Chef, eatery play roles in movie being filmed in Carlsbad

By: RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer | Saturday, December 1, 2007 8:52 PM PST ∞

The young chef at Fresco Trattoria, Giorgio Saturnino, found his way onto a movie set two weeks ago.

The recent immigrant from Italy had a walk-on role in an independent docudrama called "Proud American," being filmed by Carlsbad movie producer Fred Ashman.

"Fred is a regular customer," said Saturnino. "He said he needed to shoot a scene in his movie at an Italian restaurant, and he said he thought of me." Saturnino did not hesitate to volunteer his uncle's restaurant, Fresco Trattoria, in downtown Carlsbad for the day's shoot.

Ashman's film, which is set for general release in theaters worldwide next September, combines IMAX photography of national vistas with dramatizations of inspirational immigrants' stories.

One of those stories is that of Carlos Moleda, a triathlete who came to America to become the next Tony Hawk and is now the two-time National Handcycling Champion and three-time Hawaii Ironman champion, holding a record for the physically challenged division.

The similarities between the Saturnino and Moleda stories ---- two talented, hardworking immigrants who came to the United States to make their fortunes ---- was not lost on Saturnino. "When Fred told me about the movie, I told him, 'You are writing my story,'" he said.

Nor has the resemblance between the two escaped the film's producer. "Giorgio is the perfect guy to help us show what immigrants love about this country, and that it is a land of opportunity and tolerance," he said.

Land of opportunity

Ashman said he wanted to make a film about what newcomers to this country love about their adopted homeland. "I have asked a lot of immigrants about what it is that Americans take for granted," he said. "And almost always, they say the amount of opportunity here is unbelievable. That is one of the big things ---- opportunity."

The idea for the film came to Ashman nearly 11 years ago, with the events of Sept. 11 making his mission even more important, he said.

"We started with the concept of showing the opportunity, personal responsibility, and free enterprise system that greets new immigrants to America. It is an idea that resonates with people everywhere," he said, adding that even foreign audiences appreciate the film. "I got an enormous response from foreign theaters, and five of them wanted to get the film right away. They told me that most of the people around the world love the United States and that our film shows a portrait of Americans that is one that they know," he said.

The message, said Ashman, has also attracted corporate sponsors like Wal-Mart, American Airlines and MasterCard, who have put up money for the film but exert no creative control.

Ashman is CEO and senior creative director of his own company, Multi Image Productions Inc. During his long career working in film, documentaries and commercials, he has developed a good working relationship with a number of actors, many of whom have signed on to his film in small, cameo roles.

Scene One

In the first scene filmed at the Carlsbad eatery, the audience is introduced to Moleda, played by new actor Michael Barreta, who tries to talk the owner of the Italian restaurant in Miami into hiring him to wash dishes. The restaurant owner, played by veteran character actor Jonathan Banks, tells him he needs to quickly learn to speak English.

Banks, who played the villain in "48 Hours" and "Beverly Hills Cop," drove down to Carlsbad for the morning from his Malibu home just to film these two scenes. Like many of the other actors Ashman has garnered for the dramatic sequences, Banks knew Ashman from celebrity events with one of his corporate clients, American Airlines, and was willing to be paid only according to union wage scale.

Once the first scene wrapped up in the front of the restaurant, the second was set up in the back dining room. As the main camera rolled into the center of the room, the two actors began a conversation at a center table. It is four years later and Moleda has proved himself in the restaurant business. He tells his boss he is quitting but that Giorgio has been well-trained to take over the reins. Moleda's English is now fluent as he tells Banks' character he has decided to leave to join the Navy.

"You have become like a son to me," Banks told the young Brazilian, adding that he is certain Moleda will succeed in whatever he chooses to do. On cue, Banks' face crumpled as he struggled to keep his emotions in check when the young actor reached over to hug Banks' shoulders. The scene is particularly poignant knowing Moleda will be shot a few years later fighting for the United States in Panama, becoming paralyzed from the waist down.

With only a half day to film the sequence ---- including equipment setup, rehearsal, light and sound checks ---- the cast and crew shot only a handful of takes: one, a general shot of the actors talking together at the table, and the next two with cameras focused, in turn, up close on the face of each of the actors, which will be edited into the film later.

In each take and on cue, Saturnino walked onto the set to noiselessly stack a chair and wipe down a table. He did so, in his starched chef jacket, with the practiced ease of a veteran extra, before he headed back to the Fresco kitchen, where he had prepared an Italian lunch for the film's cast and crew.

But even under the intoxicating spell of the film set, Saturnino has no illusions about becoming a movie actor.

"I am a chef," he said modestly. "I come from a very small place in Italy and it was an experience to be in a movie, even if it was just for a little bit. It was an experience, nothing more."

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 740-3527 or rwebster@nctimes.com.