Rooted in Change: The Story of the Gottlieb Native Garden

By sharing the story of Susan Gottlieb and the extraordinary garden that she started 33 years ago, "Rooted In Change: The Story of the Gottlieb Native Garden" reveals the power of native plant gardens to combat climate change and species decline around the globe. While revealing Susan’s profound impact on the native garden movement in California and beyond, the film revels in the beauty of the natural world, taking us deep into the garden’s lush world of flora and fauna.

  • Gregory Ruzzin
    Director
    St. Declan's and THE MAGIC CHAIR, Lost Child?, Blue Skies are a Lie
  • Susan Gottlieb
    Producer
  • Diane Shader Smith
    Producer
    Salt in My Soul
  • Susan Gottlieb
    Key Cast
  • Scott Logan
    Key Cast
  • Doug Tallamy
    Key Cast
  • Eric Strauss
    Key Cast
  • Emerson Funes
    Key Cast
  • Emily Koonse
    Story Editor and Film Editor
    Apache Leap, The Gathering: Roots and Branches of Los Angeles Jazz, Lost Child?
  • David Reynolds
    Original Music
    St. Declan's and THE MAGIC CHAIR, Eveleigh, Free 2 Be Me, Climb, For The Birds, Lost Child?, The Contract, Dorfman in Love
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Environmental, science, ecology, Gardening
  • Runtime:
    56 minutes 48 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 12, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Gregory Ruzzin

Director Gregory Ruzzin is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and educator who teaches courses in fiction and documentary film directing at the Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television.

In 2022 Ruzzin was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for “SMALL WORLD THIS: Cycling, Climate Change, and Japan”, which explores the relationships between energy, cycling, and the natural environment. He produced 13 short films while in Japan and is currently editing a longer-form project filmed in Japan in 2022/23. He is also currently directing a film about the Gottlieb Native Garden in cooperation with the LMU Center for Urban Resilience and the Gottlieb Foundation.

His recent film “St. Declan’s and THE MAGIC CHAIR” (2024), made with and about the children of a school for children with disabilities in Dublin, Ireland, was released by Indie Rights Films in 2024 and awarded the Best Children’s Film award at the 2023 Helsinki Educational Film Festival International.

Helping his younger sister Alyssa, who lives with epilepsy and a developmental disability, tell her story in their documentary feature film “Lost Child?” (2012) marked a turning point in his career, luring Ruzzin from fiction into non-fiction storytelling. The film plays widely at universities and high schools and is distributed by Infobase Media/Films for the Humanities.

Ruzzin first fell in love with the movies while sitting in the dark listening to Jean-Michel Jarre on his Walkman and watching the silent Russian classics in one of his first film classes. A committed cyclist and bike commuter in a city known for its car-centric culture, he can often be found with his camera and his bike, meditating over the miles.

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Director Statement

"Rooted in Change: The Story of the Gottlieb Native Garden" marks a return to themes that I explored in much of my earlier work including my first feature film "Blue Skies are a Lie". Telling the story of Susan Gottlieb and the remarkable garden she created over 30 years ago, "Rooted in Change" invites audiences to lose themselves in the splendor of California native flora and fauna while highlighting how gardens such as Susan's can help humanity fight climate change and species decline across the globe. If you have ever doubted the possibility of one person to make a profound difference in the world then Susan's story - and her garden - are sure to inspire you.