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A Cinematographer Photographer Turns a Warehouse Into His House. Charles Street, is a red brick building into his studio, his office and his home. Now he can survey the 2,750-square-foot studio (empty except for an enormous roll of white paper hung from the 16-foot ceiling) from the mezzanine and say, ''I never thought I'd ever own anything like this.'' ''I kept looking and looking, and I kept coming back to 162 Charles Street. One particularly sunny day we walked up to the roof and the sun was moving across the water and I said: 'O.K., let's think about this place.' It was pretty hypnotic.'' Mr. Seliger bid on the building. He thought he had the deal. Then the real estate broker who had actually listed the property ( not his own agent, James Lansill of Stribling-Wells & Gay) called to say that the other people had made a slightly higher offer, but that ''the first person who signs a contract gets it. Last May I paid $950,000 for the late 19th-century building, which contained close to 12,000 square feet of usable space in the then-four-story space. (He has since eliminated a floor and added a mezzanine, bringing the total down to 10,000 square feet.)

Tags: Film Industry

A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS

Tragic, comic, and utterly honest, this extraordinary memoir is at once a great family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation and lived through its turbulent history. It is the story of a boy growing up in the war-torn Jerusalem of the forties and fifties, in a small apartment crowded with books in twelve languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. His mother and father, both wonderful people, were ill-suited to each other. When Oz was twelve and a half years old, his mother committed suicide, a tragedy that was to change his life. He leaves the constraints of the family and the community of dreamers, scholars, and failed businessmen and joins a kibbutz, changes his name, marries, has children, and finally becomes a writer as well as an active participant in the political life of Israel. A story of clashing cultures and lives, of suffering and perseverance, of love and darkness. HANDSOMECHARLIE FILMS
1720-1/2 Whitley Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-462-6013 Natalie Portman has inked a two-year production deal with Participant Prods. for her newly formed Handsomecharlie Films shingle.

Banner's first project is "A Tale of Love and Darkness," on which Portman plans to make her feature helming debut. Story is based on the bestselling memoir of Amos Oz, with Naomi Foner ("Running on Empty") in negotiations to adapt the screenplay. That project, however, is not set up at Participant.

Annette Savitch has been tapped veep of development for L.A.-based Handsomecharlie Films, which will develop socially relevant films.

Portman said she was inspired by Participant's mandate to produce such forward-thinking projects as "Syriana," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

"We all have the same desire to make meaningful and artistically fulfilling films and are committed to the idea of stories leading to greater empathy and action for world issues," Portman said.

Participant prexy Ricky Strauss lauded Portman for her interest "in projects that entertain and empower." He added: "She has the heart of an artist and an activist. It just seems like a natural relationship, and we couldn't be more pleased."