04/18/05

LC050418

This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City
of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

The network television producer who's dedicated his life to
documenting poverty.

Gerard Straub>> "I think it's what motivated me, you know, to
want to do films like this, to tell the story of the poor, to
bring the poor to you so that you could see it, you could
experience something that you wouldn't normally experience."

Val>> And then, while his contemporaries explored op, pop and
abstract art, sculptor Robert Graham stayed true to his first
love: the human form.

It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> Hollywood often brings us stories of people who have gone
from rags to riches, but this story is the opposite. It's about
a successful Hollywood producer who was making more than half a
million dollars a year. Now he can barely pay his mortgage and
it's his own choice. Gerard Straub was producing soap operas.
Now he's filming some of the world's poorest citizens in squalid
conditions. A word of warning. You may find images of disease
disturbing. Hena Cuevas has our story.

Martin Sheen>> "In these slums, misery is the daily bread. The
bloated belly of poverty knows no relief."

Hena Cuevas>> Gerard Straub's documentaries are nothing less
than eye-opening. From visiting lepers in Brazil --

Martin Sheen>> "The horror of leprosy is a reality in the
Amazon region of Brazil. Shockingly, this area is home to
45,000 lepers who struggle for survival."

Hena Cuevas>> -- to spending almost a year with the homeless in
Los Angeles's Skid Row.

Gerard Straub>> "My name is Gerard Straub. This is my city.
Yet until recently, I had no idea so many people lived in such
suffocating squalor in the shadow of such astounding affluence."

Hena Cuevas>> But before he started traveling all over the
world with his camera, Straub was making thousands of dollars a
week as a television network producer.

Gerard Straub>> You know, actually I never had any intention of
making a documentary. I mean, I'm a soap opera producer. I've
done, you know, dramas on the networks. It was the furthest
thing from my mind.

Hena Cuevas>> Then in 1995, Straub, a self-proclaimed atheist,
went to Rome to research a novel he was writing. He went into
an empty church to take a break.

Gerard Straub>> I went into the church actually just to sit
down. I didn't go in to pray. I sat down and I saw this prayer
book there and I picked it up and opened it randomly and there
was this Psalm 63, a soul searching for God. I didn't hear any
voices or anything. It just seemed like I was immersed in this
sea of love. I mean, something happened and I didn't understand
it and at first I thought, oh, this is just jet lag or
something.

Hena Cuevas>> But it wasn't. It turned into what he calls a
life-changing experience.

Gerard Straub>> I began to understand that I could put the
power of film at the service of the poor.

Hena Cuevas>> He's made five documentaries in some of the most
destitute countries of the world, this one from El Salvador.

Gerard Straub>> "This is all, you know, the waste. This shack
is a fairly typical slum dwelling. Twenty-two people live in
this house. There are two small rooms and a kitchen."

Gerard Straub>> I know the people. They're real to me and I
spent enough time with the people that I was able to enter into
a relationship and I think that's the secret of how I get, you
know, really good stuff. I tell people that I don't take
pictures. I try to receive pictures.

Hena Cuevas>> This approach helped him when he took on the Los
Angeles Skid Row project called "Rescue Me". He spent over six
months on the streets to earn the trust of the subjects, like
Loretta whom he met at the beginning.

Gerard Straub>> "This is Loretta. When I first met her, she
was new to living on the streets. How long have you been living
here?"

Loretta>> "Oh, I guess about a month and a half, something like
that."

Gerard Straub>> "What happened?"

Loretta>> "It's a long story. One day I'll be able to tell it,
hopefully."

Gerard Straub>> I found people who would walk with me and spent
as much time as I could and at all hours of the night until
eventually, you know, the homeless people began to recognize me.
I wasn't just coming in and taking a few shots and running.
Because everyone exploits them, even the media.

Hena Cuevas>> Some of the images he captures are haunting.
Some people may find them very disturbing, like the story of
little Moses from El Salvador.

Gerard Straub>> "This is Moses. Moses has an incurable
blistering disease."

Gerard Straub>> When I was editing the little Moses section, my
editor who works on a primetime CBS show and -- I mean, he was
so distressed that, you know, he had to stop. As I'm watching,
I thought to myself, well, how did I do this? I don't know what
it is. I think there's maybe a grace.

Gerard Straub>> "Yet all the suffering in the world for me was
embodied in this one small fragile boy. Moses is, without a
doubt, the saddest person I've ever seen including the many
lepers I encountered in Brazil."

Gerard Straub>> I think I'm able to do it because I know that
I'm not like doing this to exploit little Moses for anything. I
truly believe in the bottom of my heart that these films can
help, if not Moses, but someone else, some other kids.

