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A recap of the Outfest 2009 launch party
Last night’s party in Hollywood celebrating the launch of 2009 Outfest was a really fun event and I got there in dire need of a free drink. The drinks were free for the first hour and wouldn’t you know it, every single gay was right on time. I arrived at the 6:30 p.m. start time and the bar line was already considerably long.
I saw all kinds of cool folks there and chatted them up. Will share some of it right here and hold some for items over the next few days.
Outfest Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer got everyone to pipe down just long enough to tell them a little bit about what is in store for the July 9-19 festival which is one of my favorite times of the year.
“This is a really important time in our community, we’ve had a lot happen in the last year,” Kirsten said. “I opened last year’s festival by talking about the Summer of Love. Not quite the same now. We love the same but our rights are different which makes the work we do here at Outfest even more important. We believe that political change comes from cultural change and cultural change is led by artists.”
Well said Kirsten!
The first two people I saw when I arrived were Matthew Montgomery and Steve Callahan, two actors who met on the set of one of the festival’s films: Pornography: A Thriller. They are now a solid couple and I think the world of them.
“There’s no dialogue in our scene together- I proposition him and nothing happens,” Steve said.
Said Matthew: “It’s definitely a different kind of film and you’ll see a different side of me in the sense that I keep all my clothes on this time. (Matthew has appeared nude in several past indie films including Long Term Relationship and Socket).
Steve, whose credits include East Side Story and Nine Lives, also has a small role in Make the Yuletide Gay – also screening at Outfest – and Matthew was one of that film’s producers.
“It’s such a huge honor to be a part of Outfest,” said Matthew, whose film Back Soon screened at the festival a few years back.
Added Steve: “It’s going to be a real exciting summer.”
Also chatted up Gabriel Romero (Dante’s Cove) and Doug Spearman (Noah’s Arc) who are pictured here with director Alan Brocka (Boy Culture). Doug has been working on bringing Hot Guys With Guns to the screen, a project he has been working on with Tony Tripoli (Fashion House).
“We’re going to do a reading of the script at Outfest, about 15 minutes of it,” Doug said. “The script’s in really great shape, we just want to make it that much better.”
After the party, I walked over to the Virgin Megastore which is closing on Sunday. Everything in the store is 70 percent off right now and it was crawling with bargain hunters. I dove right in and pawed through just about every bin.
Ran into Steve Callahan and Matthew Montgomery and they checked out my DVD haul and decided it was very gay: Funny Girl ($4.50) Joan Crawford’s last movie Trog ($4.50) and Elton 60: Live at Madison Square Garden ($6). After they left, I added The Country Girl starring Grace Kelly ($1.50) and a boxed set of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton movies that included Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Sandpiper, The Comedians and The V.I.P.s. It cost me a whopping $15.
Retail therapy at a deep discount!
FILE UNDER: Outfest
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
M. says:
“Last night’s party in Hollywood celebrating the launch of 2009 Outfest was a really fun event” —
Seriously? It was probably the worst Outfest party ever. The venue wasn’t big enough for the invited guests and it became too crowded for any kind of socializing.
Steve Callahan says:
I respectfully disagree with the last comment. I had a blast. It was a fun group of talented people and free booze. Who needs more? Sure, the venue was small, but it looked like most people were having a great time.
Always great to see you Greg!