Ferrante sinks his teeth into his ‘Sharknado’ series
Just when you thought it was safe to turn your TV back on ... “Sharknado” strikes again!
The fourth entry in the outrageous disaster-film franchise debuts Sunday (8 p.m., Syfy), and once again, Antioch native Anthony C. Ferrante orchestrated the nutty shenanigans as its director.
“We filledthis one with all kinds of stuff. There’s more wall-to-wall action going on than ever before,” Ferrante says of “Sharknado: The 4th Awakens.”
The latest low-budget flick begins five years after the East Coast was ravaged in “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) is living in Kansas, and the world has been blissfully free of sharknados, thanks to some new technology developed by a San Francisco-based company run by Aston Reynolds (Tommy Davidson).
Of course, this bliss doesn’t last. Eventually, more sharks — and ’nados — get whipped up in the least expected places, like Las Vegas, St. Louis and Chicago. Some of the chaos even reaches the Bay Area for the first time. And don’t blink, because Ferrante pays a tribute to his hometown with a quick shot of the El Campanil Theatre.
Ferrante, an Antioch
High School grad who attended Los Medanos College, says he and his collaborators strive to top themselves with each film. he says. “Part of the fun of it is that we have no rules. The sharks do what we tell them to do. They can attack a plane, or be up in space. … That really frees up the imagination.”
And the fun doesn’t stop on the set, where improvisation is encouraged. To wit: For a Las Vegas scene involving some Chippendales, Ferrante wondered if one of the dancers might be able to “crotch-rocket” a shark into oblivion.
“I thought there was no way that would make it into the movie,” Ferrante recalls. “I could picture some executive saying, ‘You guys are high. Stop it right now.’ Not only is it in the movie; it made the trailer and be- came a meme.”
Like its predecessors, “The 4th Awakens” gives silly shout-outs to popular films (the title plays upon the latest “Star Wars” saga) and is crammed with crazy cameos, including Carrot Top, Vince Neil, Wayne Newton and many more. But after four films, can Ferrante and crew possibly go on?
“As long as people want to see them, and as long as we can come up with new things, we can keep it going,” he says. “It really is an honor to do these.”