Squidfry 02.11.21: Knowhere, Man

KNOWHERE, MAN… For a brief time in the early 2000s, Squid flounced off to work for Patch, an alleged community journalism site founded by three guys who neither cared much about community nor knew anything about journalism. The nationwide network of “hyperlocal” journalism sites was sold to AOL in 2009, a vast portion of the staff was laid off and it eventually fell into the hands of a distressed-asset hedge fund.

Squid recently heard from another cute journalism site that purports to be local and wanted to woo Squid with promises of journalistic freedom: Knowhere News, whose lengthy mission statement includes the idea that “access to high-quality information should not be restricted to only those who can pay” but has venture funding from venture capitalists who Squid has to believe want to make money somehow, plans on launching a Salinas outlet and wanted Squid to lead it.

Squid took a look at the job requirements: report, write and publish five stories a day, create and publish a newsletter five days a week and “coordinate product and growth teams to grow our audience.” Must be comfortable with tight deadlines and long hours – Squid LOL’d. Ah, a sweatshop!

Squid ain’t exactly sure what a product and growth team is, nor how to coordinate with one, but it sounds suspiciously like figuring out ways to suck up to advertisers so the venture capitalists can get paid.

STAR STRUCK… As we hit month 11 of sheltering-in-place, Squid was cruising through Netflix looking for anything new. There was Malcolm & Marie, a drama set in Malibu featuring Zendaya and John David Washington as a filmmaker who is too self-obsessed to appreciate his wife.

Only it didn’t quite look like Malibu – it looked like their swanky house was set somewhere closer to home. So Squid looked it up, and indeed Malcolm & Marie was filmed in the Caterpillar House at the Santa Lucia Preserve.

Director Sam Levinson and producer Ashley Levinson (a real-life husband-and-wife team, presumably with less drama than their fictional characters) had originally planned to shoot the film in Los Angeles – but then, pandemic. They couldn’t get a permit to film in their home county due to Covid-19 case numbers. So, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, they set out to find an alternative location to film over the summer “Monterey County was the only place in California at the time allowing shoots on private properties. ‘So it had to be Carmel,’” Levinson said per the Chronicle’s report.

Squid wishes Squid could get a permit to hang out at the Caterpillar House for a few days, oozing around the 33-acre property and admiring the architecture. Under SIP rules, Squid remains in the lair – but Squid is accepting invitations (for an outdoor-only hang) to the gated Preserve.