‘Another Gay Movie’ Star Jonah Blechman Reflects on the Queer Romp

Contents:

• ANOTHER GAY MOVIE STAR JONAH BLECHMAN REFLECTS ON THE QUEER ROMP
• "I'M GOG TO GIVE THEM THE GAYT MOVIE EVER MA": AN ORAL HISTORY OF ANOTHER GAY MOVIE
• ANOTHER GAY MOVIE
• BREAKG GLASS PICTUR RELEAS DIRECTOR’S CUT OF THE INIC  “ANOTHER GAY MOVIE”! 15TH ANNIVERSARY!
• ANOTHER GAY MOVIE
• ANOTHER GAY MOVIE
• ‘ANOTHER GAY MOVIE’ STAR JONAH BLECHMAN REFLECTS ON THE QUEER ROMP
• ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

ANOTHER GAY MOVIE STAR JONAH BLECHMAN REFLECTS ON THE QUEER ROMP

It's been 15 years sce dienc were troduced to Andy, Griff, Jarod, and Ni -- the queer characters who wager to lose their virgy post-high school the gay mp classic Another Gay Movie. "Another Gay Movie was my queer prott film, " Blechman says. "The movie featured a Natnal Lampoon-style sophomoric brand of humor that bbed some dienc the wrong way but was well-received by LGBTQ+ dienc.

Regardg the cultural signifince of Another Gay Movie, Blechman says the film ronat now more than ever.

"All I n say is, I still get regnized and thanked for the hysteril 'tn' the film giv about real gay sex and sexualy, " Blechman says. Perhaps that’s why a film like 2006’s Another Gay Movie feels so taboo, even today. In a time when “gay g-of-age stori” were still synonymo wh “g out stori, ” Stephens envisned a lorful fantasy world where the closet didn’t even exist and his characters uld stead worry about what any other teen worried about: Havg sex.

"I'M GOG TO GIVE THEM THE GAYT MOVIE EVER MA": AN ORAL HISTORY OF ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

Fifteen years later, Another Gay Movie is the fn of a cult edy. Tastels or not, Another Gay Movie was groundbreakg s pictn of the msy sex liv of gay men, and s ankns has ma a fg (and tnal!

In celebratn of the film’s 15th anniversary, a “Director’s Cut” re-release provis an opportuny to reach new dienc, which rais the qutn: Will a provotive product of s time like Another Gay Movie still feel relevant today, or will jt feel offensive?

ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

What follows is the five oral history of Another Gay Movie.

All creds refer to Another Gay Movie unls otherwise A. Club also had the honor of rng director Todd Stephens wh his Another Gay Movie st for the first time over 15 years. At the tail end of the , filmmaker Todd Stephens found succs wh the gay g-of-age feature Edge Of Seventeen, which he wrote for director David Moreton.

” Then they’d say, “Well, ’s got this gay element, but ’s not gay enough. ” I was really tryg to fd a wir dience, but, back those days, the feelg was that most gay stori were only seen by gay dienc.

BREAKG GLASS PICTUR RELEAS DIRECTOR’S CUT OF THE INIC  “ANOTHER GAY MOVIE”! 15TH ANNIVERSARY!

I thought, “What do you mean ’s not gay enough? Fuck you; I’m gog to give them the gayt movie ever ma!

” Another Gay Movie really was born out of feelg hurt and a rejectn, to some extent.

ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

Todd Stephens on the set of Another Gay MoviePhoto: Chris Stephens/Breakg Glass PicturMch Morris, “Griff”: For some historil ntext, this was the peak [Gee W. There’s Will And Grace, which allowed everybody to lgh wh gay people stead of at them. From there, there’s this wellsprg of all the gay movi jt croppg up.

Todd Stephens: I was my unrwear foldg lndry wh my now hband, Tim [Kaltenecker]—we’ve been together for a ln years—and somehow the ia jt popped to my head: “What about a gay Amerin Pie?

ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

So I knew the genre, and I thought that was a great way , to spoof all the gay films that I loved. At the time, so many gay films took themselv so serly, and so much of the nflict was the very fact of beg gay—cludg Edge Of Seventeen.

‘ANOTHER GAY MOVIE’ STAR JONAH BLECHMAN REFLECTS ON THE QUEER ROMP

So I wanted to make a movie where beg gay wasn’t the nflict, ’s jt the teenagers tryg to get laid like any other teenager wants to do.

ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

I thought there was somethg revolutnary about havg a stupid movie for gay people. Jonathan Chase, “Jarod”: It was the Amerin Pie for the gay muny. For once, gay kids wouldn’t have to translate that stuff to their lived Stephens: I was fely pullg spiratn om the c humor that was big edy at the time, and that’s a different si of me.

I’m a Gemi, so I have that more ser, heartfelt si—that’s where Edge Of Seventeen and [the upg] Swan Song me om—but that’s the part of me that got hurt bee of the Gypsy ’83 rejectn, so that’s why I wrote Another Gay Movie.

Sure, ’s makg fun of our day-to-day gay liv, but also celebratg a very sex-posive way.

Mch Morris: From the begng, I always felt a great sense of fiance Another Gay Movie. We were dog somethg that we weren’t sure we uld get away Another Gay Movie wrten, Stephens and his llaborators ma plans to stage live readgs of the script at queer film ftivals, both as dry ns for the joke-heavy dialogue, and to build buzz among dienc and potential fanciers. At that pot, they were jt askg me to do the live readg at the Philalphia Gay And Lbian Film Ftival 2004.

Todd was tryg to get the muny there— felt like was the whole gay world. ” I probably would have done anyway right out the gate movie, but there was an easg to that ma a big proven self an dience favore, Another Gay Movie was ready to make the move om stage to screen. The creative team worked hard to stretch their funds and build the gay fantasy world of their dreams, all a historic neighborhood south of Stephens: So I had partnered up wh TLA, which still exists; they were this big distributor of gay films, and they were actually puttg the movi to theaters.

They had done Latter Days and Boy Culture, the other die gay films I really liked.