Does casting porn stars (in non porn indies of course) hurt your chances of distribution?
Porn stars
- Thread starter tokenwhiteboy
- Start date
Probably would if it was a kids film.
Or anything where the acting was supposed to be believable.
Or anything where the acting was supposed to be believable.
bad acting is almost always on the director
and the kids film comment is ironic. David Cross is a filthy comic yet all over these kids movies voices
Depends on the movie.
If you're making a T&A comedy, then it would probably be beneficial for you to have a bunch of porn stars/strippers go topless in your movie.
Or if you're making a dumb Troma style horror/comedy/splatter then having Ron Jeremy might help you.
In most cases however, if you're making an even half-way serious movie with a real budget, stay away from the porn stars and hire real actors.
If you're making a T&A comedy, then it would probably be beneficial for you to have a bunch of porn stars/strippers go topless in your movie.
Or if you're making a dumb Troma style horror/comedy/splatter then having Ron Jeremy might help you.
In most cases however, if you're making an even half-way serious movie with a real budget, stay away from the porn stars and hire real actors.
Bad acting is never on the director. A great director cannot make a
terrible actor good. A director guides the actor – the director cannot
make actors good.
A non sequiter. David Cross may be a “blue” comic but his face is not
seen when he does voice work. And there is a difference between doing
porn and working blue as a stand-up. Ever seen Bob Sagat's act?
Yes, casting a person known for porn in a family/childrens film will kill
any chance of distribution. Casting a voice actor in an animated feature
who does raunchy material as a stand-up will not.
No, casting a person known for porn in a movie will not hurt the chances
of distribution in some cases.
Sasha Grey in “The Girlfriend Experience”, Katie Morgan in “Zack and
Miri make a Porno”, Jenna Jameson in “Zombie Stripers”, James Deen
in “The Canyons”, Ashlynn Brooke and Riley Steele in small roles in
“Piranha 3D” See a pattern there?
Marilyn Chambers in “Rabid” - but that was 38 years ago and she never
did another one. The obvious Traci Lords, but she renounced porn, took
acting classes and worked hard before she got her first role.
There is a reason why there are so few and it's usually just one time;
“stunt” casting. So if you have the right project a porn name might be
fine but it won't really help. Both Soderbergh's and Smith's films lost
money – a lot of money. The other two were just stunt casting and
also lost a lot of money. Piranha 3D made money but not because two
porn stars were in minