Sonoma mom and son host movie classics for kids

Most cinephiles love old classic films for their romance, flair for the dramatic and, of course, the clothes.

If one Sonoma woman has her way, a new generation soon will appreciate these old movies, too.

Jennifer Churchill has become the face of a new TV series designed to educate all-age audiences about films of the distant past. The “Classic Films For Kids” show also features Churchill’s 7-year-old son, Weston Gilmore. The duo shares their impressions on movies from the silent era of film all the way up to the 1950s and 1960s.

The show will premiere on The Film Detective streaming channel starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, and run every Saturday for 10 weeks. As of press time, the channel was available on Sling TV, Plex, Rakuten TV, Local Now and YouTube, to name a few.

For Churchill, a single mother and former health care marketing executive, “Classic Films” is the culmination of a lifelong interest in movies, and an opportunity to pass her passion to a new generation of fans.

“Lauren Bacall once said something like, ‘It’s not an old movie if you’ve never seen it,’” she said. “My hope is that for kids seeing these classic films for the first time, there’s a sense of excitement and wonder — the same kind of wonder I experienced when I was a kid.”

Lifelong film buff

The Film Detective bills Churchill as a “queen of classic movies,” and the nickname fits.

The Michigan native said she always has been a movie buff and a fan of classic movies, dating to her childhood when she used to watch them with her mother and grandmother.

As an adult, Churchill sought to turn her passion into something more, so she started attending in-person festivals that celebrated classic films. At these events, she met some of her childhood icons and rubbed elbows with those who have spent their entire careers in the business.

One year, she met Eva Marie Saint (“North by Northwest,” “On the Waterfront”) outside a bathroom. In other years, she hobnobbed with Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne, Isabella Rossellini (“Blue Velvet,” “Death Becomes Her”), Rob Reiner (too many 1980s and ’90s movies to name) and others. She also has become friends with Julie Dawn Cole, who played the spoiled Veruca Salt in the 1971 movie, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” (To jog your memory, Veruca is the child who gets attacked by the squirrels.)

“I never cease being starstruck,” Churchill said. “It’s thrilling to meet these icons you’ve seen up on the big screen your whole life.”

Once Churchill became a mother, she got an idea: Why not write a kids’ book about classic films?

The 33-page book, “Movies are Magic: A Kids History of the Moving Image from the Dawn of Time to About 1939,” came out in 2018 after a successful crowdfunding campaign supported by many of her classic film friends.

It’s an introduction for kids of the history of film, an accessible way for them to trace the origins of the streaming images they watch on digital devices today. The easily digestible descriptions of eight classic films and an explanation of the technology behind old-school cinema opens with a heartfelt introduction by Ben Mankiewicz, TCM’s prime-time host.

That’s show business

The book directly led to the TV show, fueled in part by Churchill’s relentless pursuit to shop it around. She signed a deal with The Film Detective in 2021; she has a producer credit on the show.

All told, there are 10 episodes; run time varies depending on the length of each film.

Every show spotlights a different film. The series starts with “Jack and the Beanstalk” (1952). Others on the list include “Nancy Drew, Reporter” (1939), “Jungle Book” (1942) and “The Magic Sword” (1961).

The show loosely follows a format made popular by Turner Classic Movies: Intro and epilogue segments bookend the feature film. Every “episode” of “Classic Films For Kids” comprises a family-friendly intro and an epilogue that air before and after the feature film.

Churchill and her son filmed these segments together in November at three locations in and around Sonoma: Buena Vista Winery, the Sebastiani Theater and the Sonoma Community Center.

Each segment has them together like reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, riffing, sharing fun facts commenting on the films. Jennifer is charismatic; Weston is precocious. The banter is irrepressible and irresistible.

Some of the segments also incorporate subtle details specific to each movie. In the intro for the 1921 Charlie Chaplin film “The Kid,” mom and son are sitting on the stoop at the Community Center and mimicking a famous poster of Chaplin sitting on a stoop himself. In a segment for the 1939 Shirley Temple movie “The Little Princess,” the duo toasts with Shirley Temple mocktails.

Perhaps most amazingly, in the intro for the 1928 silent film “Steamboat Bill, Jr.,” Weston wears a pork pie hat once worn by Buster Keaton, the star of the film and an iconic silent film star of his generation.

The hat came from Keaton’s granddaughter, Melissa Cox, who lives in Cloverdale.

Cox, who is 72, said Churchill’s interest in her grandfather’s legacy made her happy, especially as there aren’t many people paying attention to silent films these days.

“There aren’t many avenues for young kids to see this stuff,” Cox said. “(Jennifer) is making sure that the movies are available and approachable for kids to see them and understand all of the little things that made them special.”

Books on the horizon

The Film Detective has started marketing the first episode of “Classic Films For Kids” in anticipation of the April 2 debut with ads that feature Churchill and Weston together.

Churchill said she’ll be hosting a premiere party in Sonoma to celebrate the kickoff of the new series.

Beyond that, a “Director’s Cut” version of her original “Movies are Magic” book is being published this spring and will include more history and a teacher/homeschooling guide. Churchill also expects to publish a new book in the next year, “Classic Films for Kids A to Z: Here’s Looking at You, Kid,” featuring quotes from some of the celebrities she has met.

As Churchill creates more content about classic films, she is raising her profile as an expert of the genre.

Kathryn Hecht, executive director of AV Film, which was formerly known as the Alexander Valley Film Society, described Churchill’s mission to share her love of classic film as “refreshing” and applauded Churchill’s efforts to reach a younger audience.

“She contextualizes the genre with a contemporary blend of optimism, nostalgia and parenthood,” Hecht said. “As cinema continues to transform, the classics root us in a shared history of visual storytelling; one from which we learned to articulate our unique worldview, sense of humor and self-awareness. They may seem simple, but these early films capture critical commentary on what it means to be human. They prove that we have always sought out the funny and the moving.”