Lance Laspina considers himself living testimony against the adage \u201cnever meet your heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laspina, who graduated from Penn-Trafford in 1988, was 16 years old when he met the person who inspired his love of art \u2014 East Stroudsburg science fiction and fantasy artist Frank Frazetta.<\/p>\n
Without that meeting, Laspina isn\u2019t sure he would have produced the documentary that recently debuted at George Lucas\u2019s Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
In 1987, Laspina, now 56, of Atascadero, Calif., and his parents drove about 4\u00bd hours east to Frazetta\u2019s Fantasy Corner \u2014 a museum of Frazetta\u2019s artwork in East Stroudsburg. It was Laspina\u2019s first time seeing Frazetta\u2019s work in person.<\/p>\n
Frazetta\u2019s wife, Ellie, told Laspina he could meet his artistic inspiration upon the store\u2019s closing in 15 minutes, when he was scheduled to pick her up from the museum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had my own artwork that I brought with me to show him. He was
\nvery nice and cordial, and it was very encouraging, which is embarrassing for me to think about these days,\u201d Laspina said with a laugh. \u201cBut it made an impression on me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey tell you \u2018Don\u2019t meet your heroes, because you\u2019re going to be disappointed.\u2019 Well, it was just the opposite for me. It made me want to know him even better, and I think that probably played a big part in, several years later, wanting to actually do this documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laspina\u2019s \u201cFrazetta: Painting With Fire,\u201d which was released in 2003, will be on display in the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for five years. Lucas himself selected the documentary for the museum\u2019s Robert Flaherty Theater, Laspina said.<\/p>\n
Film interest<\/p>\n
A free video camera sparked Laspina\u2019s interest in film making.<\/p>\n
His father won the device for reaching a sales threshold in his job at a local lawn and garden shop. Soon, Laspina began asking his teachers at Penn-Trafford High School if he could swap their written essay assignments for video productions.<\/p>\n
He attended film school at the University of Southern California. After graduating in 1992, he moved back to Westmoreland County and began working small storyboarding jobs. He took a visual effects job after moving to California with his wife in 1997.<\/p>\n
But the job was tiring, Laspina said. Between navigating hectic Los Angeles traffic and early mornings and late nights spent working, the job became a grind.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Laspina started reflecting on his meeting with Frazetta a decade prior.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I was going to be turning 30,\u201d he said, \u201cand I always wanted to make a film, so I put that mental pressure on myself. I wanted to start doing this film before I turned 30.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Kind of a mystery figure\u2019<\/p>\n
Laspina believed Frazetta would be the perfect subject.<\/p>\n
Only one video interview, filmed at East Stroudsburg University, existed at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was kind of a mystery figure,\u201d Laspina said. \u201cNo one really heard him speak or saw many photographs of him. They all knew his artwork, but not many people knew much at all about Frank \u2014 the person or the artist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laspina sensed it wouldn\u2019t be easy to get Frazetta and his family on board with the idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a feeling that there was a reason why a documentary had never been made before (about) him,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew it wasn\u2019t because of lack of interest. I knew that other people probably had tried and either failed or got turned down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laspina gathered a group of friends and set out to find artists who were influenced by Frazetta. They recruited artists at San Diego Comic Con in 1999 and 2000, conducting interviews in a quiet room separate from the convention center activity.<\/p>\n
He edited the seven interviews into a proof of concept-style video and mailed it to Frazetta\u2019s family in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
The team got a phone call from the Frazettas about a week later, said Shane Patrick White, the creative consultant for the documentary.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really a love letter,\u201d said White, 56, of Seattle, Wash. \u201cAnd I think that love came through in the interviews we did with people who admired Frank and who were heavily influenced by him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellie Frazetta gave Laspina the green light.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said, \u2018We\u2019ve gotten a lot of videos like this, that people have tried to do something, and we\u2019ve not really liked any of them,\u2019\u201d Laspina said. \u201cShe said \u2018This is the first one that we all really enjoyed and felt was done well.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The documentary came out about 3 \u00bd years later \u2014 seven years before Frazetta\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
White described the process as a \u201cfly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLance just took on so much work,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it took him a year just to edit the thing and do all the special effects. He\u2019s just one of those guys who, once he envisions something, he won\u2019t let go and he\u2019s got to see it through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Documentary on display <\/p>\n
More than two decades later, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art contacted Laspina about featuring the documentary in the new facility, which opened Sept. 22.<\/p>\n