Former Power 106 FM deejay Frank Lozano has been flying high as an actor ("Even Steven," commercials for Hyundai) since vacating his gig at L.A.'s top-rated urban hip-hop station four years ago. Last month he added "film director" to his resume, going airborne, to shoot the documentary "Walking High" about the youth flight school at Compton's Woodley Airport that helps kids stay out of gangs.
A teenager believing he needed more credits to graduate from Santa Ana's Continuation High School reluctantly joined classmates to group-direct the film "No Looking Back" in some of that city's tougher neighborhoods. Braving locations paled in comparison to having to learn his way around a set. Yet when the teen discovered he didn't need the credits after all, the filmmaking bug had already set in and he stayed the course.
Then there's Long Beach middle school teacher Mark Gentz, who figured exercises in filmmaking might help his charges develop more interest in math and science. The experiment helped him develop more interest in cinematography and editing, to the point he chalked up his own directorial debut, "The Decision."
Lozano, the Santa Ana teen and Gentz are three of over 50 professional and amateur "speed filmmakers" who took seven days in February to create a five- to 10-minute film based on various Bible verses as part of the Burbank-based 168 Hour Film Project's upcoming 5th annual 168 Film Festival Mar. 23-24 at the Stars Art and Alex Theatres here.
Fifty-eight teams, including ones from Kyrgyzstan and China, had one week to write their screenplays, followed by one week of production. A panel, including producer Ralph Winter ("X-Men") and director Cory Edwards ("Hoodwinked"), then judged the offerings to determine nominations in 15 categories such as best film, director, actor, etc.
Some 53 films, nominated or not, will have their world premieres Fri. and Sat. Mar. 23 & 24 at the Stars Art and Alex, respectively -- with a 9:30 p.m. awards celebration and dessert reception following the Saturday program at the Alex.
As dramatic as some of this year's entries may prove to be, so, too, are the stories of how the projects were completed on time at all, according to 168 founder and executive director John Ware.
"In Frank Lozano's case, he had a prior commitment to speak to school kids on the day he needed to lock his picture for his sound editor and composer," Ware said. "So he plugged his gear into the cigarette lighters in his car and had his girlfriend and line producer on the project, Arlene Sacco, drive while his fingers raced away on Final Cut Pro. We have affectionately dubbed Frank 'the freeway editor.'"
Chris Douridas had a teen daughter Marieke who won the best actress award at the 2006 168 fest but then died a few weeks later in a tragic accident. Determined to honor his daughter by making his own 168 film in 2007, Douridas, on the night verses were randomly assigned to the filmmakers, incredulously drew the Bible passage which tells of a synagogue official whose daughter had just died, and to whom Jesus said, "Do not fear, only believe." Come deadline day and thinking he had no more than a bunch of random clips, Douridas feared not, and with his sound editor, pulled together his film "The Wondering Kind" with an hour to spare.
Verses chosen for this year's "Decisions & Destiny" theme run the gamut from encouraging words and subtle ironies to the brutal realities of the human experience. "We've got a smart Great Britain entry, 'Public Interest,' about a photojournalist stalking a politician," Ware noted. "It illustrates a proverb about one's sphere of influence. We don't dictate genre, and it's always interesting to see how the verses manifest themselves."
Submissions include comedies about a Laurel and Hardy-type team attempting to outsmart the meter man ("Electricity" from Kyrgyzstan), online dating ("Fool4Luv"), and a cash-strapped televangelist ("Curb Your Evangelism"); and dramas dealing with hope and despair ("A Good Day") and the trauma of being mugged ("Give + Take").
Other foreign offerings include a Taiwanese production on high-stakes child care ("Alley Way") and a Russian story about a wayward Siberian's heritage ("Legend Beyond Freezing"). Children's films are represented well by a "Goonies"-like romp through an abandoned mental facility ("The Road to Asylum") and a cartoon about an aardvark posing as the family dog ("King Aardvark").
