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Spencer’s Restaurant Honored in Palm Springs Life’s Best of the Best Competition

August 14, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Spencer's Restaurant Palm Springs

Palm Springs Life Magazine has named their Best of the Best 2024 and Spencer’s Restaurant has won multiple categories! Every Spring, the magazine invites the …

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Palm Springs International Film Awards Announces Silvercrest as New Presenting Sponsor

October 16, 2024July 31, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Harold Matzner at the Palm Springs Film Awards

The Palm Springs International Film Society has announced a new Presenting Sponsor for the Palm Springs Film Awards; Silvercrest! Silvercrest is a Palm Springs based …

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Harold Matzner Honors Retiring McCallum Theater Artistic Director Mitch Gershenfeld

October 16, 2024July 24, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Harold Matzner and Willie Nelson at the McCallum Theater

As Former Board Chairman, Harold Matzner extends his deepest gratitude and friendship to Mitch Gershenfeld for his 25 years at the McCallum Theater. Their collaboration …

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Palm Springs ShortFest is a Hub of Networking and Learning

July 18, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Harold Matzner at Palm Springs ShortFest

The Palm Springs International Film Society’s ShortFest showcases hundreds of the best in short films every year. Not only does the festival give out Oscar-qualifying …

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Spring 2024 Philanthropy Round-Up

July 8, 2024 by Harold Matzner
The Chase

Harold Matzner is proud to support the desert’s many nonprofits that strengthen our Coachella Valley community, including these four events from this Spring: On February …

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Happy Birthday, Harold!

July 4, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Illustrations by Barry Falls for Palm Springs Life Magazine

Happy Birthday, Harold! (Yes, he really was born on the 4th of July.) Thank you for all you do at Palm Springs International Film Festival, …

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2024 ShortFest Winners Qualify for the Academy Awards

June 28, 2024 by Harold Matzner
ShortFest 2024 Award Winners

The best part of the Palm Springs International ShortFest each year is announcing the winners of the Oscar-qualifying short films. First, those filmmakers are excited …

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The Palm Springs International ShortFest: A Brief History

June 17, 2024 by Harold Matzner
The History of Palm Springs ShortFest

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Palm Springs International ShortFest, Palm Springs  Life has put together a history of the festival, which runs June …

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We’ve announced the Palm Springs International ShortFest lineup!

June 13, 2024June 10, 2024 by Harold Matzner
We’ve announced the Palm Springs International ShortFest lineup!

We’ve announced the full lineup of programming for this year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival’s ShortFest! Our film talent includes Francesca Scorsese, Bella Thorne, Emma …

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Palm Springs International Film Society Receives Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

June 7, 2024June 5, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Palm Springs International Film Society Receives Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

The Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Immediate Past Chairman Harold Matzner is pleased to celebrate that The Palm Springs International Film Society has been awarded …

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Palm Springs International Film Society Expands Youth Programs in the Coachella Valley

June 7, 2024May 14, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Palm Springs International Film Society Expands Youth Programs in the Coachella Valley

The Palm Springs International Film Society is expanding its youth programs for students in the Coachella Valley. Alumni from the Palm Springs International ShortFest and …

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Shag Designs the Palm Springs International ShortFest’s 2024 Poster

June 7, 2024May 8, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Shag Designs the Palm Springs International ShortFest’s 2024 Poster

This week, we unveiled this year’s stylish ShortFest poster- designed by Palm Springs art star Shag! This year’s design honors the festival’s 30th anniversary and …

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Harold Matzner and Spencer’s Restaurant Featured in the Spring 2024 Issue of ‘P.S. I Love You’ Magazine

May 1, 2024 by Harold Matzner
Harold Matzner, founder of Spencer's Restaurant in Palm Springs

The Spring 2024 Issue of P.S. I Love You Magazine is out, and you can find a familiar face in its pages! The Foodie issue …

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Categories Palm Springs, Spencer's

Celebrate the Palm Springs International ShortFest’s 30th Anniversary with Us!

October 16, 2024April 23, 2024 by Harold Matzner
ShortFest Returns for 30th Year

The Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Immediate Past Chairman Harold Matzner ispleased to announce that The Palm Springs International ShortFest is returning for its 30th …

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Get Ready for The McCallum Theatre’s 2024-2025 Season!

