My Fair City

From tasty goodness of Chevy's to the throbbing disco beats of Oil Can Harry's, I share all my favorite L.A. places and pastimes in this interview with the website Planet Out. Check it out here. The accompanying photos are by the lovely and talented Gabriel Goldberg.

My short film REUNION hits Cinemax and Outfest

This summer brings something that's almost as exciting as the return of So You Think You Can Dance; the bow of my first-ever project as director, the short film REUNION.

First, some backstory. In the fall of 2007, I had the pleasure of attending my high school reunion in Arizona. Though I'm sure all my classmates knew that I was gay, I had never taken a boyfriend home before. As I drove to the event with my boyfriend John Michael, I was surprised to discover I had anxiety about what they might think of me and my big gay love…even after all these years.

Those feelings were the inspiration behind my short film, Reunion. It tells the story of a gay TV decorating show personality named Kenny Jarvis who returns to his small Arizona hometown for his 20-year high school reunion, with his boyfriend B.J. in tow, and discovers his former classmates aren't exactly who they appear to be.

I wrote the script for Reunion in January of 2008 and entered it in HBO's Shout Gay and Lesbian Film Contest. In February, I found out I was one of three winners who would be given a budget to make their movie. In March, we cast and shot it. In April, we edited and mixed it. On May 2, it premiered at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival at a beautiful outdoor screening in a park by the beach. This month, it's screening on HBO's on-line outlet Cinemax-on-Demand through July 17th and will also play at Outfest on July 12 at 1:30 PM along with the other two HBO winners and the feature film The Way I See It. For tickets and info, visit www.outfest.org

Hope you're able to check it out and that you have as much fun watching it as we did making it.

Viva la France a'la Disney

This April, thanks to my boyfriend John Michael's exployment at Adventures By Disney, we got to take part in a 'dress rehearsal' for a new AbD tour, Flavors of France. We started in Provence, where we spent several days biking through the countryside, kayaking under the Pont Du Gard, and exploring picturesque hillside towns like Gorde.

Then we went to Paris and took in the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, a water taxi ride down the Seine and various other Parisian pleasures. It was a wonderful trip and our Disney guides, who are actually humans and not cartoon characters like Lilo and Stitch, took care of everything and made our trip run so smoothly.

I wrote about our adventure for Outraveller.com You can read my first blog here, my second blog here, and my third blog here.

I also did three video vlogs about the trip for OutzoneTV.com You can watch the vlogs here.

Something to SHOUT about!

Super exciting news, folks. This January I entered a script in HBO's Shout GLBT Short Film Contest. The three winners get a little chunk of change from HBO to make their movie. Well, guess what? I was won of the winners!

My film is called "Reunion" and it's about a gay TV design show host who returns to his small Arizona town, boyfriend in tow, to attend his 20-year high school reunion--and then some crazy and surprising stuff goes down. It was loosely inspired by my own reunion which I attended last year with my boyfriend.

We shot the film over two days, March 26th and 27th, at the lovely Casita Del Campo restaurant in Silver Lake and also at the kitchy Pink Motel in Sun Valley. My cast and crew were dynamite and I'm in love with all of them. It was a total blast.

The film will make it's world premier on May 2 at the Miami Film Festival and also play at Outfest in LA and Provincetown. Hopefully, other festivals as well. Unless they totally hate it, HBO will air the film on one of its outlets in June. I'll keep you posted. The whole experience has been one of the most thrilling, creative trips of my life...and it's far from over.

Now back to the editing room!

"Shelter" Swelter

One of the sweetest, best made gay flicks I've seen is a while is about to hit theaters. It's called "Shelter" and it's a love story set against the backdrop of the SoCal surf scene. I got to profile the filmmakers and stars of the movie for The Advocate. You can check that feature out here.

I also wrote a sidebar story about the gay surf scene--and lack thereof--for Advocate.com Check it out here.

And go check out "Shelter." It's like Frankie and Annette with goody-trails.

Machu Picchu Man

In February, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to Peru with a group of people from IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association). I flew into Lima, then onto Cusco. From there, we traveled in to the Sacred Valley and up to the ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. It was one of the most awe-inspiring places I've ever been. If you ever have the chance to go, go!

I wrote about the trip for Outtraveler.com and you can read my updates here. The link goes to the first dated posting and you can click through the others from there. There are a few other posts in the middle there that aren't from my trip but just keep clicking through.

I also made a video vlog during my trip for OutzoneTV.com You can watch that here.

A million thanks to the amazing folks at Lima Tours, LAN Airlines and IGLTA for making it happen for me.

I ate guinea pig, I touched llama and I saw one of the new wonders of the world. Thrilling!

Nuts for Brazil!

Early in February I got to take a trip to Sao Paulo and Florianopolis, Brazil for Outraveler.com I had an amazing time. This picture was the view from my hotel in Florianopolis. I looks like a jigsaw puzzle from the 60's. You can check out my blogposts here.