For ‘love of the arts’

The opening night festivities at the Newport Beach Film Festival on Thursday night were best described by many of the filmmakers and honored guests as a sort of homecoming.

“It’s very interesting for me to be in this room in Newport and see such a love of the arts,” said native son McG, the director of the upcoming “Terminator Salvation” film, before the opening night screening of the indie flick “Lymelife” began.

“I can see the seat where I sat seven times in one weekend, not to watch ‘Star Wars’ but to watch ‘Tootsie,’” McG said.

“This is where I first learned the beauty of Newport and Laguna,” said film composer Marc Shaiman, gesturing toward the ocean; he worked on films like “Hairspray” and “Beaches.”

The latter, a 1988 Bette Midler flick, was filmed on local coasts, he said. Shaiman now vacations in Laguna Beach every year.

“It’s great to see a local film festival like this having strong momentum,” said local resident and Etnies founder Pierre Andre Senizergues; Etnies is one of the sponsors of the festival’s Action Sports Film Series. “Film is very amazing, because it makes you dream.”

Senizergues started working on films with a Super 8 camera back when he learned to skateboard, he said; since then, the sport and the art have been irreversibly linked.

With Orange County being the epicenter of the action sportswear industry, the Newport Beach Film Festival was a natural partner, he said.

“We have such a great time here. They really treat filmmakers right,” said “Deadland” writer, producer and star Gary Weeks.

He and other filmmakers concurred that one of the best parts of the Newport festival is its infamous after parties.

“It was only 10 years ago that we were getting started,” said sports agent and festival founding sponsor Leigh Steinberg. “What’s amazing is, 10 years ago I read an article in the Daily Pilot that said the film festival had gone away.”

So he called Schwenk and sent a check.

“Here we are, 10 years later,” Steinberg said. “But I think our best days are still ahead of us.”

Reporter CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (949) 494-5480 or at candice.baker@latimes.com. Reporter CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (949) 494-5480 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.