ARIZTICAL ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS A FILM BY Q. ALLAN BROCKA EATING OUT STARRING SCOTT LUNSFORD JIM VERRAROS EMILY STILES RYAN CARNES WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Q. ALLAN BROCKA PRODUCED BY DANIELLE PROBST MICHAEL J. SHOEL Running Time: 85 minutes COLOR/COMEDY 24P SONY HD “EATING OUT” PRESS KIT SYNOPSIS Caleb is a hunky poli-sci major with an affection for aggressive girls. Gwen is an aggressive girl who falls for gay acting boys. It’s a match made in therapy. In a plan hatched by his crafty roommate Kyle, Caleb finds himself pretending to be gay to woo Gwen, but their scheme is thwarted when Gwen decides that Caleb would be the perfect catch for her own gay roommate, Marc—the object of Kyle’s affection. Caleb is faced with a confusing proposition. Gwen wonders if she'll ever find a straight guy. Marc can't tell why the new guy is so hot and cold. And Kyle watches the two loves of his life leave him behind. PRODUCTION NOTES The idea for EATING OUT began as sort of a joke. While in a screenwriting class at California Institute of the Arts, I was required to write one feature-length screenplay every semester. I was tapped out of high concept and emotionally wrenching ideas so, to amuse myself, I wrote intense gay sex scenes to make the cute straight guys read out loud in class. Then my conscience got the better of me and to justify the sex I threw in a lot of funny lines, then I wanted to care about the characters, then a storyline… Before I knew it, EATING OUT was born. It was a kind of silly story so I never pursued trying to make it. Most of my scripts deal with more personal stories (i.e. high concept or emotionally wrenching). EATING OUT had always been a guilty pleasure script I figured I’d mine for jokes later on. When Michael J. Shoel from Ariztical Entertainment approached me looking for a script with a lot of humor and a lot of sex, EATING OUT leapt to mind. I hadn’t dared show it to a soul outside of class. It was way too gay for broad appeal and far too light-hearted to be of interest to other indie producers I worked with … but Michael’s goal was to make something fun. Thankfully he found the script as fun and sexy as I did and we were on our way. In preproduction, we encountered all your typical no-budget, indie film disasters. But our insane atmosphere was amplified because I was being followed by camera crews at the time for AMC’s documentary GAY HOLLYWOOD. Meanwhile we searched for attractive, talented, non-SAG actors willing to bare everything in a shamelessly gay film for no money. One of the first actresses to walk into the auditions was Emily Stiles, who was perfect for the role of Gwen and I was shocked that she wasn't already famous. Next to join the family was Jim Verraros. I was a huge AMERICAN IDOL fan, scheduling meetings and casting sessions around the show’s broadcasts. I even made my casting director watch it with me during an extended meeting one night. That’s when the thought hit me, what ARIZTICAL ENTERTAINMENT “EATING OUT” PRESS KIT about the openly gay contestant?! He’d be perfect for Kyle! I became consumed with the idea. I looked up Jim on the internet, e-mailed his website, and the rest is history. Ryan Carnes, Scott Lunsford, and Rebekah Kochan each gave me the feeling I was discovering something great during their auditions and I’m happy to say I was able to cast everyone I wanted. The biggest challenge was still ahead, we had only ten days to shoot a feature film with a dozen locations and twenty speaking roles. The first shoot day, the camera truck caught on fire. We shot nothing. We sat on location in the desert and waited. The second day, raging brush fires knocked out the electricity for most of the city. We lost another half day. While these were ten of the most stressful days of my life, they were also ten of the best days, not only because of the most beautiful and talented cast I’ve ever seen in person, but also due to our gifted crew. I am especially indebted to the eerily cool coordination of Danielle Probst, the clever organization of Scott Findley, the constantly surprising talent of Melissa Fischer and the devoted support of Michael J. Shoel. EATING OUT is a story close to my heart. It’s the college-popcorn-fluff comedy I always eagerly consumed, but never saw myself represented in. It’s my fantasy and guilty pleasure movie. It's my bust-a-gut-laughing and drool-over-the-boys movie. It’s my date movie. Above all, it's another voice shouting out that queer youth have the same awkward, mushy, horny, romantic, lonely, funny, crazy, fucked-up friendships, fantasies, and romances as anyone else. ARIZTICAL