Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 43, Ed. 1 Friday, March 21, 2008 Page: 101 of 128
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Tan says, and the
idea for a film about
two gay men from
different countries
began to germinate.
In 2004, Tan wrote
an initial draft of a
script, which looks
today very different
than the finished
film.
"Subconscious-
ly, I was writing a
character just
because of what I
knew of [Calza],"
he says. "The origi-
nal script was more
of a stereotypical
romantic comedy
— an Italian guy
comes to Dallas
and hijinks ensure.
But at some point as we started working on it
we brought in more serious elements. As I was
fine-tuning the script, I started to write about
what I was personally drawn to instead of
something I thought would sell."
Eleven drafts later, with Calza now credited
as co-author, "Ciao" was bom.
On paper, at least. A film is only a screenplay
until someone shoots it. And finding financing
proved to be more difficult that Tan had imag-
ined.
"Fundraising was a pain in the ass," he says
bluntly. "With all our fundraising attempts in
L.A. and New York, nothing panned out at all
— and all our contacts were gay-friendly. Most
were not responding to the script, which I get,
but the script isn't really the film."
Eventually, the film was mostly self-financed
between Tan, his producer and a private
investor who donated "a big chunk" to the pro-
duction cost.
Filmed in Dallas in the summer of 2006, Tan
screened a rough cut of "Ciao" last June, tinker-
ing with it more through the early fall. Then he
began the process of submitting it to film festi-
vals.
Although Tan had experience in that depart-
ment — both "Happy Birthday" and his other
feature, "Deadroom," had been on the festival
circuit — "Ciao" proved more difficult to mar-
ket.
"The film is caught in that really weird area
where it may not be gay enough for the gays
and too gay for the straights," he says. He sub-
mitted it to Sundance, but there were no nibbles.
Then he had to decide between the Los Angeles
STILL LIFE: This is the still from "Ciao" that Afl Dallas used for its program and which caused
other filmmakers to recognize Tan as the director of the film "with the two guys on the bed."
Film Festival and OutFest, L.A.'s gay-specific
festival.
"That was something we looked into — do
we do L.A. or OutFest; we decided to do
OutFest. Both are good, but for getting the most
bang for your buck in terms of exposure,
OutFest made more sense." He made a similar
decision in Philadelphia, going with the gay fest
instead of the mainstream version. "Ciao" has
also been picked up by Fort Worth's Q Cinema
and Miami's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
"Festival selection is a really baffling process
— it's so easy to get lost in the submission
process, and we can't really control what people
do with it," he says. "The most important thing
I learned is, it's important to get the program-
mers aware of your film—let them know a year
before so it's on their radar, even if it's not
done."
His submission to AFI Dallas was done
almost as a lark. In fact, getting his gay film
screened in a largely straight fest posed some
issues for Tan.
"One of the things I was faced with was noti-
fying friends about AFI. A lot of people in my
office know what I'm doing even though I keep
it on the DL. Some people are cool with it, but
some are conservative Christians. Then I was
like: as gay person, I am charged with enlight-
ening people about homosexuality. So I said,
'Oh, fuck it — I'll send it out. If they see it, I may
change their views."'
Even so, Tan marketed "Ciao" to AFI differ-
ently than he did OutFest — so it surprised him
when organizers chose a photo of two men hug-
ging on a bed for inclusion in the program.
"I thought they'd go for one of the more neu-
tral pics, but they used that one. At the kickoff
party, people were coming up to me saying,
'Oh, you made the movie with two guys on the
bed.'"
So will that help or hurt Tan's chances of win-
ning the Texas filmmakers' competition, which
comes with a $20,000 cash prize? Neither, he
says.
"I seriously doubt I'll win, though I'm not bit-
ter about it. I'm up against several documen-
taries. When I go to festivals I rarely see a bad
documentary. And gay documentaries tend to
cross over better than gay narratives. They have
human-interest value instead of looking at it as
sexual orientation. I don't really think I stand a
chance."
Still, he's not writing it off completely. If this
process has taught Tan anything, it's that show
business is full of surprises.
A.F.I. = G.A.Y? WHAT TO LOOK FOR
AF! Dallas, which runs March 27-April 6, has
more gay content this year than last. In addition
to "Ciao" (which screens at the Angelika Film
Center on March 30 at 7:15 p.m. and at the
Magnolia on April 5 at 10:30 p.m.), here are
some fiims of interest to gay moviegoers:
"Derek," a documentary about late queer
filmmaker Derek Jarman ("Edward II."
"Caravaggio").
"Pageant," a documentary about female
impersonators competing for Miss Gay America.
"Bigger, Faster, Stronger" and "Afghan
Muscles," two documentaries concerned with
male bodybuilding.
"Nim's Island," a family adventure film star-
ring Jodie Foster.
Films screen at the Angelika, Magnolia,
North Park and other venues. Most screenings
cost $8,50, For more information and a com-
plete schedule, visit AFIDallas.com,
( e y ck c >
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Substance Abuse Treatment
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Call Legacy Counseling Center
214-520-6308, ext. 1
4054 McKinney Ave., Ste.102, Dallas, TX 75204
www.legacycounseling.org
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03.21.08 1 dallas voice I 101
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Nash, Tammye. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 43, Ed. 1 Friday, March 21, 2008, newspaper, March 21, 2008; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth239004/m1/101/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.