Good Deeds ‘Shine’ at Premiere Party

The Scene: Who can say this town doesn’t have heart? In a season clogged with mindless blockbusters, a sizable throng turned out at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on Tuesday evening for the Los Angeles premiere of “Shine”--a mini-budgeted Australian film based on the real-life story of classical pianist David Helfgott--which, despite its cast of virtual unknowns, managed to rack up quite a buzz, a number of festival awards and distribution by Fine Line. Afterward, there was a reception at Chasen’s. The occasion also served as a benefit for the Actors’ Fund of America.

Who Was There: About 1,000 people turned up to see the little-indie-that-could, including the film’s stars Geoffrey Rush, Noah Taylor and Armin Mueller-Stahl and director Scott Hicks. They were joined by Joan Collins, Olivia d’Abo, Fionnula Flanagan, Barbara Hershey, Laura Innes, Marlee Matlin, Timothy Hutton, Lisa Rinna, Martin Landau and director Alan Parker.

Chow: This film took years to bring to the screen, so a little thanks-giving was in order. Guests chowed down on turkey with mashed potatoes, stuffing and various veggies. There was also rack of lamb, shrimp on the barbie and such Aussie desserts as ginger ice cream on hazelnut pavlova.

Why We’re All Here: “We hope to do a lot more activities here in Los Angeles,” said Joe Benincasa, executive director of the Actors’ Fund. ‘We’re considered Broadway’s charity, so most of the money is raised on the East Coast. But half of what we spend is spent out here in L.A. So it’s time to get a presence and raise more money out here in Los Angeles.”

Hollywood Shuffle: The two actors who played Helfgott regarded their first professional jaunts through Tinseltown quite differently. “I was lucky enough to walk through a door into this city that not many people get to walk through,” said Rush, who plays Helfgott in his later years, “because I suddenly found myself meeting some pretty amazing people in some pretty historic buildings and some pretty fabulous offices on the Paramount lot and at Warner Bros. and stuff that I would have never got to meet if I didn’t have this film under my belt.” Taylor, who plays the teenage Helfgott, sees the Hollywood experience this way: “I was watching ‘Swingers’ the other night, and the guy mentions what sort of a car he has. Well, I don’t have one. So I guess I’m like the biggest loser in L.A.”

Money Matters: Tickets were $125 each. An estimated $100,000 was collected for the Actors’ Fund.