4PLAY: TAMPA - 30 sec clip...

A sneak peek just for you! Coming to LA's OUTFEST two weeks from today, Fri July 8th. - Kyle

FOURPLAY: TAMPA - 30 Sec Press Clip from Kyle Henry on Vimeo.

4PLAY: SF - Consultant Chloe muse for painter ...

Chloe, the trans sex-worker who served as consultant and inspiration for FOURPLAY: SAN FRANCISCO, has continued her journey through life as muse for another artist, this time painter Daniel Samaniego. Chloe is a knock-out and a real sweet heart in "real life," so at first I was a bit taken aback by the artists' use of her image, then I was blown-away by his technique and amazed by the way he transformed Chloe into the mythological Hydra figure! Some Jungian analysts see dreaming of a hydra (or serpents in general) as metaphors for dealing with issues of temptation, which of course would certainly make sense given Chloe's profession. Samaniego's work reminds me a lot of Chicago artist Ivan Albright's deliriously scary paintings, which I adore, in particular his "Into The World There Came A Soul Called Ida". Enjoy! - Kyle


PS - For a Chloe redux, click-here for the first in a series of fascinating interviews I did with her last year.

4PLAY: TAMPA Carlos Treviño Int Pt 4

Final installment of my interview with the talented 4PLAY: TAMPA screenwriter Carlos Treviño. To read the other installments, click on part 1, part 2 or part 3.

BTW - I wish we had a more open society in the USA where our public and private masks weren't so psychotically split. I'm speaking about the latest political scandal, this time involving Anthony Weiner, where yet again, the public face of the "squeaky clean family man politician" is blown by the behind-the-scenes sexual shenanigans. I'm not a Weiner apologist, but when will a non-married candidate who is up front about their sexual behavior (e.g. "Hi, I'm Bob, I'm running for Congress and I've slept with a lot of people but I'm great at accounting and balancing the budget!") be allowed to run and win public office? I could care less what a politician does in the bedroom as long as they are not exploiting anyone NOR hypocritically mis-representing themselves. I'm not looking for role-models in politics, I just want honest and adroit bureaucrats! I do think we have a long way to go before that happens, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to make FOURPLAY, which I hope at least will start a few more conversations about sexual practice versus public persona every time it screens somewhere. - Kyle

What obstacles or limitations did you have to overcome when writing TAMPA and how did you creatively work around or within them?

I knew pretty early on that I wanted to tell the whole thing with visuals and sound effects only: no dialogue. And though there’s one character who breaks that rule for comic effect, I can say I succeeded. Not being able to rely on dialogue forced me to be extremely specific about setting up motivations, reactions, and comic beats. I think that can only help my writing in the long run.

Have you learned anything special that you'd like to communicate to screenwriters about the short film form now having written three of these FOURPLAY shorts?

Nothing special. Shorts are hard. Especially if you’re not just trying to set up a joke or sell some Dutch beer. Well, even then, I guess shorts are difficult. It’s a great honor and boon to have someone as good at producing and directing my work as I have with Kyle Henry. Getting my work produced is one of the biggest motivators in allowing that work to continue. So if I have any special advice to screenwriters, it’s: get a boyfriend as talented as mine!

4PLAY: TAMPA - Format Court interview

A nice interview with the Belgian short film site FORMAT COURT at Director's Fornight. - Kyle

Kyle Henry : "Donnez à vos acteurs l'opportunité de contribuer à votre film" from Format Court on Vimeo.

4PLAY: TAMPA - Behind-the-scenes photo album!

In honor of Queerbomb this weekend in Austin, TX, check out this link to the amazing photos taken by Otis Ike (aka Patrick Bresnan) for FOURPLAY: TAMPA. Patrick is a wonderful artist/photographer/video-grapher/and soon-to-be architect who gifted us with these treasures today after culling through his stash of photos taken on set a little over a year ago. Thank you! - Kyle

4PLAY: TAMPA Carlos Treviño Int Pt 3

A continuation of my interview w/ TAMPA writer Carlos Treviño. (Clear here to read PT 1 and PT2) - Kyle

How did you make this story (TAMPA) your own?

Well, knowing this is my spin on a Tom of Finland scenario, just about anything you see in this story that’s not Tom of Finland came from me. I’m happy to say that it’s quite a bit. By the way: before my father the minister died (and presumably went to heaven…though we can never be too certain), he put his doctrinal seal of approval on the story. Agreed with the theology, he said. The last shall be first and all that.

What research (if any) did you conduct before writing TAMPA?

Hm, I guess I’d rather not say.

What excites you about writing a new screenplay? What makes you want to write?

If there’s anything consistent in my approach to new work, it might be that I’m usually looking for something different. Different from what I’ve done before, tonally or structurally; different in size and scope. Different also from what I see going on now in filmic media: stories that aren’t being told and can’t be told in any way other than how I’m going to tell them. From doing the work, I hope to discover my personal differences as well. By the end of a project, I’ll find that some aspect of my world view has been expressed—a total delight for someone as inept at political conversation as I am. Through writing, I can experience psychological and emotional states familiar and unfamiliar as a personal kind of whetting stone. With each film, I try creating and using various modes of film poetics, elements of story and genre, and, to a lesser degree, different tools of language in both script and dialogue. Some day I might look back and see that I’ve written the same script over and over, but at this point, each one seems fresh to me. So I’ll keep enjoying this aspect of it until maybe someday it stales. When that happens, though, perhaps I’ll be perfectly satisfied writing the same old thing as before.