Glendale’s Armenian Community Featured in ‘Float’

After five film festivals in four months, the production team of “Float” is ready to take a break to mull over what happens next with their film. Distributors have shown an interest in the indy film shot primarily in Glendale with storylines incorporating that city’s large Armenian population. Festival screenings not only validate the film but raise its profile to catch the interest of distributors and the organizers of other festivals, said Peter Paul Basler, one of the producers of the film and a Burbank resident. Audiences saw “Float” at the Dances With Films festival, where it won an award; the Feel Good Film Festival; the Valley Film Festival in North Hollywood; the Pomegranate Fest in Toronto where producer and actor Hrach Titizian received the Rising Star award; and the ARPA Film Festival in Hollywood on Oct. 25. Many of the principal players met through the Actors Playpen, an acting school operated by Titizian in Hollywood. Writer and director Johnny Asuncion used the experiences of people he knew in his story of three men who re-evaluate their lives amid the backdrop of an ice cream store in Glendale. For a low-budget film with limited exposure, “Float” was fortunate enough to have as its star Emmy-nominated actor Gregory Itzin (“24”) and as a supporting actor Ken Davitian, of “Borat.” “It was pretty big coup for such a small film,” Basler said of getting Davitian. Being able to film in Glendale added to the authenticity of the film’s storylines of Titizian’s character’s strained relations with his office-seeking father Davitian and Asuncion’s character getting into a relationship with an Armenian woman. <!– Pre-set: Avenue Six Studios fills a niche. –> Pre-set: Avenue Six Studios fills a niche. The 98-minute version of “Float” shown at the festivals is pretty much the film that Asuncion, Basler and company want audiences to see. “There’s not that much more to play around with,” Basler said. “We got it to where it’s pretty tight.” Busy Avenue Paul Reitzin came to the entertainment industry from a background in the furniture business and the d & #233;cor of his Avenue Six Studios reflects that. Finding that area studios were limited and unproductive for the shoots needed to promote a furniture collection, Reitzin opened a studio in Van Nuys that finds itself in hot demand by television, commercial and film producers. While most production studios are large empty spaces that a set designer then fills Reitzin went a different route with the two stages at Avenue Six. The semi-permanent walls and backdrops create scenes out of Middle America or an urban setting. Props available for rent from Reitzin’s Avenue Six furniture and Rezon8 Living lines complete the set. “Traditional or contemporary, I wanted the ability to make it look different,” Reitzin said. Productions that have filmed at Avenue Six include “Captain Cook’s Extraordinary Atlas” by Warner Bros. Television; a segment featuring cast members from ABC’s “Lost” that was shown at Comic-Con; the “Yoga Tune Up” series from yoga instructor Jill Miller; and a reality show starring psychic Lisa Williams from Lifetime. DirectTV used the studios recently to shoot some commercials and were able to set up multiple sets at the same time, Reitzin said. “They set up to look like an apartment, a traditional house, and a two story contemporary house and shot in different parts and each had a different looks,” Reitzin said. Cubs Doc on Track When I last spoke with documentary filmmaker John Scheinfeld he had just returned a from attending Opening Day at Wrigley Field as part of his new project on the Chicago Cubs. Now it’s October and the Cubs performed a choke job for the ages by losing the first round of the playoffs to the Dodgers, adding another year in which the team did not win a world championship. It wasn’t the ending Scheinfeld would have wanted for “We Believe: Chicago and Its Cubs.” It certainly wasn’t the ending that fans and sportswriters and baseball enthusiasts predicted for the team with the best record in the National League. Yet it’s fitting the Cubs should disappoint again, as the main theme Scheinfeld explores is the unique relationship between the Cubs and their fans irrespective of the win-loss record. “We never posed it to anyone that (the film) was going to be dependent on how well the team did,” said Scheinfeld, who works out of production offices in Studio City. Scheinfeld and his Chicago-based crew continue to film interviews for “We Believe,” with some of the most important still to come. Namely the eight starting players followed during the year who were interviewed at spring training and then again at the All Star break. The post-season conversations will complete the picture. Scheinfeld also turned his cameras on celebrity Cubs fans like Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan, comedic actor Jeff Garlin, columnist George Will, actor Joe Mantegna, best-selling author and attorney Scott Turow, and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. “(Hefner) really doesn’t do interviews unless they have something to do with Playboy,” Scheinfeld said. “To get him to talk about this was great.” A plan to get some exposure for “We Believe” at the Sundance Film Festival in January is no longer certain as the film may not be ready in time. With full private funding of the film, a gamble was taken to not get distribution up front. That allowed Scheinfeld and his crew to make the movie they wanted without the pressure of a deadline to meet. He hopes to have “We Believe” ready in time for the next baseball season. Three studios are interested in seeing the film – one operated by a Cubs fan and the other two helmed by baseball fans. “Once we see what this film looks and feels like then we will make the decision on the best way to get it into the marketplace,” Scheinfeld said. Production Deal Stereo Vision Entertainment Inc. signed a three-year production deal with former chairman Doug Schwartz, creator of the “Baywatch” television series. Day-to-day administration of the Van Nuys-based creator of 3-D films has been left to CEO Jack Honour and the company’s board; Schwartz will concentrate on producing and distribution. “In our years of working together, we’ve developed some terrific 3-D movie properties, and we now have a slate of films with legitimate blockbuster potential,” Schwartz said. Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected] . He’s looking forward to seeing the Cubs again next August.