"Smokin' Hot"

Since the blog is late for no good reason this week, I'm going to try and make up for it by posting a bunch of pictures of "smokin' hot," half-dressed women.

The pictures below are all from the "Strip Club scenes." You might find it ironic that a film dealing with feminism has scenes that take place in a strip club. My defense is that it's not stripping but burlesque dancing these ladies are doing. Closed-minded people might scoff at that but believe me my friends, there is a difference. In fact, I'm about as proud of these scenes as I am of any in the movie.

Besides, a little over a year ago, Arrow in the Head did a short piece on Women's Studies in which the author referred to our cast as "smokin' hot." During the shoot, the Lady Killers wore that label like a badge of honor. We even put the quote in our press kit it became such a motif. Now, I don't want to sound superficial, but he had a point. If Women's Studies offers nothing else, it easily has one of the most attractive casts of any independent film out there.

My co-producer, Cindy Marie Martin, doesn't like it when I boil the concept of Women's Studies down to "hot chicks with knives," but I don't mean it in any sexist way. This film is about sex and death, and both are presented in ways that are thoughtful and intelligent if that's what you're after. However, if you just want to look at pretty girls do ultra-violent things to dudes (and other ladies) with sharp objects, this movie will work for you too.

I guess that sounds kind of base, but in many ways isn't that the whole point of a horror film? To appeal to the baser instincts? Throughout a lot of this production, various people involved (myself included) have done a lot to try and convince themselves they're working on some socially important critique on extremism and modern society. On one level it is. It has to be, because I'm not sure it's in me to make somethng that doesn't work on multiple levels. That said, let's be honest: Many people probably aren't going to want to see this film on a purely intellectual level. So lets call it what on another level it is: Exploitation.

"There, I said it! I said the dreaded "E" word! Fuck art! Fuck meaning! Hot chicks with knives! What's Women's Studies about? It's a comic book movie about hot chicks with knives."

And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. I've spent a great deal of time feeling ashamed of myself for making this movie. I've listened to people tell me about how I need to "be careful what I put out into the world." "You've got to be careful of offending this group or that group or this other group." Because I've heard these things, I've worked very hard to try and make sure people understand the film isn't anti-feminist, anti-woman, or anti-pagan. (Another irony, if the film is anything? It's anti-violence. Sure, it's from the Natural Born Killers school of anti-violence film, but that shouldn't matter. Should it?)

In the end though, it doesn't matter what I tell people because they're going to draw their own conclusions anyway.

You want to know the truth? The secret truth folks? If when this film is done, somebody comes up to me and says, "You're the dude who made that movie about the smokin' hot chicks with knives." As long as they're not pissed off with me, I'm just fine with that. Even if they are pissed off at me, there's probably not a whole lot I can do about it, so I guess I'm fine with that too.

# # #


Fight Choreographer Shanna Beauchamp (Black Widow Waitress) and Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer) take a rest between shots.




Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer) strikes an "Oh! how did this happen?" pose.




Amber Connors (Black Widow Bartender/Dancer) looks on as Tara Garwood (Judith) works out her dance with Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer).




Director Lonnie Martin talks over an intimate scene with Taisha Cameron (Amy) and Kevin Finklestein (Keith).




"Lonnie, do these scratches make my box look fat?"




This picture pretty much sums up the Women's Studies experience for Co-Producers Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) and Lonnie Martin.




Ryan Mulkay (Cop #1) really doesn't seem as concerned as he should about Amber Connors (Black Widow Bartender/Dancer) and the knife she's holding.




Shanna Beauchamp (Black Widow Waitress) is ready to @#$% you up!




"It's okay. You can trust me."




Ryan Mulkay (Cop #1) in a scene from Women's Studies.




Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) and Tara Garwood (Judith) in a scene from Women's Studies.


And finally, four "smokin' hot" portraits or four "smokin' hot" ladies:


Stef Williams as the Black Widow Burlesque Dancer.




Amber Connors as the Black Widow Bartender/Dancer.




Cindy Marie Martin as Mary.




Tara Garwood as Judith.

Stasis

I always thought when I got to this stage of the Women's Studies game that I would just have tons to blog about. However, that doesn't really seem to be the case. There's very little to report or pontificate on, though there's a lot of important (yet dreadfully boring) work being done. In a weird way, it's like it was back in the earliest days of pre-production: all paper work, phone calls, and planning for things to come.

Part of the strange stasis is the holidays, I think. Don't get me wrong. I actually like the holidays, but it seems there's an awful lot of impending travel, parties, and events to attend. My calendar is filed with places I have to be, but it seems very few of them have to do with the movie. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes it hard to get motivated sometimes. I do my best when I get my work engine cranked up for a long stretch. When every few days I have to stall and hitch and switch gears to something else, I feel like I have to get warmed up all over again. Right now, I'm simply trying to get as much of my life on auto-pilot as possible, simply so I can leave it behind for a few days.

Also, there's a lot of "catch-up" to do as far as the "business" side of show business is concerned. My co-producer, Cindy Marie Martin, has spent a goodly portion of the past few weeks paying invoices and trying to balance the books. (I want to help. Really I do. However, I've realized that the best way to help is to simply stay out of her way unless she asks otherwise.) That need to catch-up also reaches into our personal lives. Things like my environment, my pets, and my personal relationships have suffered a bit during the past few months of struggling to get everything shot. Taking the time to give those aspects attention has been important.

