Thanks to all of the great readers who shared their stories at last night’s SHE-PANIC! reading at Nowhere. You were wonderful, all of you! I’m the luckiest man alive to be able to host such wonderful readings featuring such talented writers…mwa!
I’ll begin this week’s post by thanking “mr. Pam” at Lucas Entertainment for casting me in my first-ever porn flicker. I was so nervous in front of the camera I thought I would pee on myself (kinky, huh?), but Pam has a smooth, assuring style, and I did my scene in less than three takes (which you can view on the softcore trailer link below). Performance anxiety can be tough, as I learned in the past, as a musician and performer—and now as a writer who actively reads his work to strangers on a regular basis, which is kind of like being naked in front of glaring cameras.
All of this “entrapment” talk reminds me of the first time I went to Los Angeles, back in 1999. A friend took me to Beverly Hills, to Will Rogers Park, in fact—the “George Michael” bathroom, as it was known. Georgie has had so many media stunts since, that many have forgotten his public bathroom scandal, but I’ll never forget it. My first impression of the bathroom was that it was tiny—like eight-by-eight feet. When I first heard about the bust, I was humored by it all, but when I learned that the police officer tricked him, I was furious. And I’m not even a George Michael fan!
This brand of police entrapment has been happening in New York City DVD stores, with over 50 arrests since 2004. This is a war on gay sex, period. Straight people can pretty much screw around wherever and whenever they want to (parks, backseats, restrooms, which are all public)—and I’d kill to see the day they get busted and smeared for doing so, but I won’t hold my breath. If social welfare is the motive behind all of this silly “entrapment”, I say that we queers should wage a counteroffensive on child molestation, which plenty of straight men know a lot about. These fellows exact much more damage on society than the romps of drunk bar-queens in Eighth Avenue DVD stores will ever tally up.
The police claim that they receive complaints from people in the neighborhoods where these arrests are happening, and if this is true, people should think twice about moving to Chelsea, if the idea of gay sex bothers them. I can only hope that this is the last public flexing of homophobic muscles fueled by politicians and others whose own sexual inadequacies fuel their need to bust those who are having all the fun, (not to mention the closeted “edge thrill” of offering their “jewels” to another man). As rising unemployment and law enforcement budget cuts help to foster crime, you would think the police had better things to do.
So—mr. Pam—why this theme of gay entrapment by police for a Lucas Entertainment movie?
Well, I wrote Entrapment and co-directed it with my hot boss, Michael Lucas, after an email went out at work (Lucas Entertainment) about a panel discussion at the LGBT center, about porn stores being shut down. I was intrigued, plus I have an obvious interest in the porn stores staying open for my career, for the community, and as one of the last places where guys (and me occasionally) can still cruise. And to purchase DVDs of course! One speaker on the panel told his story about being “entrapped” by an undercover cop—he was arrested for loitering for the purpose of prostitution in an East Village porn shop.
Turns out a large number of gay men had also been offered sex by undercover police officers and then arrested. I was appalled! Forty years after the Stonewall Riots and blatant discrimination against the gay community and sexuality is still happening. I wanted to help the cause, but working 60+ hours a week doesn’t leave me much volunteer time. So I thought, why not use the media venues I have available and write a movie about the incident? What better way to help bring awareness to the cause, than by producing a movie that will be sold in the locations where the arrests are taking place? Plus I got to edit a really cool softcore awareness trailer that we posted on Youtube® (link below), that people can post on their blogs, social networking sites, etc. And there was your voiceover in the intro that was the finishing touch. Nice work darling!
It was my pleasure to read for you. I used to appear in all kinds of experimental film projects in my wilder days, so it felt natural. So were there any surprises along the way, in terms of production on Entrapment? You mentioned that you got really daring, in terms of shooting scenes in public, etc. Can you share without spoiling it for potential viewers?
My favorite scene to shoot was the “arrest”. We shot during rush hour on 8th Avenue, in Chelsea, in front of the Blue Store, which is one of the stores where such arrests have taken place. Ryan Raz and Vin Costas ran up to Dimitri Romanov and started yelling, reading him his rights, handcuffing him. Dimitri was screaming in Russian, it almost felt like an artsy porn demonstration in a way, causing lots of heads to turn. People were asking questions. It was awesome—and of course, a lot of really hot men having really hot sex, that’s always fun to shoot, too!
Were there any new models on this project that you look forward to working with again?
Well definitely our new exclusive, Dimitri Romanov. He’s taking English lessons, so I’m excited to get to know him better as his English improves, plus he taught me how to say “f**k you b***h in Russian. Fabulous! I was able to cast all my favorite boys in this movie, everyone was so easy to work with and fun. I can’t wait to shoot them all again!
So tell us more about this movie’s lineup of hunks.
Lots of hot men for this film. We’re introducing Lucas Entertainment’s newest exclusive, who I just mentioned, Dimitri Romanov, who just moved here from St. Petersburg Russia. We also have hotties Ryan Raz, who plays a cop, Lars Svenson who plays a cop/trainer, Kayl O’Riley (punk kid/cop-in-training), Vin Costas, Dimitri’s trick-turned-undercover cop, Trae Angle, Murphy Maxwell, Andrew James (a cop’s brother) and Isaiah Fox, who plays Andrew’s college boyfriend. All the guys are very sexy and were very excited to participate in a political porn movie. We shot great interviews with all the guys, after their scenes, talking about their experiences with being harassed for being gay, their thoughts on issues, etc. I’m very proud of the results.
What do you like about working in New York, as opposed to the West Coast, where most of the industry is located?
I had traveled here for work a ton over the past two years and started feeling the itch to move here. Michael Lucas popped the question last July, offering me a position as Creative Director of his company and I accepted. It’s a dream job I couldn’t pass up! Now I have lived in New York for six months. I guess the biggest challenge is having worked in San Francisco and Los Angeles for the past four years. I’m good friends with pretty much everyone from all the West Coast companies, having shot movies for them and/or interviewed them for the Tim and Roma Show. I guess you can say that there’s an East Coast/West Coast gay porn rivalry and a lot of times I feel stuck in the middle. I’m kind of sensitive. I just want everyone to be friends, because everyone is so awesome.
To view mr. pam’s Entrapment softcore trailer on Youtube®, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqhCGMm4j8Y
Entrapment can be purchased at: www.lucasentertainment.com
To view mr. pam’s body of work, as compiled by TLA, click here: http://www.tlavideo.com/person/3-0-67851_mr-pam.html?sn=1
Mr. Pam’s very own Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Pam
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Hello fellow cuckoo creatures and riley reptiles!
