Sam Rodia will be remembered as one of the greatest sculptors
        of the Twentieth Century.    - R. Buckminster Fuller

"I Build the Tower"

The Life and Work of Sam Rodia


The definitive feature-length documentary
on the Watts Towers in South Central Los Angeles

Written, directed and produced by
Edward Landler and Brad Byer

Over about thirty years, Sabato ("Sam") Rodia, an artisan living in one of the poorest parts of Los Angeles, built a mosaic fantasia in spires of reinforced cement rising to almost one hundred feet.  Once slated for demolition by the City Building Department, Rodia's towers became a symbol of the "have-not" community in which they stand and are now recognized throughout the world as a unique embodiment of the structural principles found in nature.

With Rodia great-nephew Brad Byer's exclusive access to family members and materials (including audiotapes of Rodia himself) and independent filmmaker Edward Landler's long association with the Watts community, the film draws together the story of this uncommon "common man" and his extraordinary creation.  Production has included shooting in Rodia's southern Italian birthplace, in the San Francisco Bay area where Rodia lived before and after his years in Los Angeles, and, of course, at the Watts Towers.

NOW an eighty-seven minute fine-cut of the project has been completed. The family and archival stills and documents have been secured and edited in. The music track - based on Verdi aria themes - has been specially performed and recorded in classical arrangements by Robert Israel and in arrangements in the musical styles identified with the African-American and Latino communities of Watts  - blues, jazz, bebop, salsa, hip hop - by jazz pianist Nate Morgan. Only the final transfer back to film remains to be done.

Financial support has come from the National Endowment for the Arts, Olivetti, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the City of Los Angeles, the Lloyd E. Rigler-Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, the Golden Rule Foundation, the Peter Norton Family Foundation, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Italian Heritage Culture Foundation, Anheuser-Busch, First Los Angeles Bank, the Watts Willowbrook Rotary Foundation, Sunlaw Cogeneration Partners and numerous private contributors.  To date, about $195,000 has been spent on the project and about $15,000 is required to finish.

Checks should be made out to the International Documentary Association (I.D.A.), the project's non-profit fiscal sponsor.  "Watts Towers documentary" should be noted on the memo line.  Founded in 1982, the I.D.A. is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.

Address contributions and inquiries to:    
                                Edward Landler
                                Bench Movies
                                2505 West Silver Lake Drive
                                Los Angeles, CA.      90039
(323) 662-5353

Back to Watts Towers event