Foothills Sentry - August 2022

Foothills Sentry Page 10 August 2022 Local filmmakers make waves Filmmaker Spencer Whiteout By Betty Slade In a Northern California town where nothing happened, Spen - cer Whiteout and his boyhood friends made their own fun. Their adventures often took them to an abandoned radio tower that locals called “space.” Whiteout envi - sioned the old tower as a great place to make a movie one day. The genesis of his film, “Space Waves,” started with a tower, a friendship and a dream. The movie is a coming-of-age comedy written and directed by Orange resident Spencer White - out. The full-length feature film centers on young mischief-seek - ers, Marvin and Joey, who turn their misadventures into a pod - cast. Their goal is to do whatever it takes to catapult their “Space Waves” podcast to the top of the iTunes charts by the end of the summer. Whiteout was a 21-year-old student in the Cinema Media Arts Dept. at Biola University when he met Tustin resident Andrew Baer, 18, in a summer photography class. Whiteout presented his fea - ture film idea to Baer, who said, “Why not?” and then wondered what he had gotten himself into. Writer/Director Whiteout and Producer Baer enlisted a motley crew of young filmmakers to cre - ate a personal story of friendship and forgiveness. Using a small team of passionate film gradu - ates and a $10,000 budget, they shot most of the film in Northern California, with additional scenes around Orange County. Whiteout says, “The storyline is strong, with a feel-good first half and a more dramatic sec - ond half. It’s about letting go of how things were, embracing how things are, and knowing that al - though times change, friendship and adventure can be found in ev - ery season of life.” The filming was not without its ups and downs. One month before shooting, two of the main actors dropped out, and other crew members left the film due to schedule conflicts. On day one, the crew arrived at the radio tower, the centerpiece shooting location, to witness it being torn down and destroyed. Undaunted, the pair looked for another radio tower while they shot the rest of the film. Day two, the red 1967 Mus - tang, principal vehicle in many of the scenes, broke down and had to be towed (pushed) from location to location. The funding didn’t come in as projected; the original $10,000 budget grew to $50,000, which the pair ended up financing themselves. Through trial and error, Whiteout and Baer learned to negotiate, be flexible and find solutions to complete the movie they envisioned. “Space Waves” stars Andrew Gabriel, Rudy Pankow (“Un - charted,” “Outer Banks”), Ty - son Pestner and Andie Mueller. Whiteout and Baer, now 26 and 23, report that the film was re - leased to streaming platforms in June. See spacewavesfilm.com to learn more, or to rent or buy it. Orange Chamber bestows historic awards At the Orange Chamber of Commerce Board Installation & Dinner Gala, held July 7 at the Orange Woman’s Club, the new board was installed, two unique and historic awards were given and the new city song “Sweet Or - ange” debuted. Pat Buttress was the surprised recipient of the first-ever Legacy Board Membership Award. Pat has served on the board for over 12 years, served as an ambassa - dor, committee chair, and as Ex - ecutive Committee Chair three times. Her valuable knowledge of the Chamber and the city, en - Legacy awardee Pat Buttress and Centurion honoree Al Ricci ergy, enthusiasm and wisdom will be accessible to the board, as she continues in an advisory capacity. Chair Al Ricci received the L.F. Coburn Centurion Award, the highest honor the Chamber has to bestow. Coburn, an attorney and community leader, was one of the founders of the Orange Cham - ber of Commerce and served as its first chairman 100 years ago. Ricci was installed for his fifth term as Chair of the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber recog - nized the time, heart and dedica - tion he has given to the Chamber for many years. A song created for the city, “Sweet Orange,” with music and lyrics by Kim Le, additional lyr - ics by Dave and Kelly Simpson, was premiered at the gala. Its refrain speaks to the spirit of the event: “In Orange I’ve grown into who I’m supposed to be, in Or - ange I know we are one commu - nity, in Orange I’m home with my friends and family, In Orange I know I am free… Sweet Orange.” The film was inspired by an abandoned radio tower. A featured classic Mustang stopped running and had to be towed. Five years in the making ...