Why Are Marketers Missing Out on Opportunities With LGBT Audiences?

This piece originally appeared in the July 14, 2010 issue of Advertising Age.

Last week in the heart of Chelsea, in New York City, Joan Rivers got a standing ovation from her adoring gay and lesbian fans after the screening of a documentary about her life, “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.” The sold-out event at NewFest, New York’s premiere LGBT film festival, attracted a well-educated, professional (and good-looking) crowd of New Yorkers, most of whom were gay, and all of whom are prime targets for many of today’s brands from Heineken to American Express, and yet mainstream sponsors like these two (who, by the way, underwrote the Tribeca Film Festival in April) were nowhere to be found.

NewFest was made possible this year thanks to the generosity, primarily, of the fashion designer Marc Jacobs, with additional sponsorships from Showtime’s “The Real L Word,” Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, TekServe, Grand Marnier, IFP, The Gem Hotel, Viña Casablanca, Chilean wines Santa Carolina and NYC’s Gay & Lesbian Center, among others. Some of these sponsors are certainly big, mainstream brands, but what is interesting to me is that the top three are either owned by gay men or, in the case of Showtime, do programming specifically oriented to the gay and lesbian community. So I scratch my head, wondering if major brands simply don’t care about advertising to the LGBT community anymore.

The screening for ‘Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work’ received many sponsors, but none of the big guns.

“When brands actually create campaigns specifically targeting the LGBT community, they get comparatively stronger ROI,” says Bob Witeck, CEO, Witeck Combs Communications, a marketing communications and strategic consulting firm working in the LGBT market for over 17 years. According to Witeck, the key to tapping into this market is authenticity, consistency and durability. For brands like Orbitz, American Airlines and Kimpton Hotels, to name a few, marketing to the LGBT community has consistently paid off.

Hmm, that sounds a lot like what happens when marketers commit to marketing to Hispanics. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between these two markets. Both are racially and socio-economically diverse; both are trend-setting, technologically savvy, early adopters and heavy influencers; both are highly concentrated in the top ten DMAs of the country; both get the short end of advertising budgets, and yet both are fiercely loyal to brands that make an effort to reach them in relevant ways. Of course, it’s the LGBT market that gets the brunt of the hate mongering from conservative right-wingers, although lately I’d say Hispanics are certainly feeling the hate too, need I mention … Arizona?

But I digress. This month is gay pride month, and all across the nation, cities large and small will be hosting events to celebrate their lesbian and gay communities. According to Richard Florida, a professor of business and creativity at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, gay men and lesbians are a critical part of the so-called “creative class” that help cities become economically more competitive by making them more attractive to the intellectual classes that, in turn, help develop cultural and technological innovation, which foments the growth of our nation’s economy.

Research also shows that, even in tough economic times, LGBT communities tend to have more disposable income. So again, I scratch my head and wonder what the heck is going on.

“Gay-inclusive storytelling is what is suffering,” says Witeck. “Budgets are shifting to mainstream agencies who claim to have the LGBT competency in-house, but in reality assign the job to someone on staff who just happens to be gay.” And then, there’s also the issue around push-back from objectors like Bill O’Reilly and interest groups who are anti-gay. “Brands have a hard time navigating what they consider a cultural dialogue or debate, even though public opinion has changed, and acceptance is stronger,” says Witeck.

Specialized shops like Witeck-Combs, Prime Access and Target10 continue to do an excellent job for their clients, but the sad reality is that over the past two years, half a dozen gay advertising shops have closed, including the legendary Double Platinum, run by Stephanie Blackwood and Arthur Korant.

It seems like we are at a tipping point where it is tempting to want to bring minority groups into the fold and advertise with a one-size-fits-all message. But we all know that, in this post-advertising era where consumers are in control, it’s all about the long tail. NewFest closed last night with a sneak preview of CNN’s documentary “Gary & Tony Have Baby,” which airs nationwide on June 24th at 8 p.m. After ten fun-filled days of movies and parties, NewFest officials estimate that over 20,000 New Yorkers (who can sometimes be a tough crowd to please) watched, laughed and cried at 100 different stories of our community. What a missed opportunity for those brands who want real consumer engagement!

About the author: Chiqui Cartagena is the senior VP of multicultural marketing at Story Worldwide. She is also the author of Latino Boom!: Everything You Need to Know to Grow Your Business in the U.S. Hispanic Market.

Jul 22, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

NewFest Workshops: The Complete Podcasts

There’s an easier way than ever to attend a NewFest Filmmaker Workshop… in the comfort of your own home. Our innovative seminars (led by some of the best pros in the business) are now available as podcasts for download. Check us out on Podbean… or subscribe to our iTunes podcast feed. http://newfest2010.podbean.com/

Jun 16, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

FRIDAY Movies and More at NewFest

Reserve your tickets online for easy pick-up at The Cell, just across from the SVA Theater, 23rd Street at Eighth Avenue, in the heart of Chelsea.

Both our Daily Film Grid and our 2010 Program are available as pdf downloads by clicking the thumbnails at left and below.

Jun 11, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Malcolm Ingram’s BEAR NATION

Watch the trailer.

Consider the common bear, with his large, heavy build, awkward gait and huge appetite. Hunted since prehistoric times for his meat and fur… precisely as he is today by many in the LGBT community.

Malcolm Ingram is fascinated by this.

The Toronto born-and-bred indie film director knows intuitively what it means to be a bear, that emerging subset of meatier, furrier gay men. Not only is he one; his latest film, BEAR NATION, examines the phenomenon in up-close and personal detail for a wider audience. We talked to Malcolm to learn more about these strong, cuddly creatures ahead of his movie’s Thursday debut at NewFest.

Fans of your earlier film Small Town Gay Bar will immediately see that this documentary is much lighter in tone…

It’s lighter, but it’s also a whole lot different. I went in like I was afraid it would turn out to be a lot more negative. Talking to folks within the community, well, people were so thankful that I was even there that, I don’t know, that Bear Nation turned out to be a love letter, a celebration, of what it means to be a bear.

That’s exactly one of the issues your movie examines. Would you be willing to pin yourself down and define ‘bear’ for us right now?

No! One of the biggest problems within the gay community in general is that everybody is so f–king quick to subcategorize us. The whole L-G-B-T-A-B-C thing is just so wrong. I like the word ‘queer.’ Hey, I’m totally queer, and I love that word. I don’t feel the need to narrow things down and say ‘I’m a bear with top tendencies, blah blah blah.’ In the end, I’m queer, and I like sucking d–k. I’m a dude who sucks c–k. I’m in that category… ultimately, there is a political element to our sexuality, but whatever.

Malcolm Ingram, left, with Bear Nation executive producer Kevin Smith.

So you consider yourself a bear.

Oh f–k yeah. If you saw me… I’m like 6’3″, 300 pounds (laughs) so I definitely am one. The bear community helped me come out of the closet; I didn’t come out until I was in my thirties. My introduction to gay culture was something I didn’t understand or fit into. Like, I would walk into a normal gay bar, and I didn’t fit into that whole world at all. I mean, it was like people were looking at a bus pass that nobody was waiting for. So the place I found my sexual identity, was at a bear bar (The Faultline in Los Angeles) where I suddenly realized, yeah, I have a sexual currency. It was kind of like when in The Wizard of Oz when everything went from black and white to color.

While making your movie, what other bear scenes did you find to be as welcoming?

The thing is, what’s so great about the bear community is that it’s welcoming everywhere you go. Period. The thing about it is, it’s global. Though there are bear clubs as far away as Japan, there’s a certain uniformity to the whole experience wherever you go. If you wanna go somewhere in the gay community where you know you’re going to be accepted just go the bear bar. Because at a bear bar, you’re going to find all kinds of different people where, essentially, if you don’t fit in, hey, that’s a great place to begin.

A guy you interviewed in Bear Nation says “being a bear is a state of mind.”

Yes. There are a lot of people who want to subcategorize everything, who feel the need to label everything. And I’m totally cool with it, but for me the bear community is the place for misfits, the people who don’t fit into any other rigid categories. It’s just a good place to hang your hat: It’s nonjudgmental, and the net is cast pretty wide. Ultimately, if you hang out in the bear community, you’re gonna eventually find someone who you want to f–k or someone who wants to f–k you!

GRRR! So what’s the best place for a bear lover to get his paws full of honey?

We shot at the XXL (Club) in London, and it’s one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen. The club has at least five different staging areas, and they fill it every Wednesday and Saturday. They run a major bear event twice a week, and they fill the place up… and get this, they’ve been doing it there for ten years. And if you go there, you’ll see the hottest, most interesting, eclectic group of guys. That’s because London gay nightlife is strongly influenced by, if not completely centered around, bear events.

You sure don’t talk like a guy who didn’t come out of the closet until his 30s.

It’s not so much that I didn’t come out, it’s that I didn’t have any group to come out to. It would have been like coming out in a vacuum; I just didn’t feel any connection. You know, I was having gay sex kind of under the radar, sure, but I didn’t really even figure out I was gay until the bear community gave me my identity. I mean, I looked at the gay community, and I felt like I was some kind of impostor until I found my niche — bears.

I say this because that’s the story I heard told over and over again while making Bear Nation. When doing my interviews for it and for Small Town Gay Bar, they were of people who were all sort of finding out where they belonged.

People trying to find a place to connect.

Absolutely. Plus, the bear scene is very much a celebration of masculinity. The difference between the leather scene, which also emphasizes a pointed display of manhood, is that it feels like those guys are wearing their masculinity kind of like drag, do you know what I mean? It just doesn’t feel as natural as the bear scene. It’s manufactured… their hyper-awareness of masculinity. Bears celebrate maleness in a much more organic way. You know, we in society put so much pressure and so much attention on physical appearance. Ultimately, the only thing that f–king matters is what’s in your head. Period. Being a human being is not just about what you look like. It’s everything else, man, that makes you who you are.

Evans Forlidas

Malcolm Ingram, the director of “Small Town Gay Bar,” delivers an insightful yet comical exploration of bear identity, body image, and community, featuring bears of all ages and types. From Kevin Smith appearing on the cover of “A Bear’s Life” to behind the scenes of a Chicago circuit party called Bear Run, this documentary is for not only for members but also the aspiring and the bear-curious.

Click the pic to download your very own desktop grizzly bear!

Jun 09, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Finalists Announced in NewDraft Competition

NewFest’s Screenplay Competition & Reading Series is pleased to introduce the five finalists in our 2010 NewDraft competition, selected by a panel of film industry professionals. This year’s winner will be announced Saturday, June 12, at our 8PM awards ceremony. The finalists are:

Saturday’s Child by Shari Carpenter. A blaxploitation character defines the life of the actress who played her and the young girl who grows up admiring her.

The Mystic Chord by Rob Williams. After losing his memories following a nervous breakdown, Michael Van Allen must figure out who he is and what happened to him in the past.

Product Placement by Jennifer Hagel. A woman who specializes in product placement product-places herself into her love interest’s life.

Union by Whitney Hamilton. Grace Kieler takes on her dead brother’s identity to fight and survive the Civil War. Along the way, she finds true love with a caring widow.

Vampire Strippers Must Die! by Keith Hartman. A group of male strippers (half gay, half straight) on tour in Eastern Europe battle the undead.

The contest is dedicated to discovering and fostering LGBT feature screenwriters and/or LGBT feature screenplays.

Jun 07, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

TONIGHT at Harlem Stage: ‘Billy & Aaron’

You may already know filmmaker and screenwriter Rodney Evans as a favorite of NewFest, having won our 2008 NewDraft script competition for his full-length feature Day Dream, now in development. It’s a sure bet you’ll remember Rodney, too, if you were present for the staged reading of a scene from Day Dream that year… and for the standing ovation it received from the thrilled NewFest crowd.

Rodney Evans

Two years later, an even wider audience will have a chance to experience Evans’ work with his short film Billy and Aaron, developed in conjunction with Day Dream. It’s a fly-on-the-wall portrayal of jazz legend Billy Strayhorn (played by real life singer-musician Brandon Delagraentiss) and his lover Aaron Bridgers (Ignaro Petronillia) imagined during the time of a crossroads in their romance. Shot in an art deco theater and cafe – one that bears an uncanny resemblance to famous Harlem jazz venue Lenox Lounge – Evans created the piece while attending the prestigious director’s coaching program at Amsterdam’s Binger Filmlab. New York-based musician and composer Aaron Beall worked behind the scenes for Evans to recreate the instrumental version of ‘Lush Life,’ a 1938 Strayhorn standard used in the short.

I spoke briefly with Rodney to learn more about the openly gay Strayhorn, and about the musician’s collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington.

What brought you to Billy and Aaron’s story in the first place?

I came to know Billy Strayhorn through his music. I had heard ‘Lush Life’ around ten or 15 years ago, and it was one of those songs that really moved me, and that I thought was beautiful. I also read David Hajdu’s biography about him (Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, 1996) and I found I could relate to a lot of his experiences. I thought it was a shame that so few people knew anything about him, and so that led me into further research into him, getting deeper into his music, studying his life, eventually deciding to write an original screenplay about him.

His connection to the Harlem Renaissance of the Jazz Age and to the gay demimonde of the time is a critical element to his story.

Here’s the way it was. Billy was a younger musician who was in awe of, and went out of his way to meet, the great and legendary Duke Ellington. It’s The Duke who gave him his first big break, hiring him as an arranger and an accompanist with the band, and that allowed Billy a lot of freedom as a gay man he wouldn’t have had otherwise. Because his finances were, well, taken care of, he was allowed to live this openly gay lifestyle, and not have to worry about the financial repercussions of coming out. I think in exchange, he wasn’t given credit at the time for a lot of songs he wrote for Duke. It was probably part of a tacit agreement he made with the big man himself: that, in order to live this open lifestyle on one hand, he would more or less live in the shadows while the Duke took all the bows.

Your film re-imagines a conversation Billy had with Aaron, when he decides he will not accompany his then-lover on a move to Paris. Are you saying this decision was largely driven by career and financial concerns?

I don’t think we’ll ever really know, as both men have both passed on. (My movie is a) fictional portrayal of their relationship, but it is based in facts. I did the hard research into his life to try and figure out what went into that and into other tough decisions he made, or was forced to make, in his career. You know, whether to step up and fight for the kind of credit he deserved as an artist, or, to live an openly gay lifestyle, write music he didn’t really get credit for, and more or less live in the shadows of the great Duke Ellington. He chose the latter, and had difficult life because of it.

It had so many repercussions: He was an alcoholic for decades, which shows how he was in many ways haunted by his life’s decisions. It’s difficult that in that kind of climate – of being a black musician in the 40s or 50s – there weren’t a lot of financial resources for artists; he knew he was fortunate just to have the steady paying gig that he did.

In a way, your film is a comment on what we now call the ‘down low,’ and the consequences of publicly coming out.

Yes, but this work is about my trying to delve into Billy’s experience, and trying to imagine it as fully as possible, and to do justice to it, first and foremost. That being said, I think the reason Billy’s story resonated with me, simply, are the ways that I can relate to his experience, and some of the similarities to things I’ve seen in my life, as a contemporary black gay artist. I think the connection between today’s black gay lifestyle and Billy Strayhorn’s experiences are very real. That made me want to delve deeper into what was going on in his life, and to depict it in Billy and Aaron.

Evans Forlidas

From our film guide: Openly gay composer Bily Strayhorn deals with his life. Plays in Boys Will Be Boys shorts program. USA, 2009, 10 min. Q&A with filmmaker; reception to follow. Plays with Children of God, tonight at Harlem Stage, 7:30pm.

Jun 07, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

‘Open’: An Exploration into Trans Identity

Our NewFest 2010 behind-the-scenes, meet-the-filmmaker series continues with Jake Yuzna, director of Open... interweaving love stories featuring real individuals using modern medicine to explore new frontiers of love, sex and the human form. Yuzna will be on hand to answer questions from the audience when the film makes its NewFest debut Sunday afternoon at 5:30pm.

Not to give away too much of your film, but your story begins when one member of a similar couple is forced to deal with the separation from a partner for the first time.

Jun 05, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

AIDS Educator-Activist Headlines Saturday at NewFest

NewFest is proud to present Sex in an Epidemic, a pioneering documentary by Jean Carlomusto “exploring the personal, political and structural challenges… of HIV educators.”

A longtime feminist and community activist, Carlomusto was at the front lines of efforts to curb the spread of AIDS at the onset of the terrifying new disease; as a career videographer and documentarian, she was in the unique position to interview many of the early important figures in the fight against HIV. It is her own footage, along with archival interviews from the New York LGBT Center, the Lesbian Herstory Archives and other organizations, that lay the foundation for her story.

NewFest spoke to the filmmaker-historian a day ahead of her film’s Saturday screening.

I can honestly say this is a movie that should be seen by as wide an audience as possible.

I agree. The reason I made it is because I wanted to start a larger dialogue once again, because it seems like AIDS and HIV prevention have completely slipped off the map. You know, that wouldn’t be a bad thing if the numbers weren’t rising. In this country we’re getting more than 60,000 new cases a year, and that’s simply unsustainable. I should think by now that the numbers would be less than half of that, but they’re not.

Well, to begin with you call the movie Sex in an Epidemic. A lot of people don’t even view this as an epidemic any more.

That’s completely true. They think the epidemic is in Africa.

Do you think that this complacency stems from the comfort level created by the development of life-prolonging drugs, protease inhibitors and others, over the last 15 years?

It’s partially that. It’s partially that the politics have really moved on. Right now I see how much of the energy is focused on issues of same sex marriage and transgender issues. While I think they’re both very important issues, I don’t think we can afford to be cavalier about HIV. It’s amazing to me. I really don’t think we would even be talking about same sex marriage and transgender issues at all if it weren’t for the real political mobilization that came after HIV. We just wouldn’t be here; the system wouldn’t be in place.

I have always been particularly moved, watching movies like yours, to see how lesbians have been at the forefront in the fight against HIV from day one. It’s ironic, because lesbians are the group least likely, because of the way HIV is transmitted, to acquire the disease. So here’s a tough question. Do you think if the shoe were on the other foot, and it was the women who were getting sick, that the gay men would have come out fighting for you the way you did for us?

It’s a real loaded question, one that I don’t have the answer to. I think they would have…  because the disease occurred first in the gay male population, we saw the fight against AIDS, initially, as part of a larger fight against homophobia in general. We felt like, this is homophobia, and because we’re homosexuals too, we have to do something about it. As I got more involved I saw how things permeated, that is, how a lot of other social ills were exposed (by the AIDS crisis) but I have to say it was homophobia that provided the initial spark to get so many lesbians involved.

Of course, I don’t know if I can speak for all lesbians on that. I think a lot of women got into the movement out of concerns about the health care system. At least that was my take on it at the time. But certainly in New York, people were so scared, so afraid of anything gay. Gay people had become pariahs, so homophobia was a huge concern.

Did you happen to know many people, before you became an activist, who were diagnosed with AIDS?

As I got more involved with HIV, I started to meet more and more people living with it. In the early days, yes, I knew a few people, but I was also aware that the numbers were rising. I started volunteering at Gay Men’s Health Crisis around ’86, and of course I started to meet a lot more guys who were sick; that’s when people were dying a lot quicker. I had about two or three different supervisors at GMHC… Joey Leonte, for example, who’s interviewed in the film, is the guy who hired me. He’s no longer with us. The way things went there quickly because repetitive: people would start to get sick, then a short while later they’d be cleaning out their desks, then a short while after that you’d be sitting at their memorial service. It was horrible.

More about those early days. You provide some fascinating interview footage with AIDS activist Larry Kramer and other gay men whose approach to battling the disease was to get the word out to as many people as possible, and to scare everybody about AIDS. Others, including a doctor you interviewed, said it was better to err on the side of caution, and avoid panic. As an activist on the front line of the fight from the beginning, where did you fall on that discussion at the time?

Simple. Early on, GMHC was following the CDC’s recommendations, which was to limit the number of your sexual partners, to not do poppers, not to go to the bathhouses. That was the early information we were giving out. It was a very, very hard situation to be in at the time. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I wanted to make the film. I feel for Larry Mass — the doctor everybody was coming to (for questions about AIDS) at a time when nobody really knew what the truth was. As a physician, he didn’t have a theory that told him, hey, this is a one shot deal — a disease you could get from just one sexual encounter – and that you just shouldn’t have sex at all without a rubber. (Noted AIDS researcher and physician) Joe Sonnabend came up with a lot of that early information, but he had a model that was ultimately false. It was based on bactorialism, but still, were ideas that allowed him to come up with some very useful safer sex guidelines, many of which were still usable even after the HIV virus was discovered.

We all look back with pride, now, at a lot of the anti-AIDS activism, and the protest actions conducted by ACT UP, Queer Nation, and other groups back in the day. But there was a real controversy surrounding that kind of aggressive approach to demanding funding for HIV at the time, that I don’t think younger people really understand. There were big differences within the gay community as well as to how the fight against AIDS should be approached.

In New York, most of the controversy centered around the St. Patrick’s church action (On December 10, 1989, approximately 5,000 members of ACT UP and WHAM protested outside of the cathedral, while 43 people disrupted mass, in a demonstration against Cardinal John Joseph O’Connor’s public stand against AIDS education and condom distribution in public high schools, and abortion.-Eds.) The media clamped on to it in a way that never really went away. Initially they had been kind of supportive, or at least were getting there, but things started to turn when they started to document the outrage that a Catholic mass had been interrupted.

Television stations all over the country ran that story, and the reaction to it, for days after the incident.

Yes, and it certainly raised questions about what kind of approach we should be taking within the group as well, even within ACT UP and other political groups. People were wondering if we went too far. I’ll never forget Ray Novarro, an activist at the time, who said something important: that we shouldn’t let the media redefine this event. That action happened at a time when the church was taking a very political stand that was destructive and was killing people; the gentleman who knocked the host out of the cardinal’s hands was a Catholic who had grown up in the system, and that is where he took it (his activism.)

Taken in context, it makes a lot more sense as an act of protest, whether you agree with what the guy did or not.

That got a lot of play. But one thing that I liked about that action, which didn’t get a lot of play at the time, was the fact that it was co-sponsored by WHAM, the Women’s Health Action Mobilization. They were really great about talking about women’s issues. On a larger scale, I thought their presence there was a great example of some of the types of bridge-building going on.

You make an interesting point in Sex in an Epidemic: that, for many men affected during the early days of AIDS, sleeping around meant much more than just having a good time. It was almost a political act, for those who grew up during the repressive 1950s.

That’s a big part of what the film’s about. As a documentarian who interviewed all of these guys… after HIV was discovered, and people could all agree what the basic outline for promoting safer sex should be, groups like GMHC spent an awful lot of time bringing in some very creative folks figuring out how to drive the safer sex message across. So, you had somebody like Raymond Jacobs – he was this fabulous theater queen who had been in the original cast of Hair, and used to talk about dancing naked on stage – who pioneered how to talk about prevention. So he produced this film called Chance of a Lifetime (1985). The tactic was not to scare people so much, but to simply talk about sex, in a non-judgemental way. Because once you start talking about sex, you realize there are a lot of different ways to have it. That’s the part of the discussion that I really got into, as a lesbian. What I appreciated so much was the fact that this stigmatized population was going back to what created their identity – their sexuality. They were saying, hey, let’s talk about it, let’s figure out fun ways to make it safer.

I’m not romanticizing it. We would even sit around in groups and a facilitator would say, ‘Okay, let’s name every sex act we can think of that doesn’t involve sucking or fucking.’ All of these fascinating things would come up, like shrimping; I would think to myself, oh my god, what is shrinmping? (Laughs) Yes, it’s sucking on toes and it’s safe. (Laughs) But I consider such discussions to be very enlightening. There are all these different sexual modalities that were shared during these discussions, which became a very important part of safe sex education. And you know, these things were just as important for women, which I realized right off the bat, having come from a feminist background. But these early sessions were just as important for gay men, because, at the time, the nightlife and bath house culture didn’t allow for discussions of these different shades of sexuality.

Is there anything in particular you want audiences to think about while viewing Sex in an Epidemic?

I’m really interested in promoting a historical bridge from the past, in a way that shows our history is on a continuum, and that the kind of work you see in my film is still being done today. (That kind of work) needs to be amplified, and we need to go back, constantly, and think about the tragic about of loss we suffered, and out of that loss, what was gained. We gained a lot of momentum for gay rights from that period of time, and that alone should make us at least knowledgeable about the state of HIV prevention.

Evans Forlidas

From our film guide: An engaging and illuminating documentary about the history and evolution of safe sex in the face of a deadly epidemic. Mostly New York based subjects including Act Up activists tell the extraordinary story about how out of a time of panic and chaos came the invention of safe sex, and the subsequent difficulty in publicizing it as a concept because of political opposition. Q&A with Filmmaker. Saturday June 5, 3PM.

Jun 04, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

SATURDAY: Film School at NewFest

Working Actor’s Survival Kit: Building Your Career as an LGBT Performer (1PM, 90 min.)

TRACI GODFREY is the Chair of the Screen Actors Guild LGBT Committee in New York, as well as a National Director of the Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors.  She is an actress and voice over artist who has performed extensively on the New York and London stage.  Television credits include guest appearances on Sopranos, Law And Order, All My Children, and One Life To Live and recurring roles as Dr. Elaine Schiller on As The World Turns and Detective Farley on Law And Order Criminal Intent.  Traci lives with her partner and children in East Hampton and Montclair, NJ.

KIM MOAREFI has a varied career in casting and production for films, television and theater. Select feature and TV casting credits include: HBO movies Grey Gardens, starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore; Doris and Bernard, starring Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes; and Polio Water, starring Misha Barton and Cherry Jones.  Select theater casting credits include: Macbeth and Julius Caesar for Shakespeare on the Sound and The Exonerated, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Mia Farrow, Jeff Goldblum, and Aidan Quinn, which played Off Broadway. She was also a casting director for the NBC daytime series Passions. She is a member of the Casting Society of America.

GARY RIOTTO (left) splits his time between Los Angeles and New York City. His acting work includes roles in features such as The Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller, recurring work on ER, hosting segments on America’s Next Top Model and Off Broadway Theatre.  Most recently, he shot an ABC pilot, How To Be A Better American, an episode of Parenthood and is currently in a workshop production of The Minotaur for the Fire Dept. theatre company in NYC.

Since 2005, panel moderator ADAM MOORE (right) has served as Associate National Director of Affirmative Action & Diversity for Screen Actors Guild and leads the department’s New York office to develop and implement a national diversity plan of action to achieve accurate representation of those groups historically excluded from the entertainment media.  He is currently liaison to the New York City Task Force on Diversity in Film, Television and Commercial Production, curriculum advisor to the New York City Department of Education and is proud to have served on President Obama’s Disability Policy Committee during the 2008 Presidential Election.  Adam has spent the past nine years in New York City and currently lives with his wife and dog in Brooklyn.

CARYN WEST (left), actress/acting coach/director, is the only teacher selected on both coasts as one of “The Best Audition Coaches” by Back Stage West and East 2009 polls.  She actually auditions just like her clients and works hard to keep up in a fast changing industry. Her credits include: three Broadway shows, leads in top regional theaters and roles in film and television.  She will be teaching her film and television “Audition Intensive” at Michael Howard Studios in July, 2010.

A Guide to LGBT Film Distribution & Festival Strategy (11AM, 60 min.)

Personal Finance for Filmmakers (3PM, 60 min.)

Jun 04, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

FRIDAY Movies to Entertain, Enlighten, Inspire

NewFest 2010 roars into full swing Friday with three foreign-language narratives.

We begin our program at 7PM with I Killed My Mother (J’ai Tue Ma Mere.) Former Canadian child actor Xavier Dolan writes, directs and stars in his story of a young man’s turbulent, compelling, and enraging relationship with his single mother, based in large part on true incidents from his own upbringing. I Killed My Mother is the openly gay heartthrob’s second feature length film, with a level of accomplishment and virtuosity in filmmaking already being compared to that of a young Pedro Almodovar… all the more impressive given Dolan’s young age: He just turned 21 this Spring. In French with English subtitles.

Next on tap is Leo’s Room (El Cuarte de Leo,) co-sponsored by the Global Film Initiative and the NY International Latino Film Festival. A runaway hit with audiences in several Spanish-speaking countries, it’s the story of wide-eyed gamin Leo as he comes to terms with his sexuality, true love, and the treachery of those who try to stand in his way. Our film guide calls director Enrique’s Buchichio’s work a “dreamy, nuanced character study with emotional layers.” In Spanish with English subtitles, Leo’s Room is preceded by a special screening of the 16-minute short film The Strongest, by Brazilian filmmaker Ricky Mastro. The event begins at 10PM.

Friday also marks the NewFest debut of From Beginning to End (Do Começo ao Fim,) easily our most controversial film of the season. Director Alusio Abranches challenges and titillates the viewer with his story of two model-gorgeous brothers whose close relationship evolves into a sexual one. Presented in a nonjudgmental fashion, From Beginning to End ultimately encourages the viewers to judge for themselves the ethical and moral implications of the two men’s (some say ilicit) love affair. From Brazil; in Portugese with English subtitles. The screening begins at 9PM.

Tickets are still available for all shows. Click the Buy Tickets link at the top of this page to purchase yours.

Jun 03, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

TODAY at NewFest: The Documentaries

NewFest 2010 begins today (Friday) with the award-winning documentary programming you’ve come to expect from New York’s cutting edge LGBT film festival with Switch: A Community in Transition. Activist, filmmaker and trans man Brooks Nelson not only helms this exploration of gender transition, but steps in front of the camera to document the impact of his own gender transition on those around him. With equal doses of subtlety, humanity and humor, Nelson’s first-person account helps us understand not only what it means – but also what it feels – to experience the transition of a loved one.

Switch is presented on a double-bill with Nobody Passes Perfectly, a mid-length documentary from director Saskia Bisp. In Danish with English subtitles, it’s another open-minded and emotionally profound film about gender. You’ll meet Tomka, in his early thirties and living with his girlfriend while transitioning, and the middle-aged Erik, who is finally experiencing life on his own terms. The double-feature begins at 3:30PM.

It’s a cruel reality that members of the generation who made so many important strides for LGBT rights are increasingly being forced back into the closet in their twilight years, shunned by the very relatives and health care workers they rely upon for support. Stu Maddux takes us behind the scenes in retirement homes and health care centers across the country in Gen Silent – his up-close and personal study of a group of diverse seniors who are anything but silent. Co-Sponsored by SAGE, the national social service and advocacy organization dedicated to LGBT senior citizens, the documentary focuses the spotlight on the brave elders who dare to take a stand and fight back against the current system. (6PM)

Following at 8PM is Beautiful Darling, the freshman documentary from “off-off Broadway” theater director James Rasin. The poignant, well-researched new bio-pic tells the story of transsexual performer Candy Darling, her all-consuming quest for fame and celebrity, and her ultimate estrangement from Andy Warhol, the man who introduced her to the world. You’ll come for the story, but you’ll stay for the original interviews with such luminaries as John Waters, Holly Woodlawn, Jayne County, Penny Arcade, Gerard Malanga, Taylor Mead… and for the live question and answer session with the director immediately following the screening. Co-Sponsored by IFP.

NewFest rounds out the complement of Friday documentary programming with a presentation of Markku Heikinnen’s All Boys. In stark contrast to the slick, sun-drenched Eastern European-produced gay pornography associated with the famous Bel Ami Studios is the edgier work of controversial Dan Komar, in the Czech Republic. All Boys is a raw, no-holds-barred journey into Komar’s world, the young models with whom he lives, and the impact of his ‘bareback’ sex films on the Prague-based gay porn industry. The sexy, provocative, and disturbing film was produced in Finland, but is presented in English. Midnight.

Tickets are still available for all shows, and can be purchased by clicking the Buy Tickets link at the top of this page.

Jun 03, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

NewFest 2010 Opens with Fuentes-León’s ‘Undertow’

Thursday night NewFest kicks off the 2010 season with Undertow, the first full-length feature film from Peruvian director-screenwriter Javier Fuentes-León.

Winner of the 2010 World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Undertow introduces us to Miguel (Cristian Mercado, Che), a married fisherman and expectant father in Cabo Blanco, Peru, and his scandalous secret: a clandestine love affair with the openly gay Santiago (Manolo Cardona, Beverly Hills Chihuahua.)

When Santiago drowns accidentally in the ocean’s strong undercurrent, he cannot pass peacefully to the other side. He returns after his death to ask Miguel to look for his body and bury it according to the rituals of the town. Miguel must choose between sentencing Santiago to eternal torment or doing right by him and, in turn, revealing their relationship to the entire village.

With sweeping images of the beautiful Peruvian coastline, Undertow is described as an “emotional intersection of contemporary sexuality, confronted by tradition and belief.” NewFest spoke to Fuentes-León via telephone a day ahead of his appearance at the New York City debut of his film, to find out more.

Director Javier Fuentes-León.

While watching your movie, I thought about a comment Lesli (NewFest Executive Director Lesli Klainberg) made to me once about our film festival. She said that, while our focus will always be on LGBT issues, our mission is much bigger than that – to serve the larger community as a whole. It’s appropriate, then, that Undertow is the opening night feature for NewFest 2010, because, while it’s certainly gay-themed, it’s so much more than just a ‘gay’ movie.

It’s funny that you say that. A lot of people who’ve seen it tell me, ‘hey, that’s not a gay film,’ as if saying so is a pejorative thing. I’m flattered by the observation, because Undertow doesn’t just address a niche group, it speaks to many more people, which is what I wanted to do with the film. I’m gay, and I wrote it hoping that gay people would connect to it, because it’s based on my ideas and emotions about what coming out means to me. Yet, in many ways the story has nothing to do with me: I’m not a fisherman, I’m from the city; I wasn’t married, I wasn’t about to have a kid; nor was I cheating on anybody when I came out. But the intensity of some of those feelings, along with the fear of being found out, definitely were there. That’s why the film is so personal.

The coming out story of Miguel in particular is not mine, though I wrote it with gay people in mind. But I also wrote it for people who never have to go through this process. That said, I think the idea of ‘coming out’ can be used in other ways than to describe sexual orientation. Coming out is really about taking whatever steps you need to take to become who you really are. It can be about accepting a dream or a goal you always wanted to happen, but were afraid people would find out; or a political idea; or admitting to so many things people are inclined to hide because they’re afraid of being rejected. In my life, this is certainly true. I actually studied to be a physician in Peru and graduated with a medical degree. It was during my last two years of med school that I decided I didn’t want to be a doctor any more, that I wanted to study film. Bringing that in the open, though it was for a long time a secret, was for me the first step in becoming who I really am: This, too, was my ‘coming out,’ though it had nothing to do with my sexual orientation.

There is a strong religious throughline to Undertow, a highly personal touch as well. It’s so important to your central conceit of the deceased needing a proper religious send-off in order to rest in peace after death.

Much of that is of course based on South American Roman Catholic folk tradition, but as far as some of the specifics in Undertow go, well… I made them up (laughs.) While I give the funeral and burial scenes a much more mystical aspect than usual in my film, sure, that notion was definitely something that was ingrained in my Catholic upbringing, one that says a body should be blessed properly in order for a soul to rest. I think the idea behind the ritualistic burial at sea in Undertow is universal, though; for example, Hindus frequently bury their loved ones’ remains at sea, or in the Ganges River, et cetera.

Cristian Mercado, left, and Manolo Cardona.

Fair enough, but there are an undeniable number of pointed references to Christian themes and religious imagery in Undertow. The clear references to Saint Peter in the character of Miguel, for example.

Yes, of course. And then there’s the scene at the end in which Miguel is shown carrying the dead body, which is meant to suggest the image of Jesus Christ carrying the cross. That’s a literal representation of the old saying that ‘we all carry our own cross.’ It’s meant to be a bit provocative. The church says we are all made in the image of God. Why not represent the fact that this man Miguel – gay, bisexual, whatever you want to call him – is, of course, also made in the image of God. This may be controversial to some, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

You mentioned the references to Saint Peter. In the movie, you’ll notice that Miguel denies Santiago, his lover, three times, just as Peter denied knowing his friend Christ three times… It’s nice to be able to bring religion into the discussion of this story. I think organized religion, Roman Catholicism in particular, continues to play a tremendous role into how we view sexuality today, especially in how we determine what’s ‘wrong’ versus what’s ‘right.’

Something must be said about the amazing chemistry between your two lead actors, Christian Mercado (Miguel) and Manolo Cardona (Santiago), which certainly makes your storytelling that much more effective.

Because of the complexity of the role, I knew Miguel had to be played by a brilliant actor; the challenge was finding the right man. I always felt like Santiago could be played by somebody who was not from Peru, after all, his character is the outsider. But Miguel himself had to be Peruvian. At first, I actually had cast another actor in the role, a native Peruvian. He was a friend of mine, a great actor who is also one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever worked with, but after a certain point I realized he wasn’t the one. He just wasn’t believable as a fisherman; he was too refined. I later found a Bolivian, Cristian, to be perfect for the part. I met him though a Bolivian casting director.

Manolo was an obvious choice to play Santiago. Not only is he just beautiful, he has an angelic quality to him. I needed the actor playing Santiago to be someone you would adore, someone a married man could justifiably fall in love with, and not be seen simply as a homewrecker. A lot of friends of mine who are straight commented that’s what they thought of Jake Gyllenhaal’s character in Brokeback Mountain… I took that as a warning. I wanted to take the extra steps to make sure this character was someone the audiences would remain sympathetic to.

