Short film “Regarding Rose” shot in the South Bay hits the Silicon Film Festival

By Garth Meyer

Past the Warren Beatty handprints and up two escalators, then a stairway, to a row of screening rooms at the former Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, the Silicon Beach Film Festival continued Sept. 12 with a short film shot in the South Bay.

The 33-minute “Regarding Rose” was written and directed by Donna Magnani, who also plays the lead as a singer who came to the South Bay in 1979 to find happiness, before tragedy struck. 

“Regarding Rose” was made, Magnani said, at a cost of $4,500, featuring locations such as the Starboard Attitude bar on the Redondo Beach Pier, Veterans Park and its old library, Manhattan Beach Creamery, Manhattan Beach Pier and Redondo’s St. James Catholic Church.

One of the film’s (score) composers, Stuart Michael Thomas, lives in Redondo Beach.

“I really, really fell in love with the South Bay,” said Magnani, who is based in Orange County.

 “I felt the visuals of the Manhattan Beach Pier were so perfect. Different than the Hermosa Pier, and the Redondo Beach Pier had a different feel for my drone shots. And underneath the Manhattan Beach Pier, looks like heaven’s doors to me. I could move to the South Bay. I have a heart for it.”

“Regarding Rose” was awarded “Best Screenplay Short Film” at the Silicon Beach Film Festival.

Magnani reports that the project has been submitted to seven more festivals, accepted by two, with five under consideration. ER