Hena Cuevas>> There's also one of the documentaries where the
emotion was just so strong that you decided to actually talk
about it on camera.

Gerard Straub>> That was in Tijuana, Mexico.

Gerard Straub>> "There's something that hits me so deeply when
I come to a garbage dump like this and see human beings picking
through the garbage. I think it's what motivated me, you know,
to want to do films like this, tell the story of the poor, to
bring the poor to you so that you could see it, you can
experience something that you wouldn't normally experience."

Hena Cuevas>> What he's witnessed has even had an impact on his
health, sending him on one occasion to see a doctor.

Gerard Straub>> His diagnosis was, you know, post traumatic
stress syndrome because I had taken so much in and seen so many
really, really hard things that I couldn't deal with it.

Hena Cuevas>> And in the process of helping the poor, he's
exhausted his own resources.

Gerard Straub>> I have to raise every penny myself. That's
truly the most exhausting part. You have to get the films out.
People have to see them. I mean, most people who do any kind of
technical work on the films will work for far lower than their
normal pay.

Hena Cuevas>> Others have helped because he simply asked.

Gerard Straub>> Martin Sheen I met in a church one day, an
empty church. I'm sitting there and I just went up and started
talking to him and he had a common love for helping the people
in the Philippines and he volunteered to narrate the film, so
that really kicked in into overdrive.

Martin Sheen>> "Hunger has no borders nor does it
discriminate."

Hena Cuevas>> You've been doing this for three years. How do
you come to grips with the realities that you're filming and
that you're working with?

Gerard Straub>> I don't get depressed so much because I also
know there's great joy in these places and people have great
faith. There's also an amazing spirit of resiliency with the
people.

Martin Sheen>> "Moments before taking photographs of this
elderly female leper whose life is overwhelmingly difficult and
lonely, Gerard Straub asked her how she was doing. Her answer
stunned him. "Very, very good, praise be to God."

Hena Cuevas>> How much longer will you continue doing this?

Gerard Straub>> As long as I'm able to stand. I just feel such
passion for this. You know, I've never been so fulfilled in my
entire life. Working at the networks, I could make a ton of
money, have a lot of power and prestige. That meant nothing.

Hena Cuevas>> Straub says he's two mortgage payments away from
losing his house. Still, he firmly believes his mission in life
is to make sure the forgotten poor are always remembered. I'm
Hena Cuevas for Life and Times.

Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and
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and Times".

Toni Guinyard>> The Salvation Army Harbor Light Center is a
drug and alcohol rehabilitation program for men. It's been
serving the Los Angeles community for more than fifty years.
Its Executive Director is a man who was once a client here and
now he's telling his story talking about how he went from living
on the streets to turning his life around.

Conrad Watson>> "How you doing, guys? Good to see you. How
you doing?"

Toni Guinyard>> Where do you believe your story began?

Conrad Watson>> Well, actually, I think it begins when I was in
the Air Force. At that time, you know, I was eighteen years
old. I went in and I started drinking. As a result of
drinking, I started getting myself into trouble. Breaking
restriction -- nothing serious. I did finish school and became
an aircraft electrician and was on flying status for a while.
But for some reason, when I would go into town, I couldn't get
back on time. As a result of that, I got a couple of court-
martials and eventually wound up with a bad conduct discharge.
Then when I came back home, it just escalated. A little over
twenty years ago, I was in such bad shape that I wound up on
Skid Row and you would not have recognized me during that time.

Toni Guinyard>> When you talk about this part of your life, do
people look at you like you've got to be kidding?

Conrad Watson>> Yes, they do. In fact, there was a time in my
sobriety when I was about twelve or fifteen years sober that I
said, well, maybe I ought to just not tell people my rotten
story because they always say, Conrad, I can't imagine you ever
living like that or being in that kind of predicament. But
certainly if there is any doubt in anyone's mind that God is not
in the business of miracles, I'm one.

Toni Guinyard>> Why do you say that?

Conrad Watson>> Well, because I had given up on ever having a
decent life. In fact, I had resigned myself that if I could
just maintain a fleabag hotel room and something to get high on
or something to drink, so be it. But I had accepted Christ when
I was about twelve years old. Even though I had drifted away
like the prodigal sons and daughters do, He never left me. So
certainly I was able to come in to the Salvation Army Harbor
Light Center and I had to come in three times before it finally
clicked that I could have a good life.

Conrad Watson>> "All right, and you?"

>> "Twenty-one days."

Conrad Watson>> "Twenty-one days, all right. Hang in there.
Don't leave before the miracle happens."

>> "Oh, I won't."

Conrad Watson>> That was the turning point for me.

Toni Guinyard>> It also had an impact on your past with the Air
Force, did it not?

Conrad Watson>> Yes. That was the amazing thing because I had
given up at ever getting my bad conduct discharge upgraded. We
have a veterans program here at the Harbor Light Center.
Someone said to me, you know, Conrad, you ought to see if you
can get your discharge upgraded because during the time that I
was in the service, alcoholism wasn't considered a disease. It
was just considered a screw-up. So they applied on my behalf
and, just a couple of months ago, I received an honorable
discharge.

Conrad Watson>> "Ed Jones here, in fact, he's Reverend Jones,
is the one that was instrumental in helping me go after
upgrading my discharge. He wrote many letters and he got many
rejections before it finally happened, so I'm grateful to Ed for
helping me."

Toni Guinyard>> What does this signify? What does it really
mean to you as far as how far you've come in life?

Conrad Watson>> Well, I'll tell you, this is like the final
thing that I had regretted, having left the service under those
circumstances, because I felt that I had done a good job and I
had served my country well. You know, I was just an all-around
screw-up, but I didn't do anything really dishonorable. So this
was kind of like coming full-cycle to finally receive an
honorable discharge.

Toni Guinyard>> What's the message here or the lesson that
you've learned in your life that helps you with the people
you're working with now?

Conrad Watson>> Well, I think the biggest lesson is that as
long as there is breath, there is hope and sometimes I think we
give up on people too quickly. Certainly I had no aspirations
in my disease of ever being where I am today. So that's the
message that we try to impart to other men and women who come in
to the program. No matter how far down the scale you've gone,
there is still hope if you're willing to work for it.

In fact, I really don't know any dumb alcoholics or addicts.
Alcoholics and addicts are individuals who are multi-talented.
It's just a matter of learning how to turn and channel that
energy in a positive way versus a negative one. It's amazing.
In fact, my story is just one of many amazing stories. The
Salvation Army Harbor Light Center is full of people like Conrad
Watson who were lost and who have now come in and turned their
lives around.

Conrad Watson>> "Certainly you guys are going to be me twenty
years from now, right?"

Conrad Watson>> Sometimes I think people think that we're
running kind of a flophouse, but the Salvation Army Harbor Light
runs well-structured, organized programs that are licensed and
certified by the state. This is a program that will do intake
24-7. In other words, we will take the person in around the
clock, no matter what. If they're ready to get help, our doors
are open for them.

Conrad Watson>> "How's it going? How you doing, sir? How long
you been here?"

>> "Twelve days."

Conrad Watson>> "Twelve days. You think that this is a good
decision?"

>> "Definitely."

Conrad Watson>> "You're in a lot better shape than I was when I
got here, so if it can work for me, it can definitely work for
you. I'll tell you, anything that we can do to get the message
out to the public that there is hope and that individuals, men
and women, can turn their lives around, it's a good thing, it's
a good thing."

Toni Guinyard>> As we see people out on Skid Row, what should
we in the general public think about? What should we consider?

Conrad Watson>> Well, I think what we want the general public
to know is that these are not individuals who do not want to be
helped. These are individuals who have not learned how to reach
out and accept the help. Through the support of programs like
this, for those of us who have been there and know how to reach
out and get these people finally to make the decision to turn
their lives around, there is no worthier cause than to do that.

Toni Guinyard>> Mr. Conrad Watson, thank you so much for
spending a little time with Life and Times.

Conrad Watson>> It's my pleasure. I'm just so grateful for the
opportunity to let people know that people can turn their lives
around. Thank you for interviewing me.

To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us
by mail at this address:

Life and Times
4401 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90027

You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or
contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org.

Val>> He is a world-renowned artist at the top of his field.
His name is Robert Graham and, unlike other artists who
experimented with abstract forms or conceptual art, Graham
stayed true to his first love: the human form. For more than
forty years, he has mastered human anatomy in all its exquisite
details. I got a chance to talk to Robert Graham as an
extensive exhibition of his work opened at the Ace Gallery in
Beverly Hills. It is called "The Female Form".

[Film Clip]

Val>> From metaphysical to physical, from massive to miniature,
from public monuments to personal portraits. Artist Robert
Graham is fascinated with the human body.

Robert Graham>> The human body has got everything in it. It's
got everything that I am interested in and, without making a
list which is pretty impossible, it's infinite and, you know,
that's enough for me.

Val>> It is the female form that is the focus of this exhibit,
a collection of more than fifty pieces, some of them never seen
publicly before. He does not consider them statues, but rather
three-dimensional portraits, each capturing the uniqueness of
the models, Lees, Heather, Clara and Elisa.

Robert Graham>> It's really easy to say that they're all nude
and they're doing this and that, but what is important to me is
that they're all portraits. They're all portraits of that
person and they happen to be nude.

