Slide presentation for proposed feature-length documentary

1. Style & Substance Paul R. Williams, H. Claude Hudson & The Making of Modern Los Angeles (a feature-length documentary proposal)

2. Style & Substance Style & Substance is a revealing, character-driven documentary feature that views 20th century Los Angeles from the previously unexplored perspectives of two of the city’s most accomplished men: internationally renowned architect Paul R. Williams and Dr. H. Claude Hudson, L.A.’s “Mr. NAACP.” Their penetrating life stories bring 20th century Los Angeles into stark relief—from Bel-Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills to Little Tokyo, Bronzeville, South Central and East L.A. Hudson and Williams didn’t make modern Los Angeles, but modern Los Angeles couldn’t have been made without men like them.

3. Known as the Architect to the Stars, Paul R. Williams was one of the most successful and prolific architects in American history. He had a hand in fashioning much of L.A.’s public face—from LAX and the County Court House, to the finest homes in Bel-Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills. Born in Los Angeles in 1894, Williams was an orphan by age five. Raised by a foster family, he grew up to become a breed apart, by any measure a profoundly successful architect in a profession virtually devoid of African Americans. While Williams was weaving L.A.’s physical fabric, Dr. H. Claude Hudson – dentist, lawyer, banker and tireless activist – was wrestling the city’s soul. Hudson was born in rural Louisiana, the son of a former slave. He was instrumental in desegregating L.A.’s beaches, eradicating the Southland’s racially restrictive housing covenants, and in the founding of Broadway Federal Savings & Loan, the oldest existing African American financial institution west of the Mississippi.

4. Architect to the Stars After Paul R. Williams designed a home for Lon Chaney, Sr. in 1930-31, the silent screen star asked him to design a “rock house” weekend retreat. Chaney died before the house was completed, but it later made a screen appearance in Man of a Thousand Faces, a film about Chaney’s life starring James Cagney. Jay Paley’s home followed, then homes for William Paley, Hollywood censorship czar Will Hays, comedian Zasu Pitts, actress Barbara Stanwyck, radio star Charles Correll (one of two white actors who created and starred in the original radio version of Amos ‘N’ Andy), Tyrone Power, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson. And that was just the 1930s!

5. Mr. NAACP When Dr. H. Claude Hudson arrived in the city in 1923, he opened his dental practice and immediately set about energizing L.A.’s growing African American community in the struggle for civil rights and social justice. He revived a moribund L.A. branch of the NAACP, serving as its president for 10 years, while focusing attention on the twin pillars of the California Dream—the right to own a home in the neighborhood of your choosing, and access to the beach in a land of perpetual sunshine. In 1946, Hudson was among a group of prominent black businessmen who founded Broadway Federal Savings and Loan to serve L.A.’s “redlined” minority communities, including returning WW II vets who could not get home mortgages from mainstream banks. Hudson served as Broadway’s Chairman for twenty-three years. Much of black and brown Los Angeles’s 20th century topography – from South Central to Watts – would be staked out and mapped with mortgages provided by Broadway Federal. Judge Loren Miller & Dr. H. Claude Hudson

6. Los Angeles stands alone among America’s cities, a sprawling metropolis defined by images, fantasies and outsized dreams. For decades L.A. has ranked among America’s largest urban centers, but its history is far less well-defined than that of Chicago, New York and other cities. For more than a hundred years a parade of swindlers, robber barons and moving picture moguls has distorted the city’s image and its history in the struggle to lure people and their pocketbooks west. It worked. Today, the world sees L.A.’s essence as Hollywood, the capital of illusion, but the city’s mythic identity is all smoke and mirrors. Style & Substance brings L.A.’s true history to light, a history less sacred than profane, and more compelling than a profit-hungry myth. The extraordinary lives led by Paul R. Williams and Dr. H. Claude Hudson offer a revealing counterpoint to the myths embraced by L.A.’s critics and boosters alike; and in chronicling those lives, Style & Substance reveals every part of the City of Angels from ground level—the frustrating limits, and the endless possibilities, of 20th century Los Angeles.

8. Clear historical context

9. Innovative integration of archival materials

10. Attention-grabbing original graphics

12. Documentary Perspective One of the objectives of Style & Substance is to give viewers an intimate look at the lives of two pioneering Angelenos, men whose stories have too often been omitted or redacted from the historical record. In a larger sense, however, the central events and accomplishments, and the setbacks and losses, in the lives of architect Paul R. Williams and civil rights leader Dr. H. Claude Hudson are only the tip of a documentary iceberg. An evolving narrative of Los Angeles in the 20th century emerges from their experiences, and can be explored, in context, from perspectives other films and documentaries lack. Zoot Suit Riots. Los Angeles, 1943. One hallmark of Style & Substance will be its original graphics – "living" maps, cutaway views, schematics and "under-the-skin" POV animation – to explore key locations, buildings and structures from the inside out, immersing viewers in a gut-level understanding of the architecture, landscape, and geography of Los Angeles. Computer graphics, archival materials, footage of actual locations, interviews and analysis will all be brought to bear to expose the currents of history and change, large and small that collided to make 20th century L.A. the singularly unique city that it became.

13. Funding Style & Substance will raise its production financing through tax-deductible donations from corporations, foundations, associations and individuals, particularly those with an interest in architecture, Southern California and/or African-American history. The Pasadena Arts Council (PAC) , a member of the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors, has agreed to act as fiscal sponsor for Style & Substance. For nearly 50 years, the PAC has been among California’s premier non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations providing resources, programs and services to artists, arts and cultural organizations, audiences, and young people. The PAC has graciously chosen to further its mission by offering fiscal sponsorship to the Style & Substance project because it believes the film will advance the PAC’s charitable goals. Pursuant to the agreement between the PAC and the producers of Style & Substance, and in accordance with IRS rules and regulations relating to such arrangements, the PAC will exercise complete discretion and control over any funds received on behalf of Style & Substance in order to ensure their proper disbursal and application. The PAC’s EMERGE program is listed in the national Fiscal Sponsor Directory. To learn more or to make a donation to the Style & Substance production fund, please visit www.styleandsubstanceLA.com or www.pasadenaartscouncil.org.

14. Project Principals Jon Goodman – Writer/Director. Jon Goodman is a two-time Emmy Award-winning freelance writer, director and producer. His most recent film, Freedom Songs: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement, began airing on PBS stations nationwide in June 2009. Prior to Freedom Songs, Jon was the Sr. Producer, and Supervising Story Producer, of Storm Chasers, a popular primetime Discovery Channel series. During his career in film and TV, he has written, produced, directed or supervised more than 300 hours of programming for broadcast domestically and abroad. A graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law, Mr. Goodman began his career in film and television as an entertainment attorney in New York City. Karen Hudson Freeman – Executive Producer & Story Consultant. Karen Hudson Freeman is the author of four books: the architecture monograph Paul R. Williams, Architect: A Legacy Of Style (New York: Rizzoli Intl, 1993); The Will and the Way: Paul R. Williams, Architect (New York: Rizzoli Intl, 1994) (a middle reader biography); Basic Black: Home Training for Modern Times(New York: Doubleday, 1996; co-authored with Karen Grigsby Bates) (an etiquette book geared toward the African American community); and The New Basic Black (New York: Doubleday, 2006; co-authored with Karen Grigsby Bates). Ms. Freeman is also Director of the Paul R. Williams Archives, and a marketing and design consultant to Broadway Federal Bank, the institution her grandfathers founded. She lectures extensively on the architecture of Paul R. Williams, on etiquette and on party planning. Leeds Levy – Executive Producer. A current member of the Board of Directors of both ASCAP and NMPA and president of his own independent music publishing company, Leeds Music, Mr. Levy was, until recently, the President of Chrysalis Music Group, Inc. Until 1991, Mr. Levy was the President of MCA Music Publishing, the world's third largest music publisher. He began his career in music publishing in 1975 as a Field Representative for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Besides operating his own independent music publishing company, Mr. Levy consults to independent music publishers Red Stripe Plane Music and Eddie O Songs.

15. Style & Substance Contacts: www.pasadenaartscouncil.org jon@styleandsubstanceLA.com karen@styleandsubstanceLA.com leeds@styleandsubstanceLA.com Thank you.