How a Long Beach gym owner pivoted from fitness to film

From fittingness to filmmaking, Giovanna Ferraro tin seemingly bash it all.

When the coronavirus pandemic unopen down Ferraro’s Groundwork Fitness for months, due to the fact that of wellness laws that closed each gyms successful the region and state, it enactment the Long Beach concern successful fiscal straits. Then, aft gyms could reopen, Ferraro recovered her lawsuit basal had declined.

She sold gym instrumentality and thought astir downsizing.

But past she realized she couldn’t support the concern unfastened anymore.

So earlier this year, Groundwork Fitness — connected Pine Avenue, conscionable crossed the thoroughfare from Hamburger Mary’s — closed for good.  That marked the extremity of an eight-year tally there.

But for Ferraro, it besides marked the opening of thing new: filmmaking.

“While we were unopen down, I started writing,” Ferraro, 46, said successful a caller interview. “The pandemic allowed maine to deliberation and re-evaluate.”

The movie is astir homelessness, an contented Ferraro said is adjacent to her heart. Her begetter died 16 years agone — and helium was homeless.

He was 66 and dealing with untreated diabetes erstwhile helium died, Ferraro said.

In the aboriginal 1990s, her begetter mislaid his pizzeria business, she said. An Italian migrant seeking the American dream, fiscal issues began to topple him and helium ended up unhoused.

“My begetter wasn’t capable to grip it,” Ferraro said. “He made 1 atrocious determination aft another, but helium was truly conscionable trying to prevention what helium could. Living connected the streets is not an casual thing.”

Now, Ferraro said, she wants “Lennon” to assistance interruption immoderate of the misconceptions astir homelessness and wants movie-goers to recognize the plight of unhoused residents.

She wrote the movie successful February and filmed it successful June.

The accumulation was barebones, with nary fund and made with assistance from immoderate friends who enactment successful the movie industry. In total, astir 20 radical volunteered to enactment connected the movie, she said, each for free. She fronted the costs for filming permits and nutrient for the crew.

Most of the movie was changeable astatine Rose Park Roasters connected Fourth Street, a java store owned by a person of hers.

While she’s caller to filmmaking, successful immoderate ways, Ferraro said, creating a movie is not truthful antithetic from moving a business. Like moving a business, making movies requires contracts, permits and networking — each things she’s utilized to doing. And a movie script, she added, is akin to a concern plan.

She adjacent got to assistance retired successful the directing process, Ferraro said, and her friends Jason Leighton and Elliot Frahs, who directed and changeable the film, had her gully storyboards for the production.

While a concern proprietor and idiosyncratic trainer by trade, Ferraro — who inactive does idiosyncratic grooming sessions astatine the formation — had thought astir jumping into movie for the past 2 years. She has immoderate acquisition acting and has an subordinate grade successful theatre arts from Pasadena City College.

An mishap 2 years agone made her commencement reasoning astir changing careers and the pandemic gave her that last propulsion into this industry.

And present that she’s made this film, Ferraro said, she thinks this mightiness beryllium her caller calling.

“I privation to archer stories that empower voices of marginalized groups who aren’t being heard,” she said. “I privation to assistance the alteration that needs to hap successful our systems.

“People are suffering and are incapable to wage their rent,” Ferraro added. “We’re truthful divided successful truthful galore ways. I consciousness similar humanity is not tapping into our earthy compassion passion.”

Ferraro said she hopes “Lennon” tin bash conscionable that — assistance audiences observe their compassion.

“Lennon” runs 26 minutes and premieres astatine the Art Theater successful Long Beach astatine 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9. It volition person different showing astatine 11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 12.

Tickets are disposable astatine the Art Theater’s website for $10.

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