Apr 1, 2007

Palo Alto: Local film production will debut at Tribeca festival

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

At the first script reading of the movie "Palo Alto," producer Daniel Engelhardt asked actor Ben Savage if he had ever been to Pizza My Heart during his time at Stanford University.

"He was like, 'Yeah, are you kidding? I used to go there all the time!' " Engelhardt, 21, said in an interview.

The trio of local filmmakers behind "Palo Alto" promised that residents will recognize landmarks including Lytton Plaza, Stanford Theater and Pizza My Heart when the feature film premieres next month at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

"We wanted to capture the aesthetic of Palo Alto," said director and co-screenwriter Brad Leong, 21. Both Leong and fellow screenwriter Tony Vallone, 21, graduated from Palo Alto High School. Engelhardt graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School, whose lockers adorn the publicity poster for the film, though it is set at Palo Alto High School.

In addition to Savage, the film stars Aaron Ashmore, Johnny Lewis, Justin Mentell, Autumn Reeser and Tom Arnold in a coming-of-age story about four college freshmen returning to their hometown during Thanksgiving break.

"It's definitely fictitious, but draws on ideas from our real lives," Leong said. Most of the film was shot on location in Palo Alto and Menlo Park, including a party scene filmed at the home of Engelhardt's parents.

"We needed to take over someone's entire house and fill it with a bunch of kids for a couple nights straight. We didn't think we could get anyone to let us do that, so we took over Dan's house," Leong said. He noted that both Engelhardt and his own sisters were extras and that he makes a cameo appearance as a janitor in a hospital scene.

"I'm out of focus, in the background," Leong said.

Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto noted that her daughter was also an extra in the film.

"So I have a personal interest in the movie," she said. Kishimoto invited the filmmakers back to Palo Alto for a "special screening."

Engelhardt and Leong have been making films together since high school, when they founded Anchange Productions. They began by making corporate videos for local companies and fundraising films for nonprofits. "Palo Alto" is their first feature-length film.

Daniel Fukuba, a junior at Palo Alto High School, said he is excited to see the movie.

"It was really cool because they were filming it right next to the robotics lab and around my neighborhood," he said.

Engelhardt credited community and industry support for helping the trio - all of whom were 20 during the filming- to complete the film on a low budget.

"The fact that we were young filmmakers and this is our first feature, there was a very unique energy," he said. Several Hollywood vendors lent them equipment during the shoot.

Leong thanked the Palo Alto Police Department for letting one of the production assistants off the hook when caught speeding back to the set with food.

And Engelhardt said it is rewarding to see local residents' interest in the film.

"We were filming on Bryant Street and at some point a grandma and her granddaughter came out and sat in the driveway and watched us film the entire time," he said. "We were shooting all night and they sat there until midnight."


E-mail Kristina Peterson at kpeterson@dailynewsgroup.com.