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Porn filmmakers going mainstream
A drama about two Echo Park teenagers struggling to find acceptance, "Quinceañera" has become one of the season's indie darlings, winning awards and critical acclaim everywhere it goes. This from the same filmmakers who brought you hard-core porn titles such as "The Florida Erection," "The Hole" and "Toolbox." Not that long ago, it was nearly impossible for filmmakers, producers and actors to move from adult cinema into "legitimate" Hollywood. For every Barry Sonnenfeld (a former adult film cinematographer turned "Men in Black" blockbuster director), countless others failed to make the transition. But those doors are no longer shut tight as the film business becomes increasingly reliant on outside financiers — people freed from corporate worries about whether a filmmaker's background might hurt box-office business. What's more, porn — though still widely reviled — is no longer as socially condemned as it once was. Another case in point: This May, independent distributor Lionsgate released "See No Evil," a thriller funded by World Wrestling Entertainment and made by director Gregory Dark, whose extensive list of adult film credits includes "Sex Freaks," "New Wave Hookers 3" and "The Devil in Miss Jones 5: The Inferno." Dark, who also has made music videos for Britney Spears and Mandy Moore, declined to be interviewed for this article. The co-director of Quinceañera reworks a familiar metaphor in describing his career path. He also says that, although others might have had a difficult time leaving adult films, he didn't. "It's sort of a glass ceiling — you push hard enough and you will smash through." But if you push through a glass ceiling, won't the falling shards leave your arms a bloody mess? Maybe the film industry uses breakaway glass in its ceilings. Barry Sonnenberg's porno background was news to me. He once reportedly shot nine features in nine days, an experience he described as "so unerotic, truly disgusting . . . It took me six months to get another erection." UPDATE: Daze pal Rich Pizor writes: I think the LA Times may be overstating the case here. Porn as indy success story isn't exactly new - Behind The Green Door et al. It certainly went into cold storage after the 80's kicked into gear, but there's been resurgance here and there - Showgirls was arguably porn, and if it didn't enjoy critical acclaim when it was new, it has certainly gained a cult following now. And have you seen The Brown Bunny? Sure it was wrapped in 70 minutes of plodding plot, but the blow job scene in that is as explicit as any arty poorly lit porn-as-art attempt. As for porn people going mainstream, all you have to do is follow the bottom line. Porn cinematographers aren't in the union, and they're happy to shoot something that isn't porn for a change, so they'll work cheap. When you're making an indie film, cheap is good. When you're trying to link a brand to a new genre (ie WWE Films) and are doing it without studio or vertical finance support, cheap is good. Call me when Max Hardcore shoots something for Weinstein and gets it released under Miramax. Until then, porn people will have the same role they always have in the mainstream world - exploitied with a promise of "crossover" that never quite materializes.
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