Movies are in his veins: By day, Harry Medved is in PR (at movie site Fandango). By night, he’s a film historian. (He’s co-authored two indispensable–and fun–guides to film location history, Hollywood Escapes and Location Shooting in Los Angeles.)
And now, he’s got a new one, Oak Park-about the Ventura County community he now calls home, which happens to have a storied history.
Oak Park is one of those gems you’ve never heard of unless you happen to have a friend like Medved, who defected from the west side and moved there with his family for its idyllic lifestyle. (A move he says he never imagined making.) A Native American site turned ranch owned by storied radio personalities turned into a planned country suburb back in the sixties, Oak Park has done a star turn in dozens of films: “Of Mice and Men,” “A Walk in the Sun,””Texas Across the River,” “Firecreek,” “Little Big Man,” “The Thing with Two Heads,” “Nickelodeon,” “Back to the Future III,” and”3 Ninjas” –to name a few. Watch a video of film clips shot on location in Oak Park, below:
Medved’s enthusiasm for the place will have you hankering to move–or to at least pay a visit. Listen to our conversation below: