Filmmaker Focused on Sundance Festival

Not shy about his ambition, 25-year-old Alan De Herrera says he wants to put Fullerton on the map of filmmaking.

Although Kevin Costner, who grew up in this Orange County city, beat the aspiring director to it, De Herrera and a group of his pals are hoping their new, low-budget black and white film also will catch Hollywood’s eye.

“February Morning,” written, directed and produced by De Herrera, is a home-grown project being filmed at Fullerton high schools and neighborhoods, including De Herrera’s house.

It is set in the late 1960s, before most of the cast was even born, yet the story line is a semiautobiographical treatment of De Herrera’s relationship with his father.

De Herrera and his cast of friends aspire to have their film shown at the Sundance Film Festival, helping to pave the way to stardom like other low-budget film directors and Sundance winners, including Robert Rodriguez of “El Mariachi” fame and Edward Burns of “The Brothers McMullen.”

“Can one guy shoot a 2 1/2 hour, black and white film about the Vietnam War era, go to Sundance and win? That’s the question,” said De Herrera, who graduated from Sunny Hills High School. “I have no idea what people are going to think about this. I’m making this film more for myself than anyone else.”

The project was financed by a friend who lent De Herrera $6,000. The entire crew, mainly friends and neighbors, is working for free. On Sunday, the cast was set to film the final scene--an anti-war rally that turns violent--on the campus of Fullerton Union High School. They expect to wrap by the end of the month, in time for the Oct. 1 deadline to enter the film into Sundance.

Set at the height of Vietnam War protests in the U.S., the story is seemingly incongruent with the quiet suburban life De Herrera has led.

But the protagonist, whom De Herrera molded after himself, is a young man caught between his father’s push to enlist and his older brother’s pacifism.

The character, Andrew, has always struggled with satisfying his father, a man who seems perpetually disappointed in his son.

Anthony Comstock, who plays Andrew McCowin, the lead role, has high hopes for the film.

“It’s definitely a make or break situation for all of us,” said Comstock, 28. “A lot of bands are coming out of Orange County, so why not actors and filmmakers?”

Though De Herrera was born in 1972, when the war was nearly over, he said he has always been fascinated by the Vietnam era.

“What would I have done in that situation? Do you go to war or do you go to Canada?” he asked.

The subject of pleasing his father is a familiar one.

“My father is a disciplinarian,” said De Herrera, on a break from filming. “I’ve tried to please my dad but it will never get to the point where he’s totally pleased.”

De Herrera’s passion for filmmaking began when he was a youngster. He started with photography, moved into video, and, with money from the sale of his father’s 1950s electric guitar, purchased an 8-millimeter camera in college--and fell in love.

He found moving images exciting and challenging. When he graduated from Fullerton College four years ago, De Herrera decided to write the screenplay.

Since filmmaking doesn’t pay the bills, De Herrera is working full time fixing aquariums for Aquarium Life Services.

He lives at home with his father, John, in Fullerton and hopes to stay in Orange County, even if the film makes it to Sundance.

“I don’t believe you have to live in L.A. to make it in the business,” he said. “It’s not important if you have a dream and are willing to put in the time.”