A documentary film about California state parks made by an Arnold couple, will soon air across the nation on prime time television. Calaveras County residents can watch it on KVIE at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, and at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 19.
Many Calaveras County residents were first introduced to David Vassar and Sally Kaplan at the premiere of their latest film “California Forever” held at Jack Knight Hall at Calaveras Big Trees State Park last February.
When the 75-minute film concluded, thunderous applause shook the rustic rafters of the hall as the entire audience showed appreciation for the beauty, drama and fascinating history of California’s state parks.
“It’s really nice to have a community this small that is this engaged,” said Vassar, who is an Emmy award-nominated director. “I think it’s a testament to people caring about parks.
“People need to be reminded of the sacrifice people made to create these parks and why they were set aside – to preserve the heritage of our culture and the natural heritage of the generations to come.”
Main sections in the film, which took 61 days to shoot in 47 different parks, focus on Yosemite, coastal parks, deserts and the Sierra Nevada.
While shooting the film, Vassar said he and Kaplan realized they had and abundance of high quality content that couldn’t possibly fit into one film.
“In the scouting and filming, we found that there was an embarrassment of riches,” Kaplan, who produced the film, said with a smile.
After putting their heads together with those funding the project, a decision was made to lengthen the first film and make a second film called “California Forever: Parks for the future.”
It will focus on the idea that California led the nation in the “park idea” and it will also have to lead the nation in facing the challenges that will face parks in the future, Vassar said.
“I think people have forgotten the legacy of California State Parks, and they’ve forgotten the sacrifices people made to set these places aside and they’ve forgotten what an incredible treasure they are, and they need to be reminded.”