Short Sir Cut

Two of my shorts, Ballet Diesel and Girl for Life, are now available for download from TLA video!

(unfortunately you can't do it on Macs - only PCs)


The shorts were picked up by Iron Rod Motion Pictures who put them on a DVD called "Iron Girls 4." You can't yet purchase the actual DVD, although when you download the compilation from TLA, it's much cheaper...

Let me tell you a little bit about Ballet Diesel, the lesbian who looks like a diesel dyke but walks like a ballerina. Ballet Diesel is near and dear to my heart. It was the first comedic film that I made, and despite the fact that we didn't have a budget for it, it's still one of my favorites (don't tell Butch Jamie).

It was also the first festival-bound short that I did, and I ended up naming my production company after it - Ballet Diesel Films. The company name isn't just a reference to the film, but is also a term of its own - "Ballet Diesel" meaning something that is a hybrid of both feminine and masculine.


I posted a clip from the film in my blog a couple of months ago; here's the link if you want to check it out.

Here are some facts about the film:
- It is based on real people (the actors who play the characters are the people the film is based on)
- The film is 99% improvised
- Howard, the cat actor from Butch Jamie, has a cameo
- The actress who plays "The Femme," Leah Williamson, helped produce Butch Jamie and also acts in that movie as "Bathroom Girl"


- My character, named Ballet Diesel, bites into an actual onion in the film; we only had one onion, so each take we did I hid the previous bites with my hand
- Ballet Diesel drinks actual beer in the film; we only wanted to use one beer, so each take we did, I filled the bottle with water
- Ballet Diesel trips in the film and that's a real trip
- Ballet Diesel gags on an onion in the film and that's a real gag
- Ballet Diesel spills beer on herself and that was a real accident


I'll tell you about my other short on the compilation, Girl for Life, next time...

Ballerina Butches and more - oh my!

Hey, hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I went to my friend David's, the same one who's in Butch Jamie. He played my gay, Asian friend named David in the movie, so the role was quite a stretch for him. David is an amazing cook and he made the biggest Thanksgiving dinner I have ever seen! He's not even an American, so that makes it extra cute. I don't have any photos from the dinner, but here's a pic of him onset:


So I'll pick up where I left off with my last entry. After I went to Tampa, I flew directly to Portland to represent the movie at their Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Portland was more low-key than Tampa, but still cool. There I met Kathy Belge, who is "Dipstick" from the Lipstick and Dipstick advice column in Curve magazine. She lives in Portland and was there to introduce the screening.


Here's a picture of us butchin' it up. I just noticed how both of her hands are in fists and mine has that slightly femmy straying pinky. Well...I guess I may as well come out and say it. ...I'm not really all that butch. Take a look at this video (it's terrible, I know) --



That's an excerpt from Ballet Diesel, a mockumentary short I made a few years ago. The film is fictional, but it is true that my girlfriend used to call me "Ballet Diesel" because she thought I looked like a diesel dyke but walked like a ballerina. I don't really walk like a ballerina, but I suppose everyone's entitled to their own opinion. Anyway, Iron Rod Motion Pictures is planning to distribute it soon on a DVD compilation, so I'll keep you updated on that. The other woman in the film is Leah Williamson (she's the one who said I looked like a ballerina in real life; she used to be my girlfriend but now we're just good friends. I live in L.A. and she's in Upstate NY, so I make sure to tell her on the phone how butch I am now). Leah helped me produce Butch Jamie and when I was in Tampa, she was representing the film at the Image Out festival in Rochester. Here are some pics:





So that's it for today. I'll be back again soon!