still learning, and we each bring a different skill set to the table. This gives us a lot of leeway to stray from convention.”

Their first release “Pacific Gold” is an 11 minute ride into the nuances of aquaculture. They find themselves on boats in Morro Bay, chronicling the day to day life, struggles, and triumphs of the Morro Bay Oyster Company. Film rolls and lenses shutter as they learn about the sustainable practices of oyster farming, the role it plays in the Morro Bay Estuary, and just how rough and beautiful a life on a floating office in the bay can be. 

​In those 11 minutes, you get a good look at the life of what oyster farmers go through in Morro Bay. It's not glamorous, but that's okay with them! When you do what you love, you never work a day in your life. This film is beautifully shot and put together in a way that really gives a great sense of the people and culture in a corner of the Central Coast!  

​Watch the video here!

Announced earlier this morning on the Ghostbusters' social media, a selfie video made by Paul Rudd shows that he's so excited to be a part of Jason Reitman's new Ghostbuster film, that he has... and currently is... sliming himself. 

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Rudd will "play a small town teacher in the film." He joins actress Carrie Coon, who will portray a single mother with her family played by Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace. Production is scheduled to begin this fall.

Jason Reitman's father, Ivan Reitman, created the original 1984 Ghostbusters, will be on hand to produce this film. The 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters, with an all female led cast, will not be a part of this film's universe. None of the original cast has confirmed their involvement in the new film, but some have hinted heavily on returning. Unfortunately, one of the original main stars, Harold Ramis, who played Egon Spengler, passed away in 2014. 

The new Ghostbusters is expected to hit theaters on July 10, 2020. 

What do you think about Paul Rudd joining the new Ghostbusters movie? Check out the hillarious announcement below. 

Disney and Pixar made history in 1994 with their hit film, Toy Story. It was hailed as a milestone in cinematic achievement. Essentially a "Snow White" of it's day, where this entire feature length film was made with 1's and 0's in a computer. Computer generated imagery (CGI) had been in use before, including wowing audiences just a year earlier in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, but this was an entire film. Today's world looks at CGI as just another tool, and perhaps even crutch to productions that say on set, "that's okay, we'll fix it in post!" But that is also because animation and CGI has just become so seamless, in some movies we will never know the touch of a digital brush. It's arguable that Pixar has always been on the forefront of the quality of animation, but more importantly: storytelling. 

The opening sequence of the new Pixar Film Toy Story 4 begins "9 years ago," when all of our favorite toys were still marked with "Andy" on their feet taking us back in the timeline to when we first met everyone in 1994. Yet, instead of trying to emulate the same animation style we saw in 1994, Pixar made parts of Toy Story 4 look so amazingly, it's hard to imagine everything we saw was digital. For example, remember Sid's dog chasing Buzz and Woody? There is a cat in this film that plays a similar role, but if you put a picture of the two animals side-by-side, you'll see in a flash what I'm talking about. 

Even if you don't know who Woody or Buzz are, or if you don't care about the story and haven't seen the other films; go and see this movie simply for the brilliant work of the thousands of artists working long hours in the dark to make this beautiful to watch. There's even a moment in the movie where the characters stop to admire the view, and we're thankful too!

If you have been on the journey with Buzz, Woody and the gang, will you like this movie? Of course! Will it tug at your heartstrings? Well, let's be honest, this is a Pixar movie, so expect tears to be streaming down your cheek 5 minutes into it. But where else could these characters go? How do they grow after four movies? And I think this movie's ending seemed appropriate for that. I don't think it's going to please every fan, but for me, it was okay. Pixar took a risk with characters that are synonymous with their brand essence, but would we want any less to come from Pixar at this point? 

I cannot finish this review without talking about the highlight of the film. Perhaps a genius Disney/Pixar marketing ploy, but the one who stole the show was a piece of trash, and we couldn't love him more. Forky is a new character, a toy made from a spork, some pipe cleaner and googly eyes. His purpose is to usher in our main character's new found purpose, but through a lovable plastic piece of trash. 

In the end, come for the amazing artistry, stay for the fun and familiar friends, and leave with a warm heart. 

4.5/5 Stars. 

To quote HBO, "If you can't wait to get back to Monterey, you're in good company."

The hit HBO show, Big Little Lies,  premiered it's second season last night. The show is based on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling book, which is a dark comedy series about three mothers whose seemingly perfect lives, in Monterey California, unravel to the point of murder. The star-studded cast, which includes Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Zoë Kravitz has a new star joining the line up and came out with huge fanfare. 

Meryl Streep was "a scream," according to a CNN review of the episode and said the "premiere showcases Meryl Streep at her best" while Collider.com says the "Meryl Streep is sublime in another addictive season." Rotten Tomatoes is giving the season, as of now, a 99% fresh, saying that it is "Gorgeous and gripping, Big Little Lies's second season doubles down on the dark humor and gives its impressive cast even more juicy drama to chew on -- especially an excellent Meryl Streep."

Did you catch the premiere? Tell us what you think.

Be sure to catch the show on Sunday nights on HBO!

Today marks a milestone for the Central Coast Film Society. It is the one year anniversary of our bylaws adoption and the official formation of our Board of Directors. These individuals have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help craft and shape this organization. Steering this organization on the mission as stated below: ​

One thing you may have noticed in the "by doing so" section, there is something listed as the "Central Coast Film Festival." Even a year ago, official discussions were held about this event and now, we are ready to share the dates and location! Drum roll...

So now we've got a little more than a year to go until the biggest event yet!!

​We are all beyond thrilled to begin the task of putting on a full fledged film festival, and as we've been preparing for the past year, we still know what a daunting task we have before the curtain rises on the inaugural Central Coast Film Festival in 2020. We are also beyond excited about the slate of CCFS Events that will be coming out before we even get to the Central Coast Film Festival. Many of those details will be coming soon!

Many of the festival's details, rules and call for entries will be revealed later this summer. But of course, it will be a place for filmmakers (local, professional and students) to come together and celebrate cinema together! 

Your support is absolutely what is helping us get to this point. In less than a year on Facebook, we are now at more than 1,300 followers. We have also held 5 screenings, two Q&As, mentorships and an Oscar party! All of the memberships, ticket prices and donations help us in so many ways. So please continue to give to help our dream reach so many more! Donating is easy and can be done by clicking at the bottom of this page, or on Facebook. Or even consider purchasing a membership or becoming a company sponsor! 

We all can get behind celebrating cinema. 

Once you let the genie out of the bottle, it's hard to get the magic back in... and the genie first got out of that bottle in 1992 with the animated classic. Let's be honest, Will Smith following the act of Robin Williams is difficult, to say the least. In the 2019 live-action version of Aladdin, the movie saw some upgrades, which may also be its downfall. 

At times the movie seems to follow beat for beat the original material, but the tempo changes quickly (sometimes literally speeding up the film rate to get through slow action). There was new songs and dance numbers introduced into the movie that we have not seen before (which nearly all has Jasmine involved). It's hard to swallow them because they don't seem to flow with the original songs. Basically, if you're comparing this to the original material, prepare for disappointment. That original magic is long gone and was used up for the past 28 years in the movie, sequels and all the use in Disney Parks. That being said...

If you go into this movie with totally and complete open minds (or if you have never seen the cartoon, or any variation of the original source), you might find yourself tapping your toes along with the music and enjoying the sheer spectacle that movies can't do these days because they are just laughable at times, but this movie pulls it off. Be assured, without getting into spoilers, this movie actually is much more child friendly than the original movie. 

All in all, you'll still have a good time. The original movie is a hard act to follow, but Disney attempted to "freshen" this version up to play better to a new generation. The biggest change that Disney should have done to make the film better, would be a title change from Aladdin to Jasmine. In this film, she is really the main character and Aladdin seems far more forgettable. Maybe you should stick with the animated classic.

3/5 Stars.

Platinum Peek's new documentary film, Dirty Toes, was released online recently and has been receiving a great response.  The film is made by a Cal Poly student and his brother and focuses on a local resident with Cerebral Palsy. Erikson Dickens said in an interview with KSBY that he and his brother decided to make the documentary because they like telling stories about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Their goal is to encourage people to go after what they want and live a full life.

Dickens said he and Cameron Sluggett met at age 14 and became friends. Dickens said Sluggett has never let his disability stop him from following his dreams.

Sluggett said he has never let his disability define his life.

“I’m honored to have a story be told about me,” Sluggett said. “I didn’t realize it was so different. It just seems like it’s my life.”

By age 24, Sluggett grew 5 businesses and traveled to Tahoe, Maui and Nicaragua.
The film is called “Dirty Toes” and you can watch it at cameronsluggett.com, or watch it below!

Straight from the Rumor Mill! Which means: none of the following is official or has been confirmed.

Local Central Coast star, Zac Efron, is rumored to be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)'s "Phase 4" as Adam Warlock. The Marvel character was teased heavily to be joining the other comic book characters on screen in Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2 during the end credit scene. And "Guardian's of the Galaxy 3" is currently being developed with James Gunn returning at the helm. Of course, the third film was set up perfectly to continue after the events of Avengers: Endgame. 

So as the production begins to ramp up,  the rumors begin to swirl. BossLogic on twitter has done some fan art to see what it may look like with Zac as Adam, and it looks amazing!!

Would you like to see Zac Efron join the ranks of the Avengers?

We vote: Yes!

Everyone here at the Central Coast Film Society is shocked this morning by the news of the Hollywood and Central Coast icon's passing. We had only yesterday posted on our social media about Doris Day and her work in Hollywood, plus her hotel, the Cypress Inn located in Carmel, California.

Doris Day celebrated her 97th birthday on April 3rd by having more than 300 people come to her Carmel Valley home. But according to the Doris Day Animal Foundation, she "had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death.  She was surrounded by a few close friends as she passed."

The Doris Day Animal Foundation is committed to continuing its work as a grant-giving organization, funding smaller animal welfare non-profits across the country. Doris’ wishes were that she have no funeral or memorial service and no grave marker.  Friends and fans wishing to remember Doris Day, are encouraged to visit www.dorisdayanimalfoundation.org.

There are few characters in cinematic history that you could identify from a lineup of silhouettes. In the Star Wars films, the mighty Chewbacca is instantly recognizable. 

It was announced today that Peter Mayhew, the actor responsible for bringing this character to life, passed away on April 30th at his home in Northern Texas, surrounded by his family. He was 74 years old. Peter had a recent surgery to help with mobility issues, something that forced him to retire playing the iconic character after appearing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Standing at a commanding height of 7' 2", he openly and continually embraced the fandom of the beloved character that he breathed life into when Star Wars: A New Hope premiered in 1977.