Desert Roundup

Norby Walters master showman

By: Frances Allen

      The Sonny Bono Visionary Award was not presented at the Nortel Networks Palm Springs International Film Festival this year, but it should have been.
      The deserving recipient: Norby Walters. It was this master showman who had the vision to turn what could have been a lackluster awards gala into a Cannes-like evening of entertainment excitement.
      Walters was prevailed upon by Harold Matzner, Film Festival CEO and Board Chairman, to create order out of the chaos that had enveloped plans for the film festival’s gala awards presentation. The venue had changed, the budget been reduced, and the timeworn cookie-cutter plans of past years would not work.
      It was a last minute request but Norby, for whom nothing is ever too big, thrives on pressure.
      His first change: bring back the red carpet. Festival organizers had originally planned to spirit arriving celebrities into the Palm Springs Desert Museum, the site of the awards presentation, through a side door.
      However Norby, knowing that film festival cache is all about red carpets, lights and paparazzi, fought to have a red carpet set out on the steps leading from the street into the museum. He prevailed, and used the impressive façade of the building as a backdrop, spot-lighted from across the street by the technical artistry of Richard DeSantis, the multi-talented producer of the awards presentation. Adding subtle sophistication, Robert Korda and his string accompanists played along one side of the entrance stairs, while youthful volunteer escorts accompanied the celebrities into the building. Even the media was provided with its own section of red-carpeted turf on which to photograph and interview the arriving stars.
      The street in front of the museum was restricted to arriving limousines, and a mounted police contingent provided crowd control. All that was needed to complete the Cannes Film Festival illusion was a curving shoreline; Norby had delivered the glamour, and given a bit more time he probably would have trucked in beach-sand as well.
      Even the gala’s dinner—usually a mundane, barely edible affair—was first class. While the awards were being presented in the museum’s Annenberg Theatre, tables with gold trimmed plates and utensils were being set in the imposing foyer for an exquisite five-course meal catered by the six-star Le Vallauris and Spencers.
      Of course, an event such as this put heavy demands on the substantially reduced budget. Fortunately, the Desert is populated by a band of angels who always materialize at the last moment. Among those who joined Harold Matzner and the city of Palm Springs in re-opening their checkbooks were Sherrie and Ron Auen, Jim and Jackie Lee Houston, Dick and Mary Heckman, Marshall and Judy Gelfand; Ed and Madeline Redstone, Lori and Harvey Sarner, John Conboy, and Linda Shirvanian, Awards Presentation Co-chair.
      So, while Arthur Hiller (“Love Story,” “Plaza Suite”) received the Director’s Achievement Award, Hans Zimmer (“The Lion King,” “Gladiator”) received the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing; Bruno Delbonnel (“Amelie,” “The Cat’s Meow”) was honored with the Da Vinci Award for cinematography, producer Irwin Winkler (“Rocky,” “Goodfellas”) was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the acting talents of Andy Garcia (“Oceans Eleven,” “The Godfather III”) brought him the Desert Palm Award, it was the 400 invited guests who received the ultimate honor … that of being part of an elegantly staged and presented event.