Val>> This is the most complete exhibition of Graham's work to
date, but to see a more complete portrait of the artist, you
have to go to public places like the Cathedral of Our Lady of
the Angels. An angel haloed by the sky floats above doors
twenty feet high weighing ten tons. Forty squares contain
symbols of Christianity and ancient cultures. It took Graham
five years and a team of two hundred to bring it to fruition.

Robert Graham>> All their names are on the doors. It's
something that, you know, every one of them at every level made
it happen.

Val>> Graham's work is seen in cities across the United States.
In Detroit, a bold right arm hangs in tribute to prize fighter,
Joe Lewis. In New York, jazz great Duke Ellington is surrounded
by nine muses. In San Jose, the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl anchors
Cesar Chavez Plaza. And in numerous Los Angeles locations,
Graham's work lends a silent nobility to the sites.

Robert Graham Pena was born in Mexico City. His father died
when he was six. He remembers his grandmother taking him to see
the spectacular monuments, cathedrals and murals of Mexico City.
When he was eleven, his family moved to San Jose.

Robert Graham>> This room has got some drawings that I did of
my model Clara.

Val>> His talent for drawing was apparent as a child. He went
on to study art in San Francisco and it was not long before his
sculptures were winning attention. In the early 1970's, Graham
moved to Venice where he still works and lives today. His
earliest pieces in the exhibition are from the 1970's, miniature
nudes carved in wax or figures placed in relation to a mirror.

Robert Graham>> The mirror is in equal distance to the two
figures to create a third figure in the middle and that was
something that I've been using for a long time in terms of
mirror images. Like the angels are complete mirror images.
Well, the angels were first intended to be on the doors of the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. By herself was enough.

[Film Clip]

Val>> It was in 1984 that Robert Graham burst onto the public
consciousness with the unveiling of the Olympic Gateway, a
portal to the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Mayor Tom Bradley>> "So it's an indication that our culture is
very much alive in Los Angeles. We're proud of the contribution
which Graham has made to that."

Val>> But it's hard to be the force behind so much public art
without also being a target. In Detroit, the twenty-four foot
long arm was viewed by some whites as a symbol of black power
more than a tribute to Joe Lewis. In San Jose, the plumed
serpent was viewed by some as un-Christian.

Reporter>> "The plumed serpent Quetzalcoatl has caused quite a
stir. Some Christian fundamentalists claim the statue
represents demonic forces."

Reporter>> "A federal judge has already ruled this statue is a
work of art, not a religious object."

Reporter>> "Now can you say something about your work?"

Robert Graham>> "It's too emotional. Let someone else talk
about it."

Val>> But over time, controversies fade and art endures.

Robert Graham>> The authorship of the artist is not important
in that sense because nobody really cares who made these things
as long as they work. It doesn't mean that I don't have an ego
(laughter). I have a big one. You know, it's just that that's
not what's going to last.

Val>> In the early 1980's, Graham tried something completely
different. He designed a home for his friends and patrons, the
Domeney's. It was featured in Architectural Digest. Despite
the acclaims, he returned to his first love: the human figure.
Graham knew that art could change lives and, after the Los
Angeles riots of 1992, he hired eight former gang members as
apprentices, teaching them the difficult process of casting in
bronze. They made three thousand torsos and raised more than
$700,000 for arts education.

Robert Graham>> And these all have names. You can see on the
walls who they are and, again, very specific portraits.

Val>> In the center of this gallery is a bronze of Robert
Graham's wife, actress Anjelica Huston. Graham's exploration of
the human figure continues to evolve. In the exhibition, he
displays not only sculpture, but drawings, videos and
photographs.

Robert Graham>> I did the series of like all these dancing
things. These are part of trying to see things that were
influenced by the photographs that I was taking, the way the
flesh moves, you know, as you're spinning around. There's
nothing static on it. You can see like that is not any more
real than that.

Val>> Graham is often short on words even when he's receiving
one of many awards and honors.

Robert Graham>> "I'm very honored by this. Thank you very
much."

Val>> But then words are not Robert Graham's currency. He is
an artist whose medium is metal and his message is strength and
beauty.

[Film Clip]

Val>> "The Female Form" is on display at the Ace Gallery in
Beverly Hills through May 7. And that's our program. I'm Val
Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching.
We'll see you next time.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

This program was made possible in part by a grant from the City
of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Vicki Curry>> Next time on Life and Times --

It's a win-win-win situation, a landlord-tenant relationship
that benefits landlords, tenants and society.

>> This is a team effort. It's not just us owning the building
and you're living here and we're taking money from you. This is
a team effort where we want to build something.

>> Miracles come to life here.

>> Really? Why?

>> Because of the children we help.

Vicki Curry>> That's next time on Life and Times.