DATE: Friday, June 6, 1997                  TAG: 9706060064

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MICHELLE MIZAL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  113 lines

SHOOTING FOR SUNDANCE FRIENDS SINCE BIRTH, THIS MOVIEMAKING DUO IS READY FOR THE BIG TIME

NATHAN GWALTNEY held the video camera at eye level as he focused on Joshua Boone, his best friend practically since they were born in the same hospital 12 days apart in 1979.

``This time, put your head on the table, Josh. . . like this,'' said Nate as he slowly moved from the wheelchair he had used to steady the camera. Nate put his head on the table like a bored student sitting at a classroom desk, his bleached blond hair fell over half his face. ``Got it?''

``Got it,'' Josh responded as Nate retreated to his seat.

Josh and Nate, both 18, both average seniors from First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, were on-location for their 90-minute film ``Samantha's Crying.'' It's a dark comedy about break-ups and make-ups, set-ups and never give ups. It's a winner, to hear them tell it. It will take first place at the Sundance Film Festival next January - they hope.

Losing Sundance is not an option, Josh said, his deep voice growing deeper with conviction.

At first glance, Nate and Josh look like any other teens caught in a grunge time warp. You know, Vans sneakers and fringed baggy pants, the kind of clothes parents usually don't prefer. Then one of them lights up a Camel cigarette and takes a long, hard drag. Another cusses or questions or make demands. Then it's back to work.

``We want to keep this extremely real to life,'' Nathan said of the movie. ``We want teens to understand this film. That's why we're using our friends who play characters who are a lot like them.''

Nate and Josh star in the movie. Josh plays Mark Nichols - a teen who wants to understand God and to get back together with his ex-girlfriend. Nate plays a wanna-be director and Mark's friend.

Their characters reflect their personalities: gritty, defiant, anti-establishment. They also reflect the teens' undying friendship.

They've been through a great deal together, like the time they got busted for watching ``Basic Instinct'' when they were 14. Then, there was the time they got kicked out of a Baptist youth group because they were caught puffing on those Camels.

Two years ago, Josh was expelled from Atlantic Shores Christian Schools in Virginia Beach. He argued that the Bible doesn't censor violent and sexual acts, so why should entertainment.

``I don't believe in censorship of any form,'' Josh said. ``If you censor, you restrict art.''

The duo started making uncensored art together when they were eight. Their first flick was a 10-minute Batman knockoff. Nathan rolled the camera while Josh pranced around his backyard in a red sweatshirt and matching ski mask as the Red Baron. Later, Nathan starred as Batman with two black Bic ink pens taped upright on top of his head and a bright blue pillowcase tied around his neck.

Now, with a $2,000 budget - much of it borrowed from Nate's parents on the condition that he get no more speeding tickets - a handful of friends and a ton of imagination, they're ready for Sundance.

Josh wrote the 146-page script for ``Samantha's Crying'' in about a month. It followed his breakup with a girlfriend. Fellow classmates and teachers often spotted him writing during lunch and in class: ``Class is boring,'' Josh said. He kept everything in a large, black three-ring binder. He spent his weekends typing his notes into his computer.

The film delves into Josh's character's effort to cope with his recent breakup with Samantha. Here's the twist: Samantha, who is never seen or heard, dies in a car accident before Josh's character can tell her his true feelings.

``The movie is morally ambiguous. There's bad language. There's good language. There's drug dealers and there's those who don't use drugs,'' Josh said. ``But that's the way teen-age life is.''

Filming for ``Samantha's Crying'' began in March.

It was during one of those odd, nose-freezing, wind-nipping spring nights that Josh and Nate filmed a scene at the Lynnhaven Fish House on Shore Drive. The camera rolled while winds gusted at 50 mph outside.

``Do you love her?'' Leigh asks.

``A lot of people have asked me that today,'' Mark says.

``That's because it's important. Do you?'' Leigh asks again.

``I don't know,'' says Mark, lighting a cigarette for Leigh. His dark blue eyes focus on the flame from the yellow lighter.

``OK, that's good. Do it again,'' Nathan shouts.

Leigh is played by 14-year-old Monica Padrick, an eighth grader at Norfolk Academy. Mark is played by Josh. Nate, naturally, is the director.

``The film has a fighting chance,'' said Peter J. Eaton, a freelance film producer, director and writer. Eaton helped with the production of ``Navy SEALS,'' ``Toy Soldiers,'' and other movies. He advised Josh and Nate on filming techniques.

``Nathan is an artist who understands his visual medium,'' Eaton said. ``And I'm very impressed by the level of Josh's sophistication in his writing.''

The praise doesn't surprise the teens' moms. Strict Baptists, Val Gwaltney and Rhea Boone don't necessarily agree with the content of the film, but they admire their sons' creativity.

Their fathers have been supportive, too, helping the filmmakers pick up rental equipment and sometimes even lending the guys the family van to haul all the stuff.

With or without the family support, Nate and Josh are determined to finish the film and send it off to Sundance.

``It's making films or flipping burgers,'' remarked Nathan, who plans to attend North Carolina School for the Arts in Winston-Salem this fall. ``Amen,'' added Josh, who's not thinking about college.

The two artists plan to edit the film this summer, well ahead of the Nov. 1 deadline. The competition will be stiff. Last year, the festival received more than 700 entries. About 100 films were shown.

Josh doesn't mind the odds.

``It's one of those things where you know you're going to make it and be there. If you don't, well, keep trying . . . never give up.'' ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP color photos

Director Nathan Gwaltney, in wheelchair, films Joshua Boone, who

plays Mark, and Jesse Berenger, who plays Mark's friend, in the

90-minute film ``Samantha's Crying.''

First Colonial High School seniors Nathan Gwaltney, left, and Joshua

Boone hope their film will win awards at the Sundance Film Festival

next year.

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