FLICKS FILM AND VIDEO FILE : A Bigger Role : Board hopes to bring more movie business to the county. Meanwhile, Oxnard is chosen as site for two summer productions.
Guess who showed up at the Ventura County Film Commission’s first advisory board meeting last week? Paul Newman. The screenplay writer from Fillmore, not the actor.
Newman was one of 16 men and women--a mix of business people and those just interested in the film business--who would like to see the county attract more movie production.
Commission President Karen Wolfe said Oxnard was recently chosen as the site for the filming of two movies this summer. Both films--”Love Stinks” and “Bikini Summer”--will take advantage of Oxnard’s beaches.
Wolfe said crews from each of the productions will spend about eight weeks in the city, and the commission is trying to find beach homes they can use during their stay.
Lights, camera, more movie action: If you thought you saw some rather spooky folks wandering around Yale Street in Santa Paula Monday night, you probably did. A film crew from “The Addams Family” (Paramount), a movie about the odd, but popular TV family of the 1960s, was there through the night.
The film stars Anjelica Huston as Morticia and Raul Julia as Gomez. Release is planned for late this year.
It’s been about four months since the most recent closure of the old Mayfair Theatre on Santa Clara Street in Ventura. If you remember, a Los Angeles businessman had tried to turn the place into a revival theater but failed, the venture lasting all of one month.
The theater remains closed. In fact, it looks exactly as it did when it shut down, down to the sign behind the candy counter advertising what movies will be “Coming soon--Dec. 5 . . . “ But the building might open again soon.
Ethel Edwards of Walnut Properties, the Los Angeles business that owns the building, said several people have shown interest in it. But she wouldn’t say what any of those potential renters intended to do with the building. Stay tuned.
“Ghost” is still running strong in the local video rental race, but it’s not the only popular movie around. Here’s a list of the five most frequently rented videos at three Ventura County stores.
At Super Star Video in Oxnard: “Ghost,” “Child’s Play 2,” “Shrimp on the Barbie,” “Presumed Innocent” and “Die Hard II.”
At The Video Station in Camarillo: “Ghost,” “Presumed Innocent,” “Narrow Margin,” “Pacific Heights” and “Marked for Death.”
At Starr Video World in Simi Valley: “Young Guns II,” “Ghost,” “Pacific Heights,” “Presumed Innocent” and “Memphis Belle.”
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