If more people come out in their day-to-day lives, and the straight majority feels less gay anxiety, then there will probably be more realistic portrayals of gay people in Hollywood movies. I'm just guessing...
- What was it like showing off your film at the LA Film Festival, especially as the film takes place there?
It was incredible to premiere at LAFF. I mean, it felt like half of our first audience was personally connected to the film; but aside from that it was just a pleasure to present the film to Angelenos.
I've said the film is my 'love letter to LA,' and someone that night asked me if that was the case why I made the city look so gross. But it was never my intention to idealize Los Angeles and - let's face it - LA has as much ugliness as it does beauty.
But that's what I love about it, too: LA is vibrant and alive. And, unlike New York, it's still possible for young artists to afford rent in the city centre.
- Why did you decide to shoot France in black and white, but California in colour?
First off, that was an allusion to The Wizard of Oz - the protagonist unhappy in her environment, then going off to a distant land which ends up making her miss home.. Also, there's the fact Paris is so much older than Los Angeles - I always feel that when I'm there.
The character Norma lives in an old house in LA - it was built in the 1920's - but, for Paris, that's new construction! Finally, it was a reference to Jerome's state of mind: his Parisian worldview was monochromatic, but his vision of LA everything was bright, flashy, and new.
- How big a change was it going from Texas to Paris?
Well, there's not much comparison. If LA is a new city then my hometown - the oil economy of Odessa, Texas, population 91,000 - is a newborn! But I believe there's beauty in every place, and I look forward to making a film in Texas one day, too.
- What are the real differences between doing a short film and a feature?
Finally there's not a huge difference - other than time and money. When I talk to filmmakers who keep making shorts, over and over, I always ask them why. It seems to me you work just as hard - albeit for a shorter period a time - and there are just so many fewer paying venues for short films.
That said, with the advent of online distribution and our culture's increasingly shorter attention spans, shorts may actually be the future. I don't know, really; but in terms of the work involved for the writer/director, there isn't much difference at all.
- When writing, how much of your own experiences do you put into your characters?
It's all my experience. I'm in awe of writers who do things completely outside themselves and their own experience. Every character in Hollywood, je t'aime is based on myself or someone I've personally met.
And, unless someone wants to pay me big bucks to write a Hollywood blockbuster, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm in this field for the artistry, to express my feelings about the world and how I see it; so I don't have much desire to write about things outside my own experience. Maybe that'll change in the future, but that's where I'm at for now.
- Finally what's next for you?
I've got a few irons in the fire. I'm developing a slate of films with my partner Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, including a Spanish-language sequel to Hollywood, je t'aime, and also continuing to write on my own.
One film I'd love to make is about three generations of Texas women, and another is about a homeless American in Paris. And aside from film stuff, I'll be doing more yoga, more travelling, and more living wild and free.
Hollywood Je' Taime is released on DVD 22nd February.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw