A Community Journey with Friends and Wheels

If you are scouting out an advocate of independent film with a background in engineering and a passion for storytelling, then you have found your match in Pacific Palisades resident Bob Sharka.

Located on Charm Acres Place Street, Friends of Film is a nonprofit organization Sharka founded approximately eight years ago to promote significant narrative and documentary works, both long and short form. 

In its current fifth year, the organization is presenting the eighth-annual Pacific Palisades Film Festival May 12 to May 14 in addition to monthly screenings, equipment assistance and if that wasn’t enough, a foreign film Oscar qualification.

This year’s VIP cocktail and screening party on May 13 in a private residence honors multi-hyphenate and Palisades resident Jonathan Lynn, presenting him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for works such as The Whole Nine Yards (2000), My Cousin Vinny (1992), and television movies such as Life After Life (1990) about a 70-year-old ousted into a retirement home.

However, Boston-native and Northeast University graduate Sharka emphasizes, above all else, that the short documentary that will be screened at the party will be With My Own Two Wheels, directed by brothers Jacob Seigel-Boettner and Isaac Seigel-Boettner.

The story dives head first into the lives of five individuals living in five different countries – Zambia, India, Ghana, Guatemala and United States, namely in California. The film focuses on their unique usage of the bicycle— ranging from a doctor’s mode of transportation enabling care for patients in remote locations, an access to education, a way to combat stereotypes of disabled people, a way to reduce environmental impact and as a catalyst for youth to escape gang life.  

Through Sharka’s experience attending film festivals over the years, his firsthand investigations led to the idea for Friends of Film.

“I asked filmmakers what is the toughest thing to do,” explains Sharka. “95 percent of them said it is to make a film. ‘Well I can’t help you there,’ I responded. So what’s the second thing? ‘To get it seen!’ the filmmakers exclaimed.”

The companion to Sharka’s affection towards independent filmmakers is his nonprofit’s recognition of those who paved the way for the current generation. Honoring Jonathan Lynn mirrors the versed to the newly trodden, the famous to the upcoming, and the established to the establishing.

A self-described sports fan, travel fanatic, lover of people and the arts, Sharka's lucky-go persona aids him in giving back to his local Southern California community. When asked his favorite place to travel he claims, “I have a soft spot for the Australians. They remind me a lot of myself; they don’t take themselves too seriously.” He may commit to traveling, but he does not rely on boasting of a favorite film or filmmaker.

“If it brings a smile to my face, gets me to think, challenges me to look at something in a different way, from a 10-minute short film to a three-hour epic, I’m fine with that,” he said.

Always seeking support, film submissions, referrals, expansion and a small nonprofit mentality with hundreds of annual submissions, Friends of Film relies on pro-bono staff to carry out its mission of enabling filmmakers to reach unique, neighborhood audiences. 

Sharka’s most recent intent is to build a project at his office space, so as to make it most affordable and convenient for filmmakers via showcasing a pre-release run. Being true to his values, Sharka transitioned Friends of Film from showing summertime blockbuster family movies in the park to primarily focusing on indoor screenings.

“I’m certainly for family entertainment, but that wasn’t really the mission of the organization. It was to try to help the new guy; they don't need help funding Shrek,” Sharka said.

Friends of Film holds events at Palisades homes during the summer where the host provides food and drink, brings a filmmaker to honor and while adhering to a philanthropic mentality has worked out for the past three years.

Jonathan Lynn’s honoring takes place on Friday, May 13. Tickets will be available on the Friends of Film website toward the end of this week. $50 includes food, drink, celebrity spotting and, in the auspices of upcoming filmmakers, a screening of a provocative, social action-based story.

Keeping the celebrity appearances as a mystery proves Sharka’s value-driven method to honoring the ‘lesser-known’ celebrities of With My Own Two Wheels. The house party is a benefit to help the film and Seigel-Boettner filmmakers qualify for the Oscars, as they will need at least $6,000 in distribution and exhibition funds to include four-walling the film and having a one-week run.

Proving people can do a lot with a little, the Palisades and greater Los Angeles community will revel in five continents about five individuals pedaling for greater well-being.

As an official selection of the 2011 Santa Barbara International Film Festival and 2011 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, With My Own Two Wheels will once again invigorate and inspire audiences to act both locally and globally through a campaign to donate bikes to underrepresented communities.

This compliments Bob Sharka’s stance in building grassroots, community power and passion for the art of independent filmmaking through his Friends of Film organization.

Check out Friends of Film or With My Own Two Wheels for more information.