Van Nuys Airport plays lead role in documentary.

Van Nuys Airport will transform its newly renovated Syncro Hangar into a 1,000-seat theater and aviation museum on Dec. 2 for a special screening of "One Six Right," a documentary about the airport.

Sony Corp. and producer Terwilliger Productions are putting on the event, which is the final stop on the 12-stop, cross-country tour for the independent feature.

The film is dedicated to Van Nuys Airport, which opened in 1928 and is billed as world's busiest non-commercial airport. It has a rich history, including serving as the launch site for Amelia Earhart's world-speed-record flight in 1929. It was there that a U.S. Army photographer shot a young employee at the airport's Radio-plane Plant. The photos later caught the eye of Hollywood talent scouts, and helped launch a career for Marilyn Monroe.

Producer Brian Terwilliger learned to fly at Van Nuys, and worked on the project for more than five years. He filmed it in 49 days over 14 months of production. Terwilliger had sponsorship from Cessna and received money from 12 other investors--a combination of family, independent financiers and business people. So far, he's sold about 35,000 DVDs through word of mouth and independent distributors.

Sony asked Terwilliger if the corporation could use the hi-def footage to debut the company's SXRD 4K digital projectors at the ShoWest exhibitors convention last year. The entire 120 hours of documentary footage were shot using Sony's high-end CineAlta high definition camera system.

Anne Riley-Katz can be reached at [e-mail] or at [phone], ext. 225.