SCREENING PARTY Directed By Dennis Hensley

Indie Express: Tell us about your film?

Dennis: The film is called Screening Party and it was shot to be a pilot for a potential TV series.  It's about a group of friends who watch movies together and how the themes of those films resonate in their lives and relationships.  The film we watch in the short is Pretty Woman.  If it became a series, we'd do a different film each episode.  I didn’t actually direct the project—the very talented Chil Kong did—but I wrote it, executive produced it and I appear in it.

IE: How did you come up with the idea for the film?

D: It's based on a novel that I wrote that came out in 2002.  The novel, in turn, was based on a series of magazine columns I wrote in the late 90's and early 00's.

IE: How did you assemble your production team?

D: Around the time I wrote the script, some very good friends of mine were branching out and starting production companies so I went to them with the script, a budget and we decided to go for it.

IE: How did you find your cast? 

D: The characters are either based on real people or composites of several real people so about half of the cast are basically playing themselves.  A couple of the other actors are friends of mine who I thought would be good for the roles and then there were a few roles that we posted listings for and had auditions. 

IE: How long did the film take?  (From conception to final edit)

D: I had the script written for a couple of years before we decided to make it.  From shooting through the final edit was about 7 months.  The post process took quite a while.

IE: Tell us a little about your process of directing (writing) this film.

D: The best lesson that I learned from this project is that sometimes something that feels like your biggest obstacle can end up being the thing that sets you apart.  My story is about friends watching movies together and whenever someone would pick up the book and consider the television possibilities, they would get hung up on the clips issue—How are you going to get the rights to the movie?  So my goal with the script was to make it without any clips at all so that it wouldn't be an issue and so that I could focus on the characters.  So I came up with the idea of having the characters narrate the movie straight to the camera in character in this alternate place.  Then right before we shot, we expanded that idea to include sort of campy, crude reenactments of scenes from the movie, like Julia Roberts reaching into the jewelry box, getting the lid smacked down on her and cackling.  These reenactments were kind of a last minute addition and I really think they're what make the project unique.  Moral of the story: the things that you initially see as limitations, can also lead to your biggest moments of inspiration.

IE: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?

D: The whole thing was pretty intense since I was acting in in it and footing the bill.  I will say that on the last day, we thought we were going to get kicked out of our location, the LA Gay and Lesbian Center at a certain time and we hadn't finished getting what we needed.  But I'm happy to say they let us stay overtime so it all worked out but there was a moment in there where I thought we were going to not get what we needed.  As it was we rushed through those final scenes bigtime.

IE: Any particular moments from filming that stand out for you?

D: Even though we were rushed, I liked shooting the scene in the nightclub where my character gets to meet his hooker for the first time.  It was the end of the shoot and I was totally frazzled but Todd, who plays the hooker, was so on top of his stuff that he sort of calmed me down and it ended up being really fun to play the scene with him and my friend Felix who plays Marcos. 

IE: Tell us about the film’s festival experience so far?

D: We premiered last year at Outfest in July and I hadn't really played another festival until Newfest earlier this month, which I went to.  When I was in NY, I hadn't seen the movie in months so I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it played quite well.  It got me excited about it again.  It's not shaped like your average TV pilot so I was very excited to see that people got it, and went with it and wanted to see more.  That was very heartening, especially as I gear up to go out and pitch it to networks later this summer.

IE: What are you most looking forward to at the festival?

D: I can't wait to see the movie projected in the huge Castro Theater.  It's such an amazing venue, with so much history and there's always an excitement in the air.  A film I co-wrote Testosterone premiered there in 2004 and it was such a great energy there. 

IE: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far?  What was your favorite question?  How was the dialogue afterwards?

D: I haven't had many Q & As yet but I will say at the New York screening, a gentlemen said some really lovely things about the project and sort of took me aback.  He really got certain nuances and emotional qualities that we were going for and that surprised and delighted me.  You would have thought he was planted to make me feel good.

IE: What films or filmmakers inspire you?

D: At the moment, I'm kind of obsessed with two TV people who are making inroads in film.  Michael Patrick King who just did Sex and the City and Tina Fey from 30 Rock and Baby Mama.  They're both really funny but they also connect with audiences' emotions in ways that are grown up and deep.  And neither of them seem like total neurotic assholes.

IE: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

D: I've always loved movies and I like telling stories as well.  I've written novels which is very fulfilling but really hard and lonely.  I like the filmmaking process because it's so collaborative and every element you bring to it has the potential to make it better.

 IE: What is next for you? 

D: I recently directed my first short, Reunion.  I was one of three filmmakers chosen by HBO as part of their Shout Gay and Lesbian Film Contest.  So they gave me a little money and said go make your film.  The movie's currently showing on Cinemax on Demand and perhaps next year, it will be at Frameline.  I loved directing—it was my first time—and hope to do more of it. 

IE: What is next for the film?

D: We're shopping the project as a TV series later this summer.  I really hope to sell it.

IE: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?

D: Trust your instincts.  There were thoughts that occurred to me on set that I didn't voice for whatever reason, and it turned out my instincts were right.  So if you have an instinct about something, trust it.

IE: What question would you like to be asked about your film? 

D: Can my network pay you a bunch of money to put your idea on television?

IE: What is the Answer to that question?

D: Yes.