An independent spirit

Mike Sciacca

Not many people find their passion in life.

Rocky Costanzo is one of the lucky few, who has.

The Huntington Beach native has made a successful segue from child

actor to that of his current role: director/producer. He stepped from

behind the cameras this week, however, and back into the camera’s

spotlight, as he takes his first feature film, Return to Innocence, to

the AngelCiti Film Festival & Market in Chicago.

Costanzo’s passion is to make films that encompass the human spirit,

covering a wide range of humanity: from the good to the bad to the

enlightening, to subject matter that at times, has been considered taboo.

“Return to Innocence,” a black and white piece with a running time of

98 minutes, is based on the controversial, true story novel written by

Gary M. Frazier. It is the story of a child psychologist whose life is

turned upside down when he is accused of sexually molesting a boy under

his care. The low-budget film has garnered promising reviews and is a

tale of love, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption. In addition, it

covers court proceedings involving the prosecution of a child sex abuse

case.

The criminal court reenactment was filmed at Santa Ana Municipal

Court.

“I had a little trepidation about the subject matter and wondered how

the public would react to the film,” he said. “But, we needed a film to

get the company, and me as a filmmaker, noticed. We have been noticed and

hope to get noticed even more as we attempt to get our film accepted on

the national tour circuit.”

The film’s subject matter does seem heavy fare for Costanzo, 28, who,

for three years, acted on the hit television series, “The Wonder Years.”

Other acting credits include “Evening Shade” and “What’s Love Got to Do

With It.” But it is a far cry from the time when Costanzo used to make

home videos with childhood friends.

He began acting at age 12, and it was while being on those sets,

Costanzo said, that his interests shifted from being in front of the

camera to working behind it.

“Watching them set the lighting and cameras, the workings behind the

scenes, those things really intrigued me,” he said. “After ‘The Wonder

Years’ series ended, I was going out on cattle calls. Endless cattle

calls. That was my turning point.”

Costanzo, a 1991 Marina High School graduate who said he “surfed the

waves and is very proud to have grown up in Huntington Beach,” went on to

attend the Hollywood Film Institute for a year, then created his own

production company, LifeLine Entertainment.

The company, in its infancy stages, hopes to attract attention in

Chicago with “Return to Innocence.” Film festivals are looking for

quality independent films, and because some “Indy” films are shot

low-budget, some aren’t of the best quality.

His film had its Los Angeles premiere in early May and received strong

reviews.

LifeLine Entertainment also has a strong Internet following, and

Costanzo is wishful that the film will go deep into the national tour

season.

New York could be next. The ultimate, he said, would be to receive an

invitation to what is considered the world’s premiere film festival:

Sundance.

“Our plan is to get into as many festivals as we can,” Costanzo said.

“Our goal, I guess you can say, is to get the film to the Sundance. Also,

to get the film bought.”

Twentieth Century Fox has requested a copy of “Return to Innocence.”

He would sell the film to the studio, he said. Although he’d be playing

with the “big boys,” if a deal was to be made, Costanzo hasn’t lost his

vision.

Nor, his passion.

“My frame of mind is to stay as an independent filmmaker as long as I

can,” he added. “I would never work for a big studio. You lose control

over your films. I’d rather struggle to make a film the best I possibly

can, without losing its vision, than have somebody else take it away and

put their own twist to it.

“The one thing I love about being an independent director/producer is

that the story is yours. It’s your signature.”