Dear Pillow

I watched this film, along with a very appreciative audience, at the Edinburgh Film Festival, and loved it, not only because it dares to examine our relationship to pornography and our own sexuality, but because it does it so well, with subtlety, respect for its characters, and a refusal to use obvious plot devices and clichés. It's no mean trick to make a funny and touching film with such potentially 'dark' subject matter. This film was a pleasant surprise!

BTW, I disagree with whoever felt that the characters were way too 'impoverished,' implying that only marginalized, blue-collar losers used porn. The film didn't treat its characters as marginalized at all, but besides, what's so terribly impoverished about living in a fairly average apartment complex?

I saw this film at the Pocono Mountain Film Fest. The film deals with a young man who becomes interested in creating pornographic stories. He can't communicate with his father and instead becomes friends with a older gay neighbor Dusty. Dusty is a writer in the porno industry and acts as a mentor to the boy. The project was shot on video and could have used some lighting to illuminate the actor's faces. It seems like lighting was only used when it was too dark. This film will most likely not see distribution because of the subject matter; it is however a very good effort.

Well written and original screenplay about a gay pornographer (Gary Chason) who becomes a friend and mentor to a teenager who wants to become a Porn writer (Rusty Kelly) A strange non sexual, male bonding movie. Vivian Vives the hot apartment complex manager who makes sex calls is great. She plays the character with no apologies or guilt for her sexuality.

What I really liked about Dear Pillow is Bryan's sincere look at the dirty, perverse aspect of it that we like to hide underneath our beds. Where do we draw the line between the sensual and the perverse? Is there a point at which we've become far too enthralled with the process of pornography itself and not so much with sexuality? I really think Bryan's film is especially important currently, due to all the sexual outlets currently available. Like a voyeur, Dear Pillow peeps into that seedy world we'd all just as soon leave in the closet or under the mattress.

Dear Pillow also features Bryan's shorts, Grammy's and Pleasureland.

...and I'm not just saying that because I'm the writer/director's sister. Given the subject matter, I was actually pretty nervous about seeing the movie for the first time; it's about a 17-year-old boy who's interested in writing about porn. I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be both a relief, and yet more intense than I had anticipated.

Wes (Rusty Kelley) is living with his divorced Dad (Cory Criswell) and working as a bag-boy at a local grocery store. He's a bit of a loner, and his main activities are listening to phone calls on a police scanner, and griping about still being a virgin in letters to a friend. He eventually meets up with an older man, Dusty (Gary Chason), who, he discovers, makes his living by writing fake letters for an adult magazine.

Like any hormone-driven teenager, Wes' interest is piqued, and he and Dusty form a strange mentor-like friendship, based on porn. When Wes tells Dusty about the police scanner and the obscene phone calls he's been overhearing on it, Dusty is determined to find out who's making them. And so into the picture comes Lorna, the apartment manager, whose assertive sexuality adds a new dimension to the relationship developing between the three.

While the fact that the movie is about porn -- and its dark humor -- have both been draws for audiences, it never takes the easy way out with cheap laughs or convenient answers. The film doesn't preach its own morality. Viewers can read into it what they will -- find their own lessons or message, without having it painted out for them.

Definitely keep an eye out for this film. I'm sure you'll be seeing more from the team who made it.