BY THE SEA, an independent mystical romance feature film, which was produced locally and won numerous industry and film festival awards, is being released nationally on DVD by Ventura Distribution’s Desert Mountain Media on August 3rd.

Shot primarily in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, BY THE SEA was conceived by Needham’s Dean H. Huh, who executive produced and wrote the film.

BY THE SEA tells the romantic story of Lena Oscar, a beautiful Cuban-born, but New York raised woman searching for love and meaning in her life. Taking a job as a chef’s assistant at a gorgeous seaside resort, Lena forms a bond with the shy, handsome maintenance man while being mysteriously visited by the ghost of a turn-of-the-century baseball player.

The film became an audience favorite, selling out screenings, and even filling up unscheduled additional screenings in film festivals from Florida to New England and from California to New York - and was also screened at Cannes.

BY THE SEA earned awards in several festivals and competitions, including Best Feature Film awards - and earned three prestigious Imagen Award nominations (the Latin-American Oscars) last year, including the top award of Best Picture (which was won by Salma Hayek’s FRIDA).

“Anybody who believes in hope, dreams, and romance will love BY THE SEA,” said Dean Huh, the film’s co-Executive Producer and co-writer. “Winning awards at various competitions is great, but the Imagen Award nominations and being compared to a film like FRIDA, is a tremendous honor both in terms of the quality of the film and the positive message it has.”

The story behind the making of BY THE SEA is almost as compelling as the film itself. Eschewing the normal Hollywood studio route, Huh and his producing partner, Dean W. Barnes of Los Angeles (also the film’s Director), decided to self-produce their own feature with a strategy to assure profitability. When Huh found the turn-of-the-century Weekapaug Inn along the shore of southern Rhode Island he realized he had a location that provided a beautiful backdrop and many different looks in one spot. Then, he and Barnes wrote the screenplay based on that location - a highly unusual way to make a film.

In order to write the screenplay and handle all of the logistics during preproduction, Huh left his secure job at Massachusetts Financial Services in August of 2001, where he had advised the investment firm on the entertainment industry. Then filming began in early October just three weeks after the September 11th attack when nobody else was filming movies in the Northeast.

BY THE SEA was filmed in only eleven days, yet has all of the look and production values of a medium budget indie film. Finding the ideal location allowed Barnes and Huh to spend their money on a top-notch crew led by Boston producer, Tony Bennis and Providence cinematographer, Brian Heller, a strong cast, and, using Barnes’ network of colleagues in Hollywood, they were able to create award-winning state of the art visual effects.

In all, the budget for principal photography was a modest $125,000 - a low amount even in the world of independent films.

The film is carried by a superb performance by Elena Aaron (“The Sopranos,” NBC’s “Ed,” “As The World Turns”). In her first starring role in a feature film, the beautiful Latino garnered the Imagen Award nomination for Best Actress in a feature film, going up against Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek.
Leading up to the national release, BY THE SEA received ten finalist awards, three best picture awards, one directing award, one visual effects award, and the three Imagen Award nominations of Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.