FOSTERING HELP WITH HOME ACTRESS LENDS HAND IN FIXER-UPPER PLAN FOR MOVIE FOLK.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

RESEDA - With a circular saw buzzing nearby and volunteers sprucing up an old house with fresh paint, actress Jodie Foster went to work Sunday helping to fix up the one-story home of an elderly Reseda couple.

Ben and Myrna Lopp have lived at the house for more than 50 years, but it began to get worn down recently. Working on the home was a way for Foster and dozens of other Motion Picture & Television Fund volunteers to give back, since Ben Lopp, 85, is a retired television studio engineer.

``It's interesting how something like just keeping up a house can just be the most overwhelming thing in the world,'' said Foster, the star of ``The Silence of the Lambs'' and ``Flightplan.''

``Just getting out of bed is tough, so the idea of getting a house repainted or whatever, you just keep putting it off,'' Foster said. ``And then finally it gets (to be) too big a task for you, and it's just nice to have a hand so you can take care of yourself.''

Most seniors want to stay independent by living in their own homes as long as possible, so the MPTF has started a new initiative to repair the homes of retired film and television industry workers.

The initiative was launched Sunday with the all-day project at the Lopp home and a similar project a couple miles away at the home of a retired film industry worker. The initiative is all part of what the MPTF does: taking care of its own by offering health care, child care, and social services to current and retired entertainment industry workers.

``It's not like they're salaried employees that are going to stay at the same company for 40 years,'' Foster said. ``You're a freelancer, and it means you go in and out of being employed, you go in and out of having health care, health insurance. ... And it's also a really tough business. You're talking about 14-hour days, 16-hour days. It's a business that's cruel, physically.''

Tough work is something Harry Kaven, 73, knows about. The retired set-builder who worked on ``Roots'' and ``Back to the Future'' experienced his first knee troubles on the job, and they got worse over the years.

Now he can no longer do the home improvement tasks he used to tackle, so he watched from a motorized scooter as grips from the TV show ``Scrubs'' and other workers made improvements to his home. The job list included installing ramps, repairing and painting steps and handrails and trimming trees and shrubs.

``I feel so special and I am in such awe (that) all you wonderful people are here doing this for us,'' Jenny Kaven told the volunteer crew as she sat next to her husband during a break in the work.

The MPTF has partnered with a nonprofit called Rebuilding Together to do the repair and maintenance projects at the homes of retired entertainment industry workers. Last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences donated $5 million to the MPTF's community outreach projects for seniors.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) Jodie Foster and Thora Birch, right, were among those who helped spruce up the home of Ben and Myrna Lopp in Reseda.

(2) Jodie Foster meets Myrna and Ben Lopp, whose home she helped fix up as part of the Motion Picture & Television Fund and Rebuilding Together plan.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer