REEL LIFE / FILM & VIDEO FILE : So Far, Class in Stage Combat Has No Fighters : Joseph Nassi is offering instruction in movie and television stunts through Ventura community services. Now all he needs are some students.

Joseph Nassi is used to being shot at, thumped on and thwacked with medieval weapons of war. The worst thing, though, is being ignored.

Nassi, an instructor in stage combat who’s taught at the University of Arizona and UCLA, tonight will lead a class in movie and television stunts, sponsored by the Ventura Community Services Department.

Or maybe not. So far, nobody’s signed up for the new class.

“It’s all about preparing performers to do the easiest stunt work on their own,” Nassi said, “the basic stuff that a performer needs to know to keep themselves safe.”

In his longest-running role, Nassi played a sword-wielding barbarian on the Conan set at the Universal Studios tour for five years. His credits include a series of B movies he declined to name. He also had the dubious distinction of having been involved in the most reviled Oscar ceremony in recent memory, the 1989 awards.

“I coached Christian Slater and Tyrone Power Jr. in a swashbuckling routine, one of the few entertainment episodes in the ceremony that went well. It was really interesting to meet Tyrone Power’s son, because the movies his father made were what got me started in this business.”

Nassi’s hourlong class will be held at the Barranca Vista Center at 7050 E. Ralston St. starting at 6 tonight only. The fee is $40. To register, call community services at 658-4726.

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A proposal to regionalize the procedure by which production companies get permits to film in Southern California communities is being greeted with some skepticism by those in the local film industry.

The Southern California Assn. of Governments wants to create a one-stop office for film permits, but Fillmore film commissioner John McKinnon said the permit process is the easy part. Matching producers with the scenes they need is what’s tough, and it takes lots of local knowledge.

“My first impression is that it’s missing the personality of the individual areas,” McKinnon said. “I don’t think that would work.”

McKinnon, the only full-time film commissioner in the county, said that issuing permits is no problem. Police and fire departments review the script, and the city charges the producer according to what it’s going to cost the city to provide the services.

“That consumes about a tenth of the time it takes. Ninety percent is finding the locations. When it comes down to it, there’s a lot of legwork involved. Things are changing all the time, even in a small town like this. Then there are other factors like what businesses are impacted at different times of the year, whether shoals are in or out. There are just so many variables.”