Article on Todd Stephens' latest movie

[Livia]

http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?...rviews&Id=1099

TODD STEPHENS: GAYS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

by Phil Hall
(2006-07-27)

Imagine “American Pie,” but with the horny boys having the hots for other horny boys. That, in the proverbial nutshell, is the basis of Todd Stephens’ new comedy feature “Another Gay Movie.”

But in fact, “Another Gay Movie” is anything but another gay movie – or for that matter, a gay rehash of “American Pie.” Yes, there is plenty of gross-out crass humor. But the film also has fun lampooning every imaginable gay stereotype under the rainbow flag – butch dykes, nelly queens, meth-fueled party boys, a Joan Crawford-worthy mother (played by the wire hanger-swinging cross-dresser Lypsinka), and even a taboo reference to the pedophiles of NAMBLA.

Film Threat caught up with Stephens at his New York to talk about this new production.

QUESTION: Where did the idea for “Another Gay Movie” come from?

TODD STEPHENS: I was actually frustrated when I came up with that idea. I had a lot of trouble getting distribution for my previous film (“Gypsy 83”) – people liked the movie in festivals, but distributors didn’t know how to sell it. It wasn’t easily definable and marketable: it was like a gay/goth/fag-hag/Stevie Nicks/road movie. At the time, most gay films had to be so specific – the gay romantic comedy, the coming out movie – and if you did anything outside of that it was more difficult. So I said: “Okay, I’ll give you something gay! I’ll make the gayest ****ing movie of all time!”

QUESTION: Did you intentionally seek to make a gay “American Pie”?

TODD STEPHENS: I specifically did. I wanted to make a point that if straight people can have gross-out teen sex comedies, gay people can, too. I wanted to model it after “American Pie.”

QUESTION: Though, personally, I found the film surprisingly sweeter than “American Pie.”

TODD STEPHENS: Thank you – that meant a lot to me. A lot of people don’t see it like that – they just see all of the crazy stuff. But I wanted it to be sweet, too, and have characters you cared about and kind of evolved. But I also found “American Pie,” too.

QUESTION: You have a lot of gay stereotypes on display in the film. Was anything considered too often limits to put on screen?


TODD STEPHENS: It was pretty much every goes. I didn’t hold back. We have NAMBLA, for example, and that is something I would really laugh at it if I didn’t make the movie. But it’s had a really weird reaction. I think people feel they shouldn’t laugh it – some people say it’s too much, it’s where you cross the line. But I feel that it’s my job to cross the line. My earliest inspiration was the films of John Waters and he wasn’t worried about crossing the line – that was his whole goal.

QUESTION: How have lesbian audiences viewed the bull dyke character who is central to the plot?

TODD STEPHENS: It has been mixed. Some have been put off by the stereotypical nature of it, but some people want to party with her. It’s a movie where you just have to check political correctness at the door.

QUESTION: Do you know how straight people react to the film?

TODD STEPHENS: We did a test screening with a straight audience and they weren’t told what the film was going to be. I think half of the people walked out. Straight women liked the movie and seemed to respond to it. But unless a straight man is pretty enlightened, they seem to be scared by it.

QUESTION: What is next on your agenda?

TODD STEPHENS: I am developing a project called “Flamingos,” which is set in a gay retirement home in Florida. I may want to do as a TV show or a feature, I am not certain.