A cluster of vibrant colors sweeps by, breaking through the clear blue sky in a blur. The image, almost shocking in its beauty against the stark skyline, is just one of many captured by local filmmaker Betsy Weiner.
The Lompoc photographer and filmmaker is set to debut her 10-minute short documentary, The Sky Riders, at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival on March 15. The film was conceived and produced while Weiner was taking a film class at Allan Hancock College.
Weiner, a 62-year-old Army veteran who sports a patch of bright purple hair, also teaches photography at Hancock.
Weiner served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during Operation Iraqi Freedom and spent years photographing the Middle East. Her work relocated her to Hawaii, where she made a connection with her first parrot, a scarlet macaw she eventually took with her
to California.
“I love parrots,” Weiner said. “They’re like potato chips. You just can’t have one.”
Parrots are extremely intelligent and even smarter than dogs, Weiner said.
“They’re like kids,” she said. “They’re a lot of fun.”
When Weiner and her husband settled in Santa Maria in 2012 after living in Hawaii, she began getting involved in parrot clubs in California and learning more about issues within the community of bird lovers.
“I started to get to know people,” she said.
Weiner now lives with eight birds and four dogs.
She said that as she learned more, she grew concerned about steps by animal rights groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put more species of parrots—including scarlet macaws, hyacinth macaw, great greens, and blue throated—on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) list. A vocal opponent of such measures, she initially planned to do a documentary on the topic and the surrounding controversy.
Weiner decided to enroll in a film class at Hancock because she wanted to explore making a long form film on the subject of ESA restrictions, but also to explore other areas of artistic interest.
“I was bored,” she said. “I wanted to take some classes I was never able to before. I wasn’t interested in getting a degree.”
By the time she was enrolled in her first film class, Weiner was set on what her topic would be and had already accumulated footage and interviews for the project. She interviewed two lawyers as part of the initial work on the documentary, as well as breeders, bird rescuers, and others.
“I came across a guy named Ray Vallera,” Weiner said. “He was free-flying birds.”
Vallera runs a group called the West Wing Free Flight Club in Vallejo, Calif., which meets on Sundays and sets dozens of trained birds free in the open skies.
Weiner said she drove up to take a look at what Vallera was doing and was instantly hooked.
“It was spectacular watching [parrots] fly in person,” she said.
Through the experience, she met other free-flight enthusiasts and learned of other clubs.
The encounter led her to create her short documentary, The Sky Riders. The documentary centers on Vallera and other members of his free flying club. The parrots featured in the documentary are trained to fly and return to an owner, like a dog that comes when called. The 10-minute film features people demonstrating the process and explaining why it’s important to the animals.
One of the people featured in the film is Sarah Walter, who explained on camera why she wanted to get involved.
“After seeing the birds in flight, I thought this is going to be the best lifestyle for my macaws,” she said in the film.
“Parrots have highly evolved social structures,” Vallera explained in the film. “As long as you give them the right type of interaction, they seem to do OK.”
Weiner said one of the biggest challenges in documentary filmmaking is getting subjects to open up.
“You have to talk to the person, get them involved, so they forget the camera,” Weiner explained. “Most people aren’t comfortable in that setting.”
Weiner’s film won an award at Hancock’s student film festival and from there she decided to enter it into a few film festivals in California, including the SLO’s.
She now plans to pursue a more in-depth documentary on the topic of ESA parrot restrictions.
“I’d like to increase the length and maybe reshoot some rough parts of the film,” she said, referring to some technical and sound issues she experienced during production.
“The challenges are the money,” she said. “Getting better equipment, getting someone to work with me—all that takes time, effort, and money. I’d love to raise funds but these days people are limited. Especially for a film like this.”
Rebecca Rose still thinks the most beautiful animal in the world is her dog, BB. Contact her at rrose@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 9-16, 2017.
