Film Independents Get ‘Blues’ for Good Cause

The Scene: “Dance the Blues” benefit party at Occidental Studios Monday night for Independent Feature Project/West, an L. A.-based group that supports and promotes independent filmmaking. The IFP announced the nominees for its sixth annual “Independent Spirit” awards, honoring the best independent productions of 1990, which will be held March 23. Indie prod execs and a smattering of celebs and entertainment media types milled around a dimly lit sound stage for a couple of hours eating soup and bread, watching music videos on TV monitors and listening to Barry Goldberg and the Blues All Stars.

The Buzz: Speculation on the Persian Gulf crisis; who’s gotten green-lighted for which film projects; who can’t get a distribution deal; what major corporation is going to swallow up which studio next; who/what is going to get an Academy Award nomination; what a hassle the valet parking was.

Who Was There: Hosts John Shea and Helen Shaver (they co-star on CBS’ “WIOU”); Propaganda Films co-founder Steve Golin; IFP/West executive director Patrick Scott and president Carolyn Pfeiffer; actors Diane Ladd, Carol Kane, John Glover, Taylor Negron, Kim McGuire, Billy Zane and David Clennon; Occidental Studios President Al Sweet; City Councilman Joel Wachs.

Food: The invitation promised a soup kitchen and bread line, but this simple chow came from restaurants such as Authentic Cafe, Orso, Yanks and La Brea Bakery. There was also cappuccino, Eureka beer and Jubilaeum, a new potent spirit infused with herbs with an aftertaste of pastrami on rye.

Dress Mode: “Dress down” was the order, and some took it to heart, opting for jeans and sweats. Let’s see . . . a party in a warehouse-like sound stage, soup and bread, and a call for dressing down . . . . Is the IFP trying to tell us something?

Quoted: “I think these awards are nice,” said Steve Golin, “but I don’t know that it amounts to a hill of beans as far as people going to see these movies. But it’s a nice gesture.”

Oh, Mr. Scorsese, Are You Reading This?: One of the presenters of the nominees was the current Miss Moscow, Masha Kalinina, who told the all-too jaded audience, “I want to be an actress in America.”

New Industry Buzz Phrase: “At the end of the day.” Usage: The big mainstream studios might say they want to produce unusual, offbeat films, but y’know, at the end of the day, all they really want to do is “Police Academy 12.”