Coming of age Drag Queen dramedy CHRISSY JUDY, which had its world premiere at Provincetown Film Festival, before screening OutFest, NewFest, Hamptons IFF & over 20 more worldwide, follows up that bravura festival run with a North American release this week.
The pic, written, directed, edited by and starring Todd Flaherty alongside Wyatt Fenner, Joey Taranto, Kiyon Spencer, and James Tison, tells of a determined gay man whose best friend and drag sister suddenly couples off and moves away, leaving him to question his personal and professional life becoming an irrelevant solo act both onstage and off. Wass it inspired by the writer, director and star’s own life? Let’s find out.
Todd, thanks for the chat. For the unversed, who’s the title refer to?
Chrissy Judy refers to the films two main characters Chrissy and Judy, two gay men who are best friends and have a drag act in NYC.
What was it about the story that grabbed you? Personal?
I hesitate to say the film is autobiographical, but I consider myself both a Chrissy and a Judy. I wanted to write about the importance of friendship and chosen family in the queer community.
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Any difficulty in pitching your cast?
Any difficulty in pitching your cast?I was really blessed with this cast. I met Wyatt doing a reading of a play in New York many years ago and when it came time to cast Chrissy, I asked him to read and he accepted the role on the spot. I wrote the role of Marcus for Joey Taranto and the role of Samoa for James Tison who are dear friends of mine, so they had no choice but the play those roles.
Did everyone say yes?
I offered most of the other roles to people I knew or folks who’s work I was a fan of and everyone said yes, without hesitation. Some agreed to film without even having read the script.
I imagine it would’ve been a beautiful set to work on, too – where was that?
We shot in many locations which was quite a feat for a micro-budget feature. We shot in New York, Fire Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Provincetown.
What did you do to make sure the film played as real as possible for the audience?
I started my career as an actor, so whenever I approach the work of a writer and director it’s through the lens of performance. I lucked out with a stellar cast who all breathed an incredible amount of life into their characters. Cinematically, I like my shots to feel voyeuristic, which I think lends to a greater connection with the audience who feels like a fly on the wall in these intimate, sometimes uncomfortable, and sometimes hilarious moments in life.
How much would you recommend a festival run for a film before it gets a traditional VOD, theatrical release etc.?
Our festival run was incredible. Dark Star found us after our second festival at OUTfest in LA, but we were able to finish up a pretty healthy festival run that got us a lot of critical acclaim and buzz before our theatrical release. Films that have star power might not need it, but when you’re a small indie like Chrissy Judy, those festivals really help build an audience and buzz for a potential theatrical release.
And the reviews, they’re glowing! That must have helped considerably with distribution?
The reviews help, but in all honestly, our distributor came on before we got such great reviews. The film has been a real crowd pleaser and I think Dark Star saw that and saw the potential in us right away.
CHRISSY JUDY is now showing in select theaters and available on Digital on Tuesday via Dark Star Pictures.