There’s an element of redemption in Undertow missing from Brokeback.

At the end of Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger’s character is, well, kind of pathetic. He ends up alone because he never really owned up to who he is. Yes, he goes to visit the other man’s family in order to bury him, but by then it’s too late. The message of Undertow is much more uplifting.

I also noticed a few references to one of my all-time favorite sex comedies from the seventies, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (Bruno Barreto, Brazil, 1976) in Undertow. South American audiences in particular will recognize some of the humorous nods you make to that film.

Yes. There’s even a specific reference at the beginning of the film in the name of the aunt whose son has just died: her name is Dona Flor! Sure, in ways the ideas I use are an homage to that movie, in that I’ve always liked the idea of having two people symbolize different, complementary aspects of the ideal lover. In Dona Flor, one lover gives the lead character financial and emotional security; the other is a crazy hot gigolo (laughs.) I wanted to bring that idea into Undertow. You’ll notice in my movie how people tend to comment about Miguel all of the time, ‘wow, he has everything.’ But does he really? Here, as in Dona Flor, his relationship with a dead man, a ghost, is a device meant to show him what his life could have been like had he really accepted himself more… and not just carried out a clandestine sexual relationship with Santiago on the side, in caves and on construction sites. But my film is different, in that in the end, I wanted Miguel to become a man, and own up to the consequences of his acts.

Evans Forlidas

From our film guide: An exceptional film balancing strong performances and gorgeous imagery with a powerful story. Young married fisherman Miguel develops unexpected feelings for Santiago, an artist new to the village, amidst growing community suspicions, increasing pressure from Santiago, and an unexpected supernatural occurrence. Q&A with director immediately following screening. Thursday June 3, 8PM.

Jun 02, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

‘Le Tigre’ Coming LIVE to NewFest

Click here for Le Tigre's YouTube channel.

Keep reading to learn how to win two FREE tickets to see the new Le Tigre movie!

THIS JUST IN… members of the NYC-band Le Tigre – subjects of what is being called an “electrifying and hilarious” new documentary, Le Tigre On Tour – will be on hand LIVE at NewFest 2010 for two “sneak peek” screenings.

The documentary, which director Kerthy Fix says is a “work in progress,” will be shown Wednesday June 9 at 10PM, as well Sunday June 13, at 2PM, at the SVA Theater, home of NewFest. Fix will be on hand as well to lead both Q&A sessions.

Le Tigre is Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman, and JD Samson – electroclash rockers whose music is well known to fans for its strong emphasis on feminist and LGBT issues. The light-hearted documentary is a virtual all-access pass using never seen, behind-the-scenes footage shot during their last world tour.

Fix herself is no stranger to the indie music scene. She and producing partner Gail O’Hara recently spent more than a decade with another well-known act, creating the music documentary Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, currently receiving strong notices from critics on the festival circuit.

As a special gift to our friends who follow us on Facebook, NewFest is giving away TWO sets of free tickets to see Kerthy Fix’s Le Tigre On Tour; that’s two tickets to both the June 9 and the June 13 shows. Winning is simple: all you have to do is click the link at the bottom of the page to follow us. We’ll announce the winner on Facebook next weekend.

May 27, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of a Warhol Superstar

Watch the trailer.

It’s a cruel irony of the sixties Factory era that Andy Warhol considered the “superstars” of his films to be almost as interchangeable – and just as disposable – as his famous Campbell’s soup cans. Beautiful Darling, NewFest’s well-researched new documentary from director James Rasin, tells the story of transsexual performer Candy Darling, her all-consuming quest for fame and celebrity, and her ultimate estrangement from the man who gave her her career.

“All-consuming” is no exaggeration. Like a fabulous tranny Tosca, Candy really did live, and some say even died, for her art. Realizing she was different at an early age, Candy, nee Jimmy Slattery, would sit for hours behind closed doors in her parents’ Long Island home putting on makeup and rehearsing monologues by her idol, actress Kim Novak, convincing herself she was destined for stardom. But on whose terms? Rasin answers this as he chronicles Candy’s journey from Massapequa Park to Manhattan; from lonely boyhood to center stage at Max’s Kansas City; from starring performances in four Warhol films to her untimely death from lymphoma just months before her thirtieth birthday.

Though she was certainly smart enough to be in on the joke, Candy maintained an unerring sense of herself as the factory’s real-life incarnation of Novak to Warhol’s Louis B. Mayer, making her eventual fall from the artist’s graces that much more poignant. Rasin’s interviews with Jeremiah Newton, her former roommate and lover, highlight this period of uncertainty in the actress’ life. Though painted by other interviewees as a hanger-on obsessed with fame, it is Newton’s longtime loyalty to Candy’s memory that helps Rasin give due dignity to the one-of-a-kind, self-styled lady, nearly three-and-a-half decades after her death.

Evans Forlidas

From our film guide: Andy Warhol superstar Candy Darling is resurrected through interviews with John Waters, Paul Morrissey, Jayne County and striking footage from The Factory era. Born James Slattery in suburban Long Island, Candy rose to fame as the lead actress in Warhol’s Flesh and Women in Revolt, was cast by Tennessee Williams in his play Small Craft Warnings and always dreamed of becoming a Hollywood star. In this revealing documentary Candy’s motives and story are given added dimension as her own words are brought to life by actress Chloe Sevigny reading from Candy’s private letters and diaries. Playing NewFest at SVA Theater 2, Friday June 4, 8PM.

May 26, 2010 | Categories: News, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »