by Laura Garber
Three Hermosa Beach-based filmmakers screened their documentary films on the same night, January 14, at different locations throughout the Los Angeles area, each telling stories about people who discovered fame in ways they never imagined. The timing of the screenings was coincidental, but indicative of the rich creative community that Hermosa has fostered.
Director Rebecca Doyle’s short documentary “Andrea’s Gambit” captures an unlikely success story. “In her quest to become the most competitive candidate to get into Stanford University, Andrea Botez accidentally becomes an international chess star,” Doyle said.
The film follows Botez as she navigates her rise to chess stardom, pursuing a non-traditional path to success while simultaneously working toward her goal of attending Stanford University.
The feature-length documentary “Robert Shields: My Life as a Robot,” directed by Mark Bonn and produced by Christine Bonn through their local production company My Monkey House, explores the art and life of pioneer ‘robot’ performer Robert Shields, known from the Shields and Yarnell mime team popularized by their 1977 variety show. The film explores the beginnings of Shield’s San Francisco performance art, shedding light on his unexpected influence on popping and locking. This street-style dance, characterized by distinct rapid movements, saw dance communities adopt and learn from his unique approach.
Both documentaries explore how their subjects stumbled into legacies that exceeded their original ambitions. For Shields, that revelation came at a poppers’ picnic where young dancers treated him like royalty. “We realized, holy cow, this is a whole other thing,” Mark Bonn said. “Robert kept getting invited to go to the popper’s picnic. He was kind of worried that no one’s going to even know who he is.”
Instead, the dancers, including one who traveled from Russia, “lost their minds” meeting him. “We were driving home and he was in the backseat going, ‘Did that happen? Was that real?’ He had no idea that he’s this big thing with the dance community,” Mark Bonn recalled.
For Botez, the daughter of immigrants who fled communist Romania, dreams of being a top applicant to Stanford directed her toward becoming an internationally recognized chess player, where she cleared $500,000 her first year streaming to paid subscribers, “which beats many Stanford graduates,” Doyle said.
With the success of streaming her matches online, Botez has since pursued other creative outlets like venturing into music production as a DJ and getting into the ring as a professional boxer.
“I think [Botez] is incredibly resilient and mature and she’s only 23 now,” Doyle said. “She was 20 when we started shooting the film.”
Doyle collaborated with Moving Picture Institute, a nonprofit production company that finances films highlighting human freedom stories.
But Botez now faces a new challenge; she recently lost hearing in one ear and is undergoing experimental treatments, especially devastating for someone pursuing a music career, Doyle said. However, Doyle believes with Botez’s relentless approach to challenges, she will overcome this obstacle.
“In 10 years when she’s doing even bigger and better things it’s gonna be nice to have so much captured in this time,” Doyle said.
The Bonns’ 10-year journey with “Robert Shields: My Life as a Robot” began at Fiesta Hermosa, where they met Shields while he was vending his Sedona-inspired art. After their World War II documentary “Wings of Silver” won Best Documentary at Sedona Film Festival, which they entered at Shield’s recommendation, Mark Bonn approached Shields at the next year’s Fiesta. “Have you ever thought of anyone doing your story?’ and I don’t even get it out. Shields goes, ‘I saw all your movies, I love them. I want you to do my film.'”
The Hermosa filmmakers shared more than a screening date. Both praised the town’s tight-knit creative community, a rarity in sprawling Los Angeles County. The Bonns collaborated with neighbors including Emmy-nominated sound mixer Connor Moore, who lives “just four doors over around the corner,” and local music producer Ed Hart, known as Ed Hermosa in the credits. “It’s nice that everyone was in our little town,” the Bonns said.
Doyle, newer to the area, is still discovering Hermosa’s creative network. “The community of Hermosa is just really incredible because in a big county like Los Angeles it can be so hard to feel like you’re actually part of a community,” she said. “Most of the friends I have are a solid network of filmmakers in Los Angeles, but none of them live in the South Bay.”
“Robert Shields: My Life as a Robot” screened January 14 at three sold-out shows through South Bay Film Society at AMC Rolling Hills. “Andrea’s Gambit” screened the same night with a full audience at Culver Theater in Culver City, followed by a Q&A with the star and filmmakers. Doyle’s screening encouraged donations to Girls Make Beats, a nonprofit teaching girls ages 5-17 music production and DJing.
To stream “Andrea’s Gambit,” visit thempi.org/film/andreas-gambit and to stream “Robert Shields: My Life as Robot,” visit mylifeasarobot.com. ER
