*CCHS students who are interested in running at the Screenland 5K can register with the code, STUDENT, which gives a 30% discount. Teachers can use the code, TEACHER, to receive a 70% discount.
Culver City’s annual Screenland 5K will take place on Sunday, March 10, coinciding with the date of the 2024 Oscars. The race will begin at 9:20 a.m. and registered runners can expect to start and finish at the Ivy Station, according to the Screenland 5K website.
Participants who run the course can expect more than just an early morning run throughout the city — every year, among the highlights of the race is the 100 Points of Motion Picture Magic laid out along the course. The 100 points entails a series of painted street and banner art from Culver City High School students and community artists, musical performances, and reenactments of some 100 movie scenes historically filmed along the course, said Creative Director Lori Escalera, who’s responsible for compiling the 100 points and was the author of this project in the inaugural Screenland 5K in 2017. This year, Escalera wanted to center the 100 points on recognizing marginalized identities in the history of Culver City cinema, a focus she says is too often forgotten.
“It was kind of hard to locate films that represented people of different identities, but I did find wonderful motion pictures in cinema and television that did reflect the diversity in our humanity,” Escalera said. “And so that was a joy of the whole thing and to recognize the people that maybe we didn’t realize were with us.”
Escalera used films like the 1938 picture Aladdin’s Lantern as a way to highlight Middle Eastern, Muslim stories, or the 1927 film The Devil Dancer to honor actors and actresses like Anna May Wong, one of the first Asian American Hollywood stars. The full list of the 100 films Escalera highlighted can be found through an interactive map posted on the Screenland 5K website.
“I wanted to bring films that weren’t really known, but have a really significant cultural import,” Escalera said.
Participants are also encouraged to dress up as their favorite movie character and partake in the cinematic festivities, which includes pre and post-race activities such as a costume contest, photo opportunities with dressed up movie characters, and a celebrity trike race to raise money for a number of charities, said Screenland 5K Founder Michael Cohen, who will be the announcer during this year’s event.
Cohen founded the inaugural Screenland 5K in 2017 as part of Culver City’s centennial celebration. He said he was inspired to promote the community through a city-wide health and wellness event, one in which celebrated the historical cinematic roots of Culver City as the “Heart of Screenland.”
“It just seemed appropriate celebrating the 100th birthday of the city of Culver City to have an event where people can just kind of roll out of bed and be together and experience the feeling of accomplishing something together,” Cohen said.
Since then, the race has become an annual event to celebrate both the history and the present-day strides the city has made each year, as Cohen said that this year’s Screenland 5K will also celebrate Culver City Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin, who is the first female person of color to serve on the Culver City Council.
Cohen also touted the help from CCHS students and staff, who have helped make the event possible. Besides many of the art pieces provided by AVPA art students, members of CCHS’s band will be performing at the event. Olympic Gold Medalist and CCHS’s Track Coach Lashinda Demus, as well as Cross Country coaches Tom Fritzius and Steven Heyl, have also offered free training programs over the last few weeks, Cohen said.
CCHS students who are interested in running at the Screenland 5K can register with the code, STUDENT, which gives a 30% discount. Teachers can use the code, TEACHER, to receive a 70% discount.
And for those on the fence of registering for the event, both Cohen and Escalera enthuse about the memorable experiences and memories participants will make at the Screenland 5K.
“It’s the most fun you can have on Oscar Sunday morning,” Escalera said. “To see all the art, all the performances, and all the electricity is just really fun.”
