Glitz and Hollywood glamour were on display at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa late October for the La Costa Film Festival, a first-year event conceived and presented by two long-time resort members who said they wanted to capture some of the noted resort's Tinseltown history.
Michael and Ruby Callihan, whose background is in mortgage banking, said the idea for the festival was born several years ago, when he was looking at photos of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Sophia Loren and other movie stars who frequented La Costa in the early days, making it their hideaway.
"It was like a beckoning call that said, 'Remember old Hollywood,'" he said. "I thought that it would be nice to bring that Hollywood romance back to La Costa."
Added Ruby, "We really felt that we live in such a beautiful place, we wanted to showcase it and bring the arts to North County."
What started as a passing notion eventually became a plan last September, after friends encouraged them to pursue the project. They researched festivals and their producers, and eventually came upon Nancy Collet, whose long list of accomplishments include a stint as director of programming for the American Film Festival's AFI Fest.
The Callihans hired Collet as head programmer, a move that Ruby Callihan said gave the first-year festival access to quality films and connections to established filmmakers.
Among the works screened at the festival were opening film "The Short Game," a movie executive produced by Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel about 7-year-old golfers and the ups and downs they go through on the junior golf circuit. The producer, Rafael Marmor and golfers Amari and Alona Avery were on hand at the screening, and posed for photos at a red carpet.
Closing the festival was the San Diego premiere of "At Middleton," and star Andy Garcia was among those involved in the production that were present at the screening.
"I just loved the idea of launching a brand new festival," Collet said on opening night. She said the La Costa resort was an ideal setting for a film festival, and said the addition of impressive light display that preceded the evening movies at La Costa was a new idea that she'd never experienced in her 17 years of working with festivals.
Ruby Callihan said that while going from mortgage lending to launching a film festival carried a steep learning curve, Collet and all of the community partners and volunteers that came in support of the event helped make the initial outing such a success.
"We were fortunate," she said. "We started out with a small team … and the feedback we got on a daily basis and the amount of people wanting to volunteer was just amazing."
Michael Callihan said the goal of the organizers is to make this an annual event, but added that while they would like the festival to thrive and "grow exponentially," they don't plan to turn it into a large festival that attract hundreds of thousands of people.
"That is not our vision," he said. "We're not looking to make this huge. We want this to be a destination festival, a little more intimate."
Michael and Ruby Callihan, whose background is in mortgage banking, said the idea for the festival was born several years ago, when he was looking at photos of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Sophia Loren and other movie stars who frequented La Costa in the early days, making it their hideaway.
"It was like a beckoning call that said, 'Remember old Hollywood,'" he said. "I thought that it would be nice to bring that Hollywood romance back to La Costa."
Added Ruby, "We really felt that we live in such a beautiful place, we wanted to showcase it and bring the arts to North County."
What started as a passing notion eventually became a plan last September, after friends encouraged them to pursue the project. They researched festivals and their producers, and eventually came upon Nancy Collet, whose long list of accomplishments include a stint as director of programming for the American Film Festival's AFI Fest.
The Callihans hired Collet as head programmer, a move that Ruby Callihan said gave the first-year festival access to quality films and connections to established filmmakers.
Among the works screened at the festival were opening film "The Short Game," a movie executive produced by Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel about 7-year-old golfers and the ups and downs they go through on the junior golf circuit. The producer, Rafael Marmor and golfers Amari and Alona Avery were on hand at the screening, and posed for photos at a red carpet.
Closing the festival was the San Diego premiere of "At Middleton," and star Andy Garcia was among those involved in the production that were present at the screening.
"I just loved the idea of launching a brand new festival," Collet said on opening night. She said the La Costa resort was an ideal setting for a film festival, and said the addition of impressive light display that preceded the evening movies at La Costa was a new idea that she'd never experienced in her 17 years of working with festivals.
Ruby Callihan said that while going from mortgage lending to launching a film festival carried a steep learning curve, Collet and all of the community partners and volunteers that came in support of the event helped make the initial outing such a success.
"We were fortunate," she said. "We started out with a small team … and the feedback we got on a daily basis and the amount of people wanting to volunteer was just amazing."
Michael Callihan said the goal of the organizers is to make this an annual event, but added that while they would like the festival to thrive and "grow exponentially," they don't plan to turn it into a large festival that attract hundreds of thousands of people.
"That is not our vision," he said. "We're not looking to make this huge. We want this to be a destination festival, a little more intimate."