Appreciate the I hesitate to say nostalgic stroll down the rainbow memory lane of our silver (didn’t quite get to golden imho) era of queer indie filmmaking. Stephen’s quote regarding what changed is spot on. I think an extra piece of the change is that when our films were made there was no mainstream option to see on screen gay romance and male nudity without it being porn. Now we have Ryan Murphy and so many others. There are uniquenesses I believe to make queer films that still resonate and capture something the mainstream can’t with the need to capture broader audiences, usually, but very difficult and yet to be fully determined.
Thanks for the comment; and I agree, the change is so nuanced. I do wonder how "Go Fish" and "Trick" get made today, yet ... there are endless places to show things.
Sadly, I think they can and need to be made as a labor of love and an understanding that they won’t necesarrily make their money back. That said, my brother and a friend of mine are in the antique car world (actually he has a trike he built when I was 17). Observing that world I find myself thinking there is going to have to and can be, a new element of patronage that comes into place shifting the burden from the filmmaker / artist to the benefactor who wants to be attached to a lasting legacy, and or for the joy and prestige of traveling the world with festivals or starting a new career in film and using a film like this as a starting point. An element of that has always been a significant part, but I think it needs to be even more so now, and I think it’s a direction that it needs to go. There are a lot more films that can find and be made for 500K then the over 50 million likely average Hollywood / Studio film. I actually liked the film Bros, I found it similar to the intent of Boy Culture and the Eating Outs and so many of the others of that era. It seemed to not have been considered a success. Had it been made like our films were and shot and promoted for under 1 million, with a little shifts in plot and dialog that were likely somewhat finessed towards studio demands, it could have been a big hit, imho. I didn’t find much required in the script other than the attachments that couldn’t have worked equally as well in a much lower budget.
Appreciate the I hesitate to say nostalgic stroll down the rainbow memory lane of our silver (didn’t quite get to golden imho) era of queer indie filmmaking. Stephen’s quote regarding what changed is spot on. I think an extra piece of the change is that when our films were made there was no mainstream option to see on screen gay romance and male nudity without it being porn. Now we have Ryan Murphy and so many others. There are uniquenesses I believe to make queer films that still resonate and capture something the mainstream can’t with the need to capture broader audiences, usually, but very difficult and yet to be fully determined.
I do miss it.
Thanks for the comment; and I agree, the change is so nuanced. I do wonder how "Go Fish" and "Trick" get made today, yet ... there are endless places to show things.
Sadly, I think they can and need to be made as a labor of love and an understanding that they won’t necesarrily make their money back. That said, my brother and a friend of mine are in the antique car world (actually he has a trike he built when I was 17). Observing that world I find myself thinking there is going to have to and can be, a new element of patronage that comes into place shifting the burden from the filmmaker / artist to the benefactor who wants to be attached to a lasting legacy, and or for the joy and prestige of traveling the world with festivals or starting a new career in film and using a film like this as a starting point. An element of that has always been a significant part, but I think it needs to be even more so now, and I think it’s a direction that it needs to go. There are a lot more films that can find and be made for 500K then the over 50 million likely average Hollywood / Studio film. I actually liked the film Bros, I found it similar to the intent of Boy Culture and the Eating Outs and so many of the others of that era. It seemed to not have been considered a success. Had it been made like our films were and shot and promoted for under 1 million, with a little shifts in plot and dialog that were likely somewhat finessed towards studio demands, it could have been a big hit, imho. I didn’t find much required in the script other than the attachments that couldn’t have worked equally as well in a much lower budget.
Boy Culture was one of the first gay books I read and I have a great memory of it, because I liked it very much. I'm going to read it again.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.
That book was key in my life. Then I found out that you are also a fan of Madonna like me and I have always followed you.