Another larger part of it is waiting for the first rough cut which is scheduled to be delivered in my hot little hands five days from the time of this writing. There's not much I can do until I can see the footage all slammed together as something that resembles a movie. It's going to be extremely exciting to see it for the first time, and I'm sure next week's blog with be filled with all my positive energy over what the movie can be. But right now, it's kind of like a long Christmas Eve. In the back of my head is the constant mantra of "Going to see the rough cut. Going to see the rough cut." It makes it kind of hard to focus on anything else.

And let's face it, part of it is pure simple "burn out." That's not to say I'm sick of Women's Studies, but after the past six months of near constant work, worry, and will, it's nice to have nothing immediate to worry about. Frankly, I need to recharge my batteries a little bit. Cindy and I will get a very long overdue vacation here in a few weeks where I plan to do just that.

Stasis is a nice change though. There's a feeling of accomplishment that's been nice to ride out. Hard roads are ahead, make no mistake, but that's for the future. For this brief moment, everything is as it should be.

P-A-R-T . . .Y? Because We're Done!

This past Saturday the cast and crew shot our sole reshoot for Women's Studies. Afterwards, we got a bunch of food and booze and proceeded to consume, imbibe, and release.

As of this writing, it's Tuesday and my hangover is just today gone. I don't know if that's telling as to how hard I threw down, or as to how much my body can't take the revelry it once took fine in my early twenties. If you know the answer, please don't tell me.

It was quite a shindig. Joey Cabrera made his famous "donkey punch" which I was smart enough to turn down. I had a Dominican cigar, which I smoked with aplomb though no one else seemed inclined to join me. We had a bonfire which burned through the night. Food was everywhere. At certain points, we watched rush edits, raw footage, and even some of the cast's original auditions. It was a fantastic party.

And hey, we earned it.

It was a fine group of people who came together to shoot Women's Studies. I'll miss them all terribly. Sure, we'll see each other again, and rather soon I imagine. However, as a lot of the cast noted on Saturday, it'll never be in this way, to do what we did. But oh, the memories we'll have. I have a feeling we'll all be hard pressed to forget the adventure of the past five months.

So, raise a glass. Here's to the past, present, and future of Women's Studies, to fair acquaintances who became good friends, to all we've done together, and to everything we still may yet do.

(Pictures from the party are below. I'm honestly frightened and confused by what's going on in most of them.)

# # #


Joey Cabrera doesn't trust Tara Garwood's wild, "donkey punch" laden eyes.




Oh Iris! What would your dad think?




Forget partying. After five months of shooting, James A. Radack just wants to take a nap.




Director of Photography Aaron "Don't Call Me" Shirley and Composer Ryan Sayward Whittier share a "special" moment.




Dear God/dess, keep Tara away from the donkey punch!!!!




9:30? Tiffany James doesn't care what time it is. (Though note she drinks no donkey punch.)




I really have no idea what's going on in this picture.




Sound Guru Sean Russell and Mundy Spears are not as sober as they look.




Joey Cabrera achieves his lifelong dream: to be surrounded by hot women with his head in my crotch.




See? Cindy and Tara actually really like each other!




Nothing like a rousing game of "Vagina Ball" to clear out a party. (Laura Bloechl will show everyone at work this one.)



The Cast's Last Hurrah.

The Little Things

I gave Fangoria.com exclusive pics for their piece about wrapping Women's Studies because I'm a shameless brownnoser. Go see Tara Garwood's Judith get all gory and Kelley Slagle as Naughty Nazi Nurse Diane. Also featured are is a pic of Mundy Spears (Sharon) as well as a shot of Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) and James A. Radack (Zack).

# # #

Things have been all over the place with Women's Studies this week. In fact, I've had a hard time focusing because instead of having a few big issues to think about I have a whole lot of little ones. Little is a relative term that doesn't mean unimportant. In fact, one could argue that all the items on the current Women's Studies agenda are vital in setting the tone for the next few months.

A sampler:

--Editor Jim McGivney and I met this weekend and drank a lot a beer. While doing so we hashed out a two month plan for sculpting the Women's Studies footage into something that resembles a movie. Jim's first order of business is just getting the footage slapped together in approximately the right order. I've seen various scenes and while they look great, it's difficult to gauge how everything fits together as a story. Once that's done, Jim and I will attack the whole film for issues of pacing and rhythm, which I'll argue is one of the most important aspects of this film. Too fast and folks get confused. Too slow and they go to sleep. From there, the real work starts with us getting into specific scenes and sequences. I'll also be able to set dates for sound, music,and color to be able to work with the footage.

--We have a reshoot this weekend for a scene that had a few issues the first time around. "What? Reshoot?!? Disaster!" No, not really. Reshoots are a part of the process. Even the big boys do it once they start to see the big picture. Frankly, I'm delighted that there's only one scene that needs to be redone.

--Cindy and I are also trying to wrap up a lot of the unfinished paperwork from production. That means paying our bills and getting our books in order both financial and production-wise.

--Part of wrangling post-production is setting deadlines. Most of our deadlines will revolve around festival entry deadlines. I've spent some time looking at festivals and trying to find ones that would be a good fit for Women's Studies.

--I've also rested which has been well earned. This past week especially, I made a conscious effort to eat well, take timeout for myself,and get in bed early. I've also rediscovered the nap who was a wonderful friend I don't want to lose touch with again.

--Finally, I've tried to get reorganized on the blog again. I've got some some cool stuff planned, and I'm once again going to have the time to give it the love I want to. Stay tuned. While the next few months aren't going to be the breakneck, wild times we had during production, there's lots of excitement regarding Women's Studies. You don't want to miss it.