April 19, 2024 by Harold Matzner
The McCallum Theater's 2024-2025 Season

The McCallum Theatre has announced its 2024-2025 season, and it’s going to be dazzling!Best of all, we get two more months of theater! The McCallum …

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Harold Matzner
Entrepreneur, humanitarian, and philanthropist, Harold Matzner, has made his home in the desert for more than 30 years. The owner of Palm Spring’s popular Spencer’s Restaurant and CEO of a NY/NJ based branding, advertising and marketing company, Harold is credited with revitalizing the Palm Springs International Film Festival and founding the successful business concept of targeted “shared mail”.
In 2017, the year of his 80th birthday, Harold was one of the eleven men and women selected nationally by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans as a member and inducted by Judge Clarence Thomas in the courtroom of the United States Supreme Court. Harold was also honored with a special 24-standard page birthday section in the The Desert Sun and a two-part front page story in Palm Springs Life in the November and December editions. He was honored in November 2017 by the General Patton Memorial Museum with the dedication of the Matzner Tank Pavilion and three World War II operating tanks, and in the same month was honored by the McCallum Theatre for 10 years of service as Chairman and for being the first person to give the Theatre $5 million or more.
He also rescued and revived the world famous Palm Springs Tennis Club and turned its lunchroom into Spencer’s, one of the City’s hottest see-and-be-seen restaurants. Spencer’s is named after his beloved 110-pound Siberian husky. Mr. Matzner is in his 11th year as the Chairman of the Board of the McCallum Theatre, his 14th year as Chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and is the long-time Executive Vice Chairman of the Palm Springs Art Museum. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Eisenhower Medical Center and Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center. He also chairs several charity fundraising events each year.
He has received many awards from the charities that he supports. He has been honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals as the “Philanthropist of the Year”, and for the past six years he has served as Honorary Chair of the local National Philanthropy Day event. He has also been recognized by Gilda’s Club as the “Man of the Year”, by the McCallum Muses as “Man of the Year”, the City of Palm Springs with the “Richard M. Milanovich Community Service Award”, as “Angel of the Year” by Angel View Children’s Foundation, as “Businessperson of the Year” by the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Waring “Lifetime Achievement Award”, “Richard M. Milanovich Humanitarian Award” by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and by Desert Samaritan’s as “Samaritan of the Year”, and will be honored in May by the Coachella Valley Symphony, to name a few. Mr. Matzner has been a benefactor to many other non-profits, both here and on the East coast.
Mr. Matzner is one of the Palm Springs valley’s largest donors to philanthropy and has contributed more than $70 million to area non-profits since 2000. Among the many local charities benefiting from his philanthropic efforts are the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center, AIDS Assistance Program, Desert Symphony, American Cancer Society, The Living Desert, Cabot’s Pueblo Museum, Coachella Valley Symphony, General Patton Memorial Museum, ACT for MS, College of the Desert, Eisenhower Medical Center, Desert AIDS Project, Desert Cancer Foundation, Palm Springs Animal Shelter, Jewish Family Services of the Desert, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), StandWithUs, Neuro Vitality Center, Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre, Temple Isaiah, Bighorn BAM (Behind a Miracle), Tools for Tomorrow, Palm Springs Air Museum, Mizell Senior Center, Well in the Desert, FIND Food Bank, Pegasus Riding Academy, LGBTQ The Center, Equality California, and the Human Rights Campaign.
He is credited with the key leadership role in creating Palm Springs’ Measure J (a 1% sales tax increase that has helped to fund a $200 million downtown revitalization program, while providing an additional surplus of $12 million per year to rebuild the city’s infrastructure). He is a community activist. He earns no money from any of his activities in Palm Springs, including his restaurant, Spencer’s.
Mr. Matzner’s star is located at the foot of his friend Sonny Bono’s statue in the heart of Palm Springs.

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Harold Matzner

In 2017, the year of his 80th birthday, Harold was one of the eleven men and women selected nationally by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans as a member and inducted by Judge Clarence Thomas.

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Recent Posts

  • Cheers to you on your 88th birthday, Harold! July 4, 2025
  • 2025 Palm Springs ShortFest Announces Oscar-Eligible Winners July 2, 2025
  • 2025 Palm Springs International ShortFest Will Screen Over 300 Films June 17, 2025
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