Gay Activist Nicole Conn Speaks OUT

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with filmmaker Nicole Conn about her new film A Perfect Ending” starring Morgan Fairchild, John Heard, Barbara Niven and newcomer Jessica Clark. Conn stated this is her best cinematic achievement in 20 years of filmmaking and audiences will be thrilled when sparks fly between Barbara Niven and Jessica Clark.
(Check out the trailer below.)

When Nicole Conn released her landmark film, “Claire of the Moon” in 1992, the landscape was practically void of other lesbian-themed movies. Nearly 20 years later, a sprinkling of movies with queer themes has made it to the mainstream like Brokeback Mountain, Boys Don’t Cry, The Kids are Alright. But the field is still so small that most people can name those films off the top of their head. With this summer’s restored re-release of “Claire of the Moon”, Nicole Conn takes a look back at the film, her career and the future of women’s films.

When asked what her personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights, Conn stated, “Complete and utter devotion to LGBT civil rights. I believe that we should get everything that everyone else gets. I believe in absolute equality for all human beings. I have worked with HRC on many fundraisers for my documentary “Little Man”. They sponsored the film in many places. And I continue to fight that fight and I believe in the fight for marriage equality, all equality across the board. I am not a political filmmaker and I’ve gotten some negative feedback around that. I’m really a storyteller and that’s just who I am. I’m not political in my art, I’m political in my life.”

“Claire of the Moon” will be released by Peccadillo Pictures Ltd. this month along with a Nicole Conn Box Set that will include “Claire of the Moon”, “Cynara”, and “Elena Undone”. “A Perfect Ending” will be playing the festival circuit this year and into 2012.
For More Info: soulkissfilms.com

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Gay Role Model John Waters Speaks OUT

 

  

 

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with filmmaker John Waters in part two of our series of celebrity chats from the Provincetown International Film Festival. Waters is one of the founders of the PIFF and every year he conducts an event highlighting his movie pick of the year. John’s favorite movie of 2010 is "Domaine" a French film directed by Patric Chiha that tracks the evolution of the unusually close relationship between an alcoholic mathematician (Betty Blue’s Béatrice Dalle) and her gay teenage nephew. Their friendship is an homage to that of Albert Einstein and Kurt Gödel but with more white wine and visits to a shadowy discotheque. The result is a sexy, fresh, and poignant movie, one that gets to the underlying truths John Waters truly appreciates.

We also talked to Waters about LGBT civil rights, gay marriage and LGBTQ teen bullying. LGBTQ teens are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Over the past year, numerous teens have taken their own lives after facing bullying incidents. When asked what advise he would have for these kids, Waters stated, “Bullying is going to happen even if you’re not gay. Bullying is a thing that you have to learn to deal with; it’s part of getting through life unfortunately. High school is how you learn. Wait until you get a job and you get bullied in your job. Wait until you try to get into the art world to make a film, you get bullied. So unfortunately you have to learn how to deal with bullies. You have to figure out a way to be smart enough to get around them or make them laugh. People that wanted to beat me up, I made them laugh first. Humor can be a great weapon but teachers are very wrong to allow it. When I went to high school there was no talk about bullying. They (teachers) didn’t lift a finger to stop it so that’s very wrong.”

John Waters, filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector rose to fame in the early 1970s for his cult films like “Pink Flamingos” and “Female Trouble”. His 80’s film “Hairspray” brought him mainstream success followed by the Broadway play of the same name. His bestselling book “Role Models” is now available in paperback just in time for your summer reading.
Listen to Part One with Kathleen Turner
Listen to Part Three with Albert Maysles
Listen to Part #4: with Actress Jackie Monahan

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New York Gay Wedding Caterer Chef Rossi

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Chef Rossi, owner and executive chef of The Raging Skillet one of New York City’s best and wildest gay-owned caterers. Now that New York has passed gay marriage and you’re seeking the perfect caterer for your wedding, check out The Raging Skillet which has been catering weddings for 23 years and has won “The Knot Best of Weddings Pick” for the last 3 years running. If there is such a thing as an anti-caterer, this company, which specializes in nontraditional parties, may be it. Every detail is personalized down to the attire of the staff (miniskirts? or kilts?) and the style of service. Chef Rossi serves dishes from several different cuisines at a single event -- she calls her firm "the wildest catering company this side of the Mason-Dixon line". Their food reflects fusions from Korea, Japan, Thailand, Cuba, South Carolina, New Orleans, Morocco, Jamaica, India, The Southwest, Vegan, Vegetarian and Rossi's mother's Hungarian Yiddish home-cooking.

Chef Rossi is ecstatic to be able to cater her first legal gay weddings next month now that gay marriage has passed in her state. When asked if she thought passing gay marriage will be a financial boom for New York Chef Rossi stated, “Oh, of course, it’s going to be a windfall. Our own little Mayor Bloomberg is running around announcing he wants to turn us into the gay marriage capital of the universe. And I think it’s great. Listen, New York like everywhere else has had their problems in this economy and New York has had a rough time. And if doing the right thing and saying ‘yes’ to marriage equality makes us a booming business for gay marriage I think what a great reason. So yes I definitely think this is going to bring in tons of money.”
For your special Wedding Day, The Raging Skillet offers hot and cold vegetarian poultry, meats and fish hors d'oeuvres. Enjoy three cheese quesadillas with tomatillo salsa, wild mushroom wontons with red pepper dip, Thai style chicken saté with spicy peanut sauce, roast lamb brochettes with cilantro aioli or crab and shrimp shu mai dumplings just to name a few delectable choices. Entrées include such tasties as lobster tails, Senegalese chicken Yassa breast of chicken smothered in sweet onions and green olives with Scotch bonnet peppers served over coconut scented jasmine rice, leg of lamb with pear chutney cous cous and curried baby squash and portabella mushroom au poivre in port wine and thyme with garden vegetables and crispy parsnips.
The New York Times called Chef Rossi “a new breed of rebel anti-caterer” and “eclectic and off the wall” by the Zagats review. She has also been featured on “The Food Network.” As a radio personality Rossi’s hit show “Bite This” on Cape Cod’s WOMR is now in its 7th season where she shares her edible memoirs from her book entitled “The Devil and Mrs. Goldstein" which is currently seeking a publisher.
She has also appeared on NPR.
For More Info: theragingskillet.com

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Gay Activists Jenni & Lisa Go Global

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols about “Out and Around”. Their mission is to travel around the world in search of LGBT leaders and allies that are making a difference. They will be chronicling their journeys as a lesbian couple and sharing the accounts of the extraordinary individuals they meet during their “not-so-straight travels”.

When asked what do they hope to accomplish with “Out & Around”, Jenni stated, “One of the things that we realized in the LGBT community is that we really lack role models. So we hope by highlighting these people around the world and these could be leaders in community organizing, in business, in arts, in entertainment, in health, and all aspects of society, we think that their stories will provide role models to LGBTQ youth and queer people globally. Secondly, we hope that by highlighting stories of LGBT people in all walks of life we can help decrease homophobia and just show that gay people are striving everywhere and they contribute to society in so many ways. And thirdly, we want to bring attention to LGBT issues, particularly in developing countries because in those countries there’s still a long way to go.”

Lisa is fluent in Spanish and Jenni is fluent in Chinese. They’re going places where their dollar stretches far or where they have family or where people have promised a place to stay since their finances are limited. The first stop starting July 6th is New Zealand, then on to Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, China, Nepal, India, Africa and South America.

Jenni and Lisa have been together for two years. Jenni Chang works as a business manager for eBay Inc, the online marketplace site. Jenni’s international experience includes volunteering with community outreach groups in Taiwan, Cambodia, and China. Jenni is an LGBT activist who is involved in the Asian American and Christian LGBT communities in San Francisco. Lisa Dazols is a licensed clinical social worker who is in her tenth year in HIV services. Lisa works at UCSF’s Positive Health Program in San Francisco’s largest HIV clinic. She started her career as an international HIV social worker in Chile before getting her masters degree in social welfare at UC Berkeley.
For Info & Donations: outandaround.com

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