ENTERTAINMENT “EATING OUT” PRESS KIT CAST IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE Tiffani Rebekah Kochan Caleb Peterson Scott Lunsford Kyle Jim Verraros Milkshake Marcy Natalie Burge Jenny the Beaver “Firecrotch Adrienne Pearson Jamie Peterson Jillian Nusbaum Marc Everhart Ryan Carnes Sebastian "British Guy” Christopher Michaels Gwen Andersen Emily Stiles Joey William Shepard Carnival Vendor Maurice Grossman Richard John Janezic Miko Ditte Lokon Ronnie Dani Millan Winston Stafford “Doc” Williamson Party Guests Patti James-Bailey, Sarah Burner, Bradley Lau, Andrea Miller, Amber Nicolai, Barbara Schaffer, Tim Sevelis, Daniel Skaggs, Melissa Slawson, William Soffer, Shaunda Stormant, Candice Trainor Mr. Milford Donald Cline Mrs. Milford Joy Ives Debbie Milford Melissa Shaner Leather Guy #1 Pete Kelly Leather Guy #2 Michael J. Shoel Frank Peterson Murph Michaels Susan Peterson Martie van der Voort ARIZTICAL ENTERTAINMENT “EATING OUT” PRESS KIT CAST BIOGRAPHIES SCOTT LUNSFORD (Caleb) Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Scott Lunsford has been drawn to the entertainment industry since his early teens. After moving to Southern California with a wrestling scholarship at Cal State University, Scott realized his passion for acting could not be denied. Classes and head shots followed and before long Scott's natural presence and all- American looks landed him numerous roles in music videos and commercials. He also found work on the USA Network's hit shows "Strip Poker" and "Tens." Not exactly an actor's dream, but fun nonetheless. At an open casting call, Scott caught the attention of director Ron Hamaday, who offered him the lead as a troubled youth in his independent feature, PANDEMONIUM. Other roles quickly followed, including the young baseball star of LAST MAN OUT, and lead roles in NEAR DEATH and A.U.M. Although his role in EATING OUT is a risky one with nudity and graphic sex scenes, Scott braved the challenge and is optimistic that his work in the film will lead to further challenging and rewarding roles. An avid athlete who enjoys surfing, jogging, tennis, and rock climbing, Scott is also an accomplished chess player, and an artist who finds great comfort in creating. Plans for an exhibition of his art are in the works. JIM VERRAROS (Kyle) Jim, AMERICAN IDOL Top Ten Finalist, has been heard around the country on the 2002 American Idols Live Tour from FOX’s hit show. The unsigned artist was featured in the American Idol’s Greatest Moments compilation album (certified GOLD). Jim was on mp3.com's Top 40 Rock Chart and Top 25 Pop Chart. After being on mp3.com for only two months, Jim passed 10,000 plays. He recently sang at the Seattle Christmas Tree Lighting in front of an audience of 25,000 people. He is featured on the October 2003 compilation "By the People." He is currently writing and recording new music with singer/songwriter Gabe Lopez, who is also producing the material. Jim is being shopped to major record labels for a record deal. EMILY STILES (Gwen) Emily Stiles was born and raised in Kansas City where she worked – both backstage and onstage at various professional theatres in town. After some college, she moved to New York City and pounded the pavement with various temp jobs, deciding to give up acting ARIZTICAL ENTERTAINMENT “EATING OUT” PRESS KIT for more “serious” work. Emily then moved to Portland, Oregon in search of “the easy life." She woke up one day and remembered she was an actor and has been doing it full throttle ever since. She landed in LA almost two years ago. RYAN CARNES (Marc) Ryan Carnes was born and raised in Pittsfield, IL, a small, rural community of 4,300. After dedicating the better part of his formative years to sports, music, and academia, Ryan finally found the thespian within. With the encouragement of his current manager Jon Simmons, he made the giant leap to Los Angeles. Since then, Ryan has dedicated himself to studying his craft and pursuing his dream to be a working actor. Though this was a daring first role to accept, he looked at it as something that could only make him a more committed actor. Besides, once you've done frontal nudity, hey, what else is there to hide? Since the making of EATING OUT, Ryan has worked both commercially and theatrically--most recently as the already-graduated boyfriend of a high school senior in ANDERSON'S CROSS. An accomplished drummer for 15 years, Ryan also writes lyrics and is currently collaborating with several other musicians on their first project. REBEKAH KOCHAN (Tiffani) As she approaches her twentieth birthday, Rebekah Kochan is very excited about her feature film debut in EATING OUT.