LongBeachReport.com | LBReport.com | GLOBAL Arts Month Ends w/ 3rd Annual Zombie Walk After City Officials Work With Organizer To Make It Happen

(Oct. 27, 2010) -- This Friday, the finale of GLOBAL and the finale of October collide as the world of the living and the undead unite in Mondo Celluloid’s 3rd Annual Zombie Walk on 4th Street.

However as late as last week, the 3rd Annual Zombie Walk was in jeopardy of being cancelled. I caught up with a the very busy Zombie Walk organizer Logan Crow (below), Founder and Executive Director of Mondo Celluloid, for a discussion about Long Beach’s 3rd Zombie Walk.

Photo credit: Joe Mello

Before I got a chance to ask about Crow’s love of Zombies, Crow rushed in to our meeting at the Portfolio Annex on 4th Street and began talking about another love. "I love Long Beach. I mean I always have, but wait until I tell you how they came through."

Crow then launched into the story about how this year’s walk almost didn’t happen.

Kerstin Kansteiner, the President of the 4th Street Business Association, asked Crow to attended a meeting called by the City of Long Beach just last week over concerns about the plans for the third Zombie Walk down 4th Street. "We walk in and the Police Department, the Fire Department and the Special Events Office people are all there," Crow recalls, as his tale starts sounding like a real horror story.

Crow goes on to say that the LBPD representative told him that the department had seen a video posted on YouTube of last year’s Zombie Walk and described the video’s scene where the Zombies were attacking cars and a Long Beach Transit bus that were driving down 4th Street.

I close my eyes thinking this can’t be good way to start because I was at the Zombie Walk last year and witnessed the Zombie bus attack. Yes the Zombies attacked the bus. I watched them surround the bus in the middle of 4th street and shake it, grabbing at the passengers inside. After a few minutes though, they let the bus continue without eating or hurting a single rider. It seemed like good old Zombie fun, but apparently not for the LBPD.

Crow continued with his story and recalls that the police representative was slightly amused, but seriously concerned with what was on the video and told Crow that if someone got hit by a bus trying to escape Zombies, Crow would be liable.

That bit of reality got Crow’s attention. However, like the bus that got away from the Zombies, Crow’s meeting with the powers that be has a happy ending too.

As it turned out, the assembled City officials wanted Crow’s event to be a success. The police suggested to avoid Zombie traffic accidents, that 4th Street be closed to vehicle traffic for the Zombie Walk and the City’s Special Events office said they would sponsor the street closure.

There however is more to the story than America’s Most Diverse city also being Zombie inclusive.

The event was now a go only if Crow could come up with the money for the street closure and insurance. For that, Crow does what he does, he turned to his Long Beach supporters and asked for help with the insurance and police costs for the event.

"And Long Beach stepped up," Crow said. Long time supporters Tiffany Garcia and Identity Home Staging and Design came up with the extra money for the insurance and police.

The Zombie Walk was saved "and the city wants to start planning for next year," Crow added with hometown pride.

Last year the Zombie Walk grew to 600 people and was a wild success. This year Crow expects over 1,000 Zombies and onlookers. Crow’s Monodo Celluloid events have become a 4th Street staple, drawing people to the business area to show midnight horror movies at the Art Theater on Fridays.

As part of his non-profit Cinematheque, with Mondo Celluloid Crow has helped organize community events and contributed to community causes like the now gone Youth Program at The Center. Plans for supporting community movie events and student film grants are in the works. Crow said the Zombie Walk, which is growing into one of Long Beach’s most promising Halloween events, grew out of his love for the Zombie movie genre. Crow explains, "Zombie movies are generally cleaver. Each Zombie film must re-invent the genre with new twists. There’s even a new book called Pride Prejudice and Zombies. People see the potential in seeing people you know and love coming after you to eat you. It’s scary."

Like the Zombie movie genre, Crow has some twists for this year’s 3rd Annual Zombie Walk. Doing more to help promote the 4th Street businesses, the Zombie Walk will be earlier this year -- 8:30 p.m.

Mondo Celluloid’s usual midnight showing at the Art Theater will move to the prime time slot of 9:30 p.m. with the showing of the Zombie classic Shaun of the Dead. Last year the 10:30 p.m. walk and midnight movie was well attended, but left little to do for the crowds after the movie. Also new this year at 8:55 p.m. in front of the Art Theater, a Flash Mob (a seemingly spontaneous synchronized dance number) of Zombies will take place organized by We Move!

Thoughout the evening starting at 5:00 p.m. businesses along 4th Street will be making turning their normal Last Saturday monthly happenings into Zombie themed events and parties with adult and kids Zombie make-up salons.

Crow's already planning for bigger Zombie twists in the future, maybe a parade, or a major sponsorship, maybe even a crack at a Guinness Book of Word Records. Crow wants to make Long Beach a true Halloween destination like West Hollywood is now, and that is good news for Long Beach.

As for the 4th Street being closed to traffic, Crow’s twist on that is maybe a private bus being sent down the street to give the Zombies something to attack and keep the Zombies happy.

For most, October means Halloween. In Long Beach, October now means GLOBAL, Long Beach’s month long Celebration of all things Arts that began this year with First Friday in Bixby Knolls and will end this weekend with Last Saturday on 4th Street.

The weeks in between these neighborhood stalwarts have seen art in a multitude of forms. I’ve been able to see and report to you here on LBReport.com just some of the hundreds of events: art as sound; art as classes; art as movies; artists on exhibit, and those are just the ones I’ve seen.

Thousands of artists and spectators and participants have taken part in hundreds of GLOBAL events this month, some on purpose like me, most, in fact the vast majority, unaware that they were participating in something larger-something truly GLOBAL.

GLOBAL ends this weekend with the Last Saturday on 4th Street and Mondo Celluloid’s 3rd Annual Zombie Walk 5 p.m.- Midnight. Zombies will meet at 4th and Cherry and march West on 4th at 8:30 p.m.