Eight days of film madness

They’re coming to theaters near you: 350 foreign and domestic movies.

They’re part of the homegrown Newport Beach Film Festival, entering its 11th year.

Throngs of people, from actors and directors to producers and run-of-the-mill moviegoers, are expected to attend the Thursday to April 29 festival, which saw a record 51,000 attendees last year, said Todd Quartararo, festival co-founder.

“I can’t imagine keeping that sort of pace again,” said Quartararo, an Orange County native and graduate of Woodbridge High School in Irvine. “But we are known for our big parties, our red carpets, our galas. It’s an opportunity to come out and have a good time.”

Not quite as big as the Toronto International Film Festival, or as commercial as Cannes, or as fiercely independent as Sundance, Newport includes elements of each by bridging commercial, independent and international works, Quartararo said.

Newport also has a track record of hit movies on its resume, foremost among them, “Crash,” which won the Oscar for best picture in 2005 after premiering at the festival.

That’s just one example of the success from film festival exposure, in what essentially is the farmer’s market of the movie industry.

In Newport Beach’s case, it’s managed to earn a top-25 ranking by Daily Variety, which tracks and rates all film festivals across the world. Starting Thursday, hundreds of movies will be aired inside a 10-mile area at an average of $12 a pop — whether it’s edgy, packed with action sports, family oriented or a documentary.

The festival gives viewers eight days and seven nights to rub shoulders with the real crew — the writers, producers and actors who submit to post-screening interviews.

“The Newport Beach Film Festival’s not on the world stage or even the national stage, but it’s good for down there,” said Stuart Levine, assistant managing editor for Daily Variety. “It drums up a lot of local interest, but unfortunately many of the films won’t get picked up or distributed nationally. The odds are stacked against the filmmaker.”

That said, Levine added, the festival “gives the filmmakers a chance to show their movies in front of a paying audience. It’s a win-win situation.”

If it’s any consolation, only a handful of movies are picked up, even at the major film festivals.

Even relatively successful and renowned actor Andy Garcia is aware of the odds when it comes to striking it big on the big screen in an era of Twitter and Facebook.

In town a few weeks ago to promote his film, “City Island,” in which he stars, Garcia attested before a crowd of 300 at the Lido Theatre that the promoting game has changed the movie industry.

Much of the perceived success of a movie is chiefly determined by big budgets, he said, not necessarily good performances or impeccable screen writing.

“The cream finds a way of rising to the top,” “The Godfather: Part III” star said, referring to successful independents, such as “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Hurt Locker.” “Big budgets don’t necessarily make good movies.”

If there were ever a movie at this year’s festival that stands a chance of getting picked up nationally, festival organizers say, it could just be “Five Star Day,” which was shot in five cities, and stars heartthrob Cam Gigandet of “Twilight.”

Gigandet, of Tacoma, Wash., broke into the business playing a surfer on Fox’s “The OC,” and now he’s coming back to the real Orange County — the TV show was shot primarily in Los Angeles County — to walk the red carpet Thursday at Edwards Big Cinema at Fashion Island before the movie’s start at 7:30 p.m.

The movie is about a guy whose birthday’s horoscope is supposed to be a great day but winds up being lousy. He sets out therefore on a path to disprove astrology and tries to find two other people whose birthdays were just as lousy as his.

“Man, this is going to be awesome, coming home to unveil my first feature film,” said the film’s writer and director Danny Buday, 33, a graduate of Marina High School in Huntington Beach.

The movie’s executive producer, Michael Robertson, lives in Newport Beach.

He met Buday more than 10 years ago at a backyard barbecue at Buday’s aunt’s house in Huntington Beach.

“He got to talking about movies and what he was interested in, and I said, ‘You know, Danny, some day you’ll probably need some financing to follow up on one of your projects. We should stay in contact.’”