Festival curtains open

Andrew Edwards

The black limousines and sedans pulled up Thursday night just after

the sun started its dip below the horizon. The sleek vehicles carried

the likes of movie producer Mark R. Harris to the Edwards Big Newport

theater for the opening of the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Harris was one of the producers of “Crash,” the festival’s first

feature. But not all of the filmmakers present Thursday followed

Harris on the red carpet into the theater. Many, like documentarian

Heather Kennedy, waited behind the line of photographers who waited

for the more established names.

Kennedy is premiering “Rock and R.O.,” a feature-length

documentary about a collegiate group of a capella singers who call

themselves Reverse Osmosis. Her film is set to hit the big screen

Sunday.

“I have a couple days to start getting really nervous,” Kennedy

said.

When asked if she was hoping to net a distributor through the

festival, she had a quick response.

“Isn’t everybody?” she replied.

By the time luxury cars were rolling in, the crowd outside the

theater had become a sea of designer gowns and black dress shirts. In

contrast, William Bland, director of the short film “Love What You

Do,” came early and had a much more casual look in his blue T-shirt.

“I think if you made a movie, you’re just comfortable showing up,”

Bland said.

Bland’s short piece is part of a larger project titled “In the

Scheme of Things.” He said the longer film as a whole would not be

considered a horror piece, though the short -- about a murderous

Bible salesman -- would be.

Bland’s flick is slated to be shown Sunday, along with a set of

other scary shorts. “Love What You Do” is his first effort after

taking film classes at the New York Film Academy at Universal

Studios.

“I made this first film out of it. So far, so good,” Bland said.

Director Phil Scarpaci’s feature, “Welcome to September,” is

scheduled to be shown Monday. Scarpaci described his film -- about a

man who falls in love with a woman depicted in a painting -- as

vastly different from many mainstream movies.

“It’s a film with no special effects, no violence, no nudity, no

foul language,” Scarpaci said. “It tells a simple story, and all of

the young audience members, they’ve never seen a movie like this.”

Independent projects and foreign films, are festival highlights

for Orange County film commissioner Janice Arrington.

“I love the indies, because it’s our newer filmmakers,” she said.

“We even have a couple of films that were filmed in O.C.”

The romantic comedy “Dating Games People Play” and the comedy

“Tennis, Anyone ... ?” were both shot on location in Newport Beach.

And the documentary “Down Size Me” portrays Costa Mesa resident Chazz

Weaver keeping in shape on an all-fast-food diet.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards

@latimes.com.