The following is an OC newspaper article on the movie Bella:
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The little movie that might
Former Irvine youth minister produces “Bella” and the film's life depends on the box office.
By KEITH SHARON
The Orange County Register
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First of two parts
All the inspirational, heartwarming stuff comes later in this story. You'll have to wait to hear the details about the energetic former youth minister in Irvine, the Mexican matinee idol and the obsessed filmmaker and how they came together to make a little independent movie with religious and political undertones and a big heart.
But first ... cue the dramatic music.
All their huge dreams could fade away very fast. Maybe tonight.
Here's the bottom line: When their movie “Bella” opened in a tiny number of theaters last Friday, it had two weeks to prove it was profitable enough for the distribution company to take it to a wider audience.
A lackluster opening weekend could have killed the film. And today, as producer Leo Severino begins weekend No. 2, or as he calls it "the biggest three days" of his life, Bella needs a box office bounce or it could go the way of most independent films – into Hollywood oblivion.
Without a big second weekend, Bella will be just a cute story about three buddies who almost made it.
Or, as the filmmakers believe, could this be the movie that becomes a hit without violence, sex, drugs or profanity?
Severino was a teenage malcontent who once tried to set off dynamite (it turned out to be a dud) in the middle of San Gabriel High School's soccer field just to see the damage. He played drums in the school band. He was on the debate team. Still, he says high school could be summed up in a word: boring.
A small kid (he topped out at 5-foot-5), he decided to become a fighter pilot. The idea was hatched when he heard fighter pilots needed to fit in cramped cockpits. Severino enrolled in a military school in Orlando, where he spent one year figuring out that he wasn't a fighter pilot.
"I had zero work ethic," he said.
He eventually enrolled at USC, where he studied philosophy and law. While at USC, he made two life-changing decisions. He decided to become a Hollywood attorney. And, after reading a C.S. Lewis theological book called, "The Problem of Pain," he joined a church.
"That book floored me," Severino said.
His first job out of college was in Irvine at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, where, as a Spanish-speaker, he handled Latin American transactions. Working in Irvine, he joined St. Thomas More Catholic Church.
One night he went to see a church band, and they needed a drummer. So he volunteered. Then the church needed a youth minister. You get the picture.
In his first youth meeting, 18 teenagers attended. Within three years, Severino was attracting as many as 150 per meeting.
"I can relate to not fitting in," Severino said. "I owe my popularity to the mischievousness of my high school years. I never grew up."
Severino eventually landed a job at 20th Century Fox and served as a business affairs attorney on “Ally McBeal,” “The Simpsons” and Fox Sports television. But when Fox bought FX and launched edgier programming (some shows had as much violence, sex and profanity as the censors would allow), Severino began to dislike the direction the company – and his career – was heading.
One afternoon, at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills, Severino noticed another man praying. He thought it unusual that there were two men alone in a church. As if part of a movie, their introduction would change their lives.
The man was Eduardo Verastegui, a Mexican soap opera star, who was in the middle of shooting the sexy comedy "Chasing Papi.”
Here's what they had in common: a shared vision of morality. Severino didn't want to work on what he considered to be amoral television shows, and Verastegui didn't want to be the "Latin Lover" in movies.
Within months, Verastegui hired Severino – who had left Fox – to be his manager.
Filmmaker Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, who chose to finance his student film with his rent money at the University of Texas, joined the trio. Last year, they formed Metanoia Films (Metanoia is a Greek word meaning "repentance.")
Severino stepped away from his role as youth minister to chase a new dream – the clean movie.
"Bella," the story of a waitress who finds out she is pregnant and the cook who befriends her, was Monteverde's idea. The director needed help with English, so Severino (and screenwriter Patrick Million) helped him write the screenplay. The film was shot in 23 days in New York with a $3 million budget, microscopic by Hollywood standards.
Here's what the film isn't. It isn't romantic enough to be a love story. It isn't funny enough to be a comedy. It doesn't have American box office stars. There is no car chase. Or skin. No one gets shot or stabbed or tortured. It's genre-less.
Here's what the film is. It's got two attractive and charismatic stars (Verastegui and Tammy Blanchard). They help each other despite family and societal pressures. The film, though not overtly religious, appeals to some religious groups because of the decision the star makes about her unborn child.
The filmmakers were amazed when their little movie was accepted to be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. They were floored again when it won the "People's Choice" award.
"It was beautiful," Severino said. "There were tears, laughter."
They were floored again when the film received exactly zero offers from distributors. “Bella,” they said, wasn't edgy enough.
Finally, Roadside Attractions (an offshoot of Lion's Gate) agreed to fund a limited release of the film on 125 screens in 32 U.S. markets. The deal was this: If the picture fared well (the filmmakers were shooting for a huge number, $10,000 per screen per day), it would be extended to a third and fourth week on 500 and eventually 1,000 screens. If not, well…
Severino's friends at St. Thomas More in Irvine became marketers, pushing the film throughout religious communities.
When Severino and his wife Jacque pulled up to the Edwards Westpark in Irvine last Friday night, they felt the pressure.
"I've never seen him this nervous," Jacque said.
They were met with words that they had hoped to hear. "Sold out," the theater manager said.
In all, Bella made $1.4 million in its first weekend. The film was shown on 160 screens – slightly more than expected – which brought the per screen total to about $8,700 per screen.
Will Bella's box office total stay high this weekend, or will it drop like almost every other film? Cue the dramatic music.
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Next week: We'll find out if Bella lives or dies.
Índice 
