Filmmaker & Author Sam Irvin (I Was A Teenage Monster Hunter): “All I Want To Do Is Be On A Set Saying Action & Cut”
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Release Date: 06/01/2023
Singer Jim Verraros ("Take My Bow"): "I Just Got Tired Of People Telling Me I Needed To Be Something Other Than Who I Was"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by singer and American Idol alum Jim Verraros on the day he releases his first new music in 12 years, a dance-pop single called "Take My Bow." Jim talks about what inspired him to step in front of the microphone again, how putting out music is different now than it was in the mid-2000s and why he loves a good double entendre. He also talks about his life post-Idol, being the first Idol finalist to come out, landing a record deal and and appearing in films like Eating Out and making the decision to leave LA and the business and return to Chicago. He talks about getting...
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Mortified LA Host & Story Producer Leonard Hyman: "I Am SomebodyThat Wallows"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Leonard Hyman, the emcee and a story producer for the L.A. stage show Mortified. Mortified is a long running stage show where performers get on the mic and share things they created as kids or teens, like diary entries, poems, home videos, things that were never intended to be shared with a roomful of stranger. Leonard recalls how he first learned about the show then went on to perform on it multiple times. He also talks about how he's kept a diary for most of his life and how he read one passage of it as part of his wedding vows--he reads that part for us,...
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Filmmaker Sav Rodgers (Chasing Chasing Amy): "Every Day Is A School Day"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Sav Rodgers to discuss his documentary Chasing Chasing Amy, a coming-of-age story set again the backdrop of Kevin Smith's controversial 1993 film Chasing Amy, which is about a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams) who falls in love with a straight guy (Ben Affleck). Sav recalls how the documentary sprung from a Ted Talk he gave called "The Rom-Com That Saved My Life," which was about how his adolescent viewings of Chasing Amy made him feel less alone at a time when he was being bullied for his queerness and battled thoughts of suicide. He also recalls what it...
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Filmmakers Tom Gustafson & Cory Krueckeberg (Glitter and Doom): "The Stems Have Been Delivered"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Tom Gustafson & Cory Krueckeberg, the men behind the new gay movie-musical, Glitter and Doom. Tom directs, Cory writes and edits and they produce together. The film is a loosely autobiographical love story between two young men, a broody down-on-his luck musician named Doom (Alan Cammish) and a sunny aspiring circus performer named Glitter (Alex Diaz) In the interview, Cory recalls how he wrote the script on his own and then presented it to Tom on their 20th anniversary as a couple. Tom talks about the decision to shoot in Mexico City and recalls the...
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Author Manuel Betancourt (The Male Gazed): I Just Love a Big Dumb Hunk
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Manuel Betancourt to discuss his new book The Male Gazed: . In the book, which he describes as a memoir in essays about masculinity and desire, Manuel writes about such subjects as Ricky Martin's thirst traps on Instagram, Mario Lopez's wrestling singlets on Saved By The Bell, Antonio Banderas's tighty-whities in Law of Desire and why flamboyant Puerto Rican TV astrologer Walter Mercado used to make him squirm. Manuel also talks about getting rejected by a number of publishers and nearly giving up before his eventual publisher called to say they were...
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The MisMatch Game: Here Comes The Pride Edition excerpts
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
To promote this Saturday's Hot August Night Edition of The MisMatch Game, here are some clips from June's two Pride-themed shows. The panelists are Dante as Christopher Lloyd, Danny Casillas as Reba Areba, Richard Halpern as Austin Powers, Tom Lenk as M3GAN and Zooey Deschanel, Felix Pire as The Mad Hatter, Rebekah Kochan as Jennifer Coolidge, Jackie Clarke as Ginni Thomas, James Adomian as Elon Musk, Nadya Ginsburg as Cher, Lory Tatoulian as Queen Camilla & Marc Samuel as Morgan Freeman. The questions take on such subjects as Rihanna's missing toe ring, Dorothy's stolen ruby slippers and...
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Actor-Writer-Director Craig Chester (Adam & Steve): "How Does Loni Anderson Live?"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-writer-director Craig Chester to discuss the upcoming 18th Anniversary screening of his gay rom-com Adam and Steve, which is happening on August 31st at the Mary Pickford Theater in Palm Springs. Craig shares memories of making the movie, including how he had to take over as director just a few weeks before filming, how he burst into tears after shooting the film's big, show-stopping western-themed dance number and what it was like to work with Malcolm Gets, Parker Posey and Chris Kattan. He also talks about his career as a TV writer, working on the...
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Author JD Doyle (1981): "I Wanted to See Gay America"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by historian JD Doyle to discuss his new book, "1981: My Gay American Road Trip, A Slice Of Our Pre-AIDS Culture." The book is comprised mostly of diary entries JD kept during a road trip he took in 1981 that spanned 24 states,180 gay bars and lots of hot hookups. In the interview, JD discusses how his father encouraged him to take the trip after he got laid off of his chemical engineering job, the '77 Skylark he took the journey in by himself with no air conditioning, using his background in gay media to network and how the entire experience changed him. He...
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Writer-Performer Alex Alexander (Perception vs. Reality 101): "I Will Not Be Ignored, Los Angeles"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by writer-performer Alex Alexander whose show Perception vs. Reality 101 returns to Los Angeles on August 12th. The show is about how sometimes the stories we tell ourselves about our lives and our pasts aren't actually true. Alex talks about getting inspiration for the show from her high school yearbooks, why she changed her name from Debra to Alex, getting caught up the Fatal Attraction backlash after changing her name to Alex and what her Southern Christian family thought when she decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment. She also...
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Filmmakers Andy & Danny Vallentine (The Mattachine Family): "Each Day is Vallentine's Day"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Andy & Danny Vallentine, the husband-and-husband team behind the new movie The Mattachine Family, which is about a gay male couple in L.A. and their multiple attempts to becoming fathers. Screenwriter Danny talks about getting inspiration for the script from his and Andy's real life journey. Andy talks about working with the stellar cast, which includes Nico Tortorella (Younger), Juan Pablo di Pace (Fuller House) and Emily Hampshire (Schitt's Creek). The pair also talk about getting Zach Braff to sign on as Executive Producer, the day on set they'll never...
info_outlineDennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Sam Irvin. Sam is the author of the memoir I Was a Teenage Monster Hunter, which is about his childhood obsession with horror movies and the interviews he conducted with horror personalities for his fanzine Bizarre. Sam talks about his Cinema Paradiso-esque childhood; working at his family-owned movie theater, having to change the marquee when he was afraid of heights, getting to take home the posters after a film’s run and cleaning up vomit after screenings of The Exorcist. He also talks about his creative and personal relationship with Cassandra Peterson AKA Elvira Mistress of the Dark. He recalls how he got the job directing Elvira’s Haunted Hills, bonding over sad Joni Mitchell music and how just this year, he and Cassandra took a tour group of 30 Elvira super fans to visit the Haunted Hills locations in Romania and Transylvania. Sam also talks about being more in demand as a director at 67 than ever before. He’s directed seven Hallmark and Lifetime films in the past 12 months, including this month’s Love In Zion National: A National Park Romance and the holiday film Check Inn to Christmas. Other topics include: cold-calling his way into becoming Brian DePalma’s assistant, Ian McKellan’s naked prank on the set of Gods and Monsters, directing three seasons of the gay vampire series Dante’s Cove and getting to visit the set of the James Bond film The Man With the Golden Gun when he was 18 and hearing sex stories from a drunk Herve Villechaize in the back of a Rolls Royce afterwards.