Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel is located steps from the famous fitness paths and outdoor parks that run along the Santa Monica shoreline. Hotel features include 342 spacious guestrooms and suites, two restaurants and lounges, immediate proximity to Santa Monica’s premier attractions and front row views of the Pacific Ocean and world-famous Santa Monica Pier. For reservations or more information, please call 800-23-LOEWS or visit http://www.loewshotels.com/santamonica/santamonica.
TANNA FREDERICK
Founder
Save Our Surf
The plot of this movie might be familiar - a struggling young actress from middle America who can't seem to get a break happens to meet a well-connected industry vet who envisions her as a future sensation, and a movie star is born. While that was the story told anew in Henry Jaglom's feature, the acclaimed “Hollywood Dreams,” it also happens to be pretty close to the real-life story of the film's dynamic and engaging leading lady. But actress Tanna Frederick, who drew raves for her tour-de-force as aspiring starlet Margie Chisek, is quick to point out that although they have similar stories, she's far from the chaotic and sometimes naive Margie.
Audiences who have seen “Hollywood Dreams” might be forgiven for making that mistake, as Frederick's uncanny rendering of an ambitious and charming starlet who can barely restrain her fragile emotional state, is a compelling portrait of an actress in the tradition of Bette Davis' performances in “All About Eve”, “Dangerous” and Gloria Swanson's painfully deluded Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard.”
Indeed, many critics have harkened back to an earlier era of screen star, noting that Frederick's screen presence recalls a "young Bette Davis on crack" and compares favorably to legends like Lucille Ball, Judy Garland and Fanny Brice. "Hollywood Dreams is driven by Ms. Frederick's no-boundaries commitment to her broken character," wrote the New York Times, "a performance that is startling as it is touching." In addition to the critical raves, Frederick also earned Best Actress at WorldFest Houston, Montana International Film Festival, Fargo Film Festival and the Wild Rose Film Festival. The film took Best Picture honors at the San Luis Obispo Film Festival and to Best Comedy at WorldFest Houston. She was named Method Fest’s “Performer to Watch” and has also received the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival’s “Maverick” Award.
Frederick’s latest film was Jaglom’s romantic comedy “Queen of the Lot.” An electronic ankle bracelet and being under house arrest isn't about to stop actress Maggie Chase (Frederick) from the two things she craves the most: real fame and true love. With more "Google points" than her Iowa hometown, but far less than Angelina Jolie, Maggie is desperate to claw her way off the B-list of action/adventure pictures and into major movie stardom. With a team of handlers (Ron Vignone, Diane Salinger, David Proval and Zack Norman) to spin her recent drunk driving arrests into tabloid gold and bad-boy movie star boyfriend Dov (Christopher Rydell) on her arm, Maggie's star is on the rise. Things get complicated when a trip home to meet Dov's legendary family introduces Maggie to the world of Hollywood Royalty (Kathryn Crosby, Mary Crosby, Peter Bogdanovich, Dennis Christopher and Jack Heller) and to her boyfriend's brother Aaron (Noah Wyle), the black sheep of the family, a failed writer who can actually see who Maggie really is behind her ingénue facade.
Frederick is overwhelmed by the comparisons and praise. "Bette Davis is my inspiration right now," confesses the actress, who, like Margie, is a devoted cinephile. "I don't feel that I can possibly compare to her, but I admire the way she was always in the moment, and the way that theatre and her life and her art were inseparable." That kind of self-awareness as an actress-personality was crucial in developing Margie's character.
"Comedy is based on pain; most great comic performers have great pain and live in a huge amount of denial." says Frederick. "There's an early tragedy that translates into a masking, and there's a strange truthfulness to that. I wanted people to have sympathy for Margie, but be a little confused as to whether they loved her or hated her."
There was no such early tragedy for Frederick, a proud Iowan who has known she wanted to be a performer since childhood. "Iowa is really an amazing place for theatre," she enthuses. "Maybe because people don't have as much to do, they spend a lot of time expressing themselves. I started doing local and children's theatre in fourth grade, and was basically doing five shows a year for most of my life."
When she went to college at the University of Iowa, she double majored in theatre and political science/international relations. Despite the daunting academic challenges of two disparate courses of study, Frederick thrived, particularly enjoying working with younger playwrights on new works. "With the playwriting program and the Writer's Workshop, I did a lot of new work. I'm so grateful for that, because when I came to California, I had a very open mind about strange, independent and unusual projects." Frederick was recently named the recipient of the University of Iowa’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2012.
There were plenty of independent projects for Frederick to work in after her graduation as class valedictorian and the move to Hollywood, but like many young performers, regular paying work and success seemed far away. That's when Frederick learned from a friend that independent director Henry Jaglom had a history of responding to fan letters. Even though she'd never seen his films, Frederick wrote to Jaglom asking for an audition. The director responded by casting her in his play, “A Safe Place.” Her work so impressed him, that soon she was starring in “Always - But Not Forever,” Jaglom's theatrical revision of his earlier screen work, and preparing her to star in “Hollywood Dreams.” "We created a really wonderful balance," says Frederick of Jaglom, who as made a career out of casual but pointed observations about the intricacies of human relationships against the backdrop of show business. "He has this objectivity about Hollywood, having been there so long, and the film played on my subjectivity of that experience. He provided the framework in which Margie could live - he's known all of these characters as people, and I just put myself in the reality of the moment."
That relationship was extended to Jaglom's “Irene in Time” in which Frederick was reunited with “Hollywood Dreams” co-stars David Proval, Zack Norman and Karen Black. Frederick most recently starred with Noah Wyle in Jaglom’s “Queen of the Lot” which picks up Margie’s story three years later. Next, she will be seen starring in “The ‘M’ Word,” “Just Beautiful,” and “Just 45 Minutes From Broadway.”
Meanwhile, Frederick recently hosted the fifth annual Iowa Film Festival - an event she founded five years ago to great success. "People were so thrilled to have that festival in their community," she says. "All kinds of people - lawyers, students, regular people - were inspired to try their hand at filmmaking, and this year the event has increased threefold."
A devoted fitness advocate whose impressive Tae Kwon Do skills can also briefly
be seen in “Hollywood Dreams,” Frederick is also spending as much time as she can at the beach where she admits to having a "serious mistress" - the surf. "I never expected to become addicted to surfing," she admits. "I guess when you grow up landlocked, you never think about things like that. I've been doing it for a few years now, and it's provided a great balance in my life. I like the aspect of constantly facing a new challenge, and the danger - I broke my nose surfing and have gotten pretty banged up. It's a humbling experience - you're up against this creature, and if you don't respect it, you drown." As a sign of her passion for the art of riding the wild surf, Frederick started "Project Save Our Surf," an annual event she co-hosts with legendary surfer Shaun Tomson which has raised thousands of dollars for various ocean charities.
Santa Monica Baykeeper
Like no other organization in Los Angeles, Santa Monica Baykeeper is dedicated to the enforcement, protection, and restoration of Santa Monica Bay, San Pedro Bay, and the rivers and streams that run through and underneath L.A. County. Since 1993, Santa Monica Baykeeper has enforced environmental laws and worked with the public to monitor sources of pollution. And where possible, we've worked to restore ocean and river environments to ensure they can rebuild and sustain the complex web of life we all need to survive. Santa Monica Baykeeper works relentlessly for cleaner water — which means more open beaches, stronger and more resilient habitats, and an aquatic environment that can sustain life for generations to come.
Like no other organization in Los Angeles, Santa Monica Baykeeper is dedicated to the enforcement, protection, and restoration of Santa Monica Bay, San Pedro Bay, and the rivers and streams that run through and underneath L.A. County.
Since 1993, Santa Monica Baykeeper has enforced environmental laws and worked with the public to monitor sources of pollution. And where possible, we've worked to restore ocean and river environments to ensure they can rebuild and sustain the complex web of life we all need to survive. Santa Monica Baykeeper works relentlessly for cleaner water — which means more open beaches, stronger and more resilient habitats, and an aquatic environment that can sustain life for generations to come.
We hope you'll read more about our programs and consider becoming a member of Santa Monica Baykeeper LIZ CROSSON
Executive Director
Santa Monica BayKeeper
Liz joins Baykeeper after being intimately involved in Baykeeper’s litigation and enforcement program as an associate attorney with Lawyers for Clean Water, Inc. She gained environmental advocacy experience working for several non-profits in Oregon and California. She’s been involved in community outreach and organizing, organizational development, and environmental litigation striving to protect water quality, endangered species, and coastal and forest ecosystems.
Liz has an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley where she studied Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. She also has an M.S. in Biology/Environmental Education and a J.D. from Lewis and Clark Law School with an emphasis in environmental law.
During law school, she was a member of the National Environmental Moot Court First Place team at Pace Law School and received several honors for her dedication to public interest law. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and the Advisory Board of the Rogue Riverkeeper, both based in Ashland, Oregon. Liz’s current work is focused on eliminating pollution and preventing the degradation of Southern California's aquatic and coastal ecosystems.
###
 |
| Tanna and Liz on location at Loews Santa Monica |
