As told to writer Chris Chattworth
“ I am really excited to be coming “home” again with Friends and Lovers. It’s rare that writer/directors get an opportunity to explore new ground with characters and themes from their previous work. I made my first film The Ski Trip for myself, to tell my story, and my second film Dirty Laundry was for my family. But this project really is for the fans. They’ve been asking
to find out what happens to the characters they fell in love with. The challenge was to find a way to do it that would satisfy the original film’s fan, but tell a story that is stand-alone. I want someone to be able to sit in the theater or watch it at home and get caught up in the drama and comedy whether they know the first film or not.
The origin of The Ski Trip is really quite unique. It started as a dare. I have always been a huge advocate of finding new, inexpensive and quality ways to make films. I had started a filmmaker’s collective in New York City, and kept telling the group that it was possible to make a feature for under 50K. Of course they thought I was crazy and dared me to do so as an attempt to get m to shut up. (Laughs)
So since I didn’t know any better, I did. What was great was that the film really had a unique perspective, a voice we hadn’t really seen in mainstream or queer cinema: a young, urban, aesthetic wrapped in a traditional story about finding love when you least expected it. Originally we were rejected from every film festival. The gay festivals thought it was too "urban” and the Black and Latino festivals were very upfront that they didn’t know how to program a gay film. Lucky for me they didn’t. I ended up taking the film on the road myself; screening it at pride festivals and anywhere I could find an audience. The film created this huge underground buzz that ultimately led execs at the floundering LOGO network to find me and call.
The film helped launch the network. We were they first original film and the only programming of color when LOGO launched in 2005. As such we were in heavy rotation. I mean, heavy! 4 times a week in prime time. The film aired so much that fans actually thought they were catching the same episodes of a series. (Laughs).
So when I decided to do a spin-off I knew I wanted to honor that experience. Beyond that, I like the idea of pushing boundaries and felt as if there was an opportunity here to make an amazing film that could exist in multiple media platforms. Risky. A gamble for sure, but one I felt was worth doing. So the film doesn’t fit squarely in one particular box. But better than that, it fits in several.
It’s a sequel and a reboot and a spin-off. The film’s four favorite characters relocate to Los Angeles and there we are introduced to family, friends and of course lovers, both old and new who send the story in the stratosphere.
In keeping with the themes of the original, I knew the characters had to be diverse. And with this project I really wanted to knock the walls down. I wanted to see every race, both sexes, all orientations. Ironically it became really easy to write and construct, because that’s what life is like. We are all so connected in the most unique and random ways. It became very natural to link all these quirky, sexy characters. A lot of the fun for me as the creator is finding how to hide the relationships. Since it’s a satirical take on a soap opera, I need to leave things to be discovered and revealed later. But of course it’s a stand-alone project as well, so that gets tricky. I loved the challenge, but most of all I loved the result. A laugh-out loud funny drama that really gets audiences going.
I’m also really proud of this cast. From legends like Jackee Harry, to fresh faces like Ben Patterson and of course the three returning favorites (John Rankin, Daren Fleming and Cassandra Cruz) who are the heart of the film. It’s great to see their growth as performers and I so respect the total abandon they all took in this project. Total trust in the vision and me. They just jumped in. It’s actually crazy, with as many guest stars as we have, there were another dozen who wanted to be in the project. From Loretta Devine to Alec Mapa, some wonderfully talented friends of mine, who couldn’t change their schedules, but I can’t wait to have them in the next one. “