Chamber board president uses pirate-themed backyard for fundraising events
Published in the Oct. 30, 2013 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Rich Firato is well known for turning his home into Morgan’s Cove, an “island oasis” for wannabe buccaneers. His backyard includes a treasure cave, a poppy jasper mine, and a pirate ship named the Lady Morgan. Now he wants to create a reality TV show about his band of outrageously off-beat “pirates” in Morgan Hill.
For the last several months, Firato, the owner of a local janitorial service and chairman of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, has worked with Gilroy filmmaker Robert Krueger in filming his swashbucklers and editing a pilot for a potential reality television show. The show shares with viewers the story of how Morgan’s Cove was created and how his gang of pirate-obsessed friends go “treasure hunting” at estate sales and garage sales for items to add to the effect of his Disneyland-like pirate getaway.
“Basically, I wanted to make compelling television in the reality TV world where viewers are engaged in what we’re doing as pirates and it’s real and it’s funny and it’s spontaneous,” Firato said. “We want to go out and do something that’s fun for people to watch but also helps Morgan Hill.”
At the same time they were putting together the reality TV show, Firato and Krueger produced a 37-minute documentary film titled “The Pirates of Morgan’s Cove” about Firato’s pirate dream home and how it is often used as a fundraising venue for local nonprofit organizations. The documentary will be shown at the Poppy Jasper International Short Film Festival at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Granada Theater in downtown Morgan Hill.
Firato hopes that a producer, director or screenwriter who attends this year’s Poppy Jasper might learn about his plan for a “Pirates of Morgan’s Cove” reality TV show and visit the Cove to see his elaborate swashbuckler-themed enterprise.
“The key now is getting lucky and finding the right producer with a vision who can see what we’re trying to do,” he said. “If we can connect with them and make compelling and funny television based around Morgan’s Cove and what we do for the community, I think we might have something special.”
Photo by Marty Cheek
Rich Firato, Michael Killingsworth and Trevor Rock in the Cabana Club. The three men who were instrumental in the creation of Morgan’s Cove enjoy the view.
Firato and his pirate crew will also participate in the Morgan Hill Kiwanis Club annual Halloween night Kiwanis Pirate Cove ghost-walk tour as part of the downtown’s Safe Trick or Treat event. The tour is appropriate for young children. It begins on Third Street in the vacant lot next to Huntington Station restaurant. The Kiwanis request a $1 donation for admission. Proceeds go to local student scholarships. The pirates will do battle on a ship as part of the ghost walk.
Morgan Hill electrician Trevor Rock served as a producer of the Pirates of Morgan’s Cove TV show and documentary. He described both projects as being entertaining because of the concept of quirky characters playing pirates in a modern-day Silicon Valley community.
“Morgan’s Cove is a pirate island oasis,” Rock said. “We’re pirates. It’s not only just make-believe. It’s a reality over at the Cove. You really step into the pirate world. I’m a huge Peter Pan fan, I love Peter Pan, and so to even go that route is a lot of fun.”
Firato’s janitorial operations assistant Michael Killingsworth serves as the narrator of the documentary on Morgan’s Cove. His gravelly voice adds a pirate-like element to the film.
“One of the shoots, I was up on the boat and introducing the show — ‘welcome to Morgan’s Cove’ — and Trevor and our producer’s son held reflectors that they were shining into my face because they wanted the light to get rid of the shadows,” Killingsworth recalled. “I get home at night… and I look in the mirror and see my face and I’m as red as a lobster.”
Tim Barci, a San Jose-based tile setter, has a role in the documentary film describing how he gave the Firatos the idea for a “little pirate oasis” in the backyard when they were remodeling in the summer of 2000. He is amazed at how his idea grew into such a major enterprise, including a potential reality TV show. “It’s pretty neat,” Barci said. “I’m glad Rich is doing something like that. Anything that helps give back to Morgan Hill is great.”
Firato’s neighbor friend Jon Mockabee, who often gets involved as a Morgan’s Cove pirate, thinks a pirate reality TV show has a chance of being a hit.
“Ever since Rich mentioned the potential show, I started watching reality TV,” he said. “And the ones that are the most successful have a core group of folks that are quirky. You’d be shocked at how big ‘Duck Dynasty’ is. They have guys on that show that are just as quirky as these (pirate) guys. The treks the pirates make in finding treasure… It’s like the Three Stooges. It’s all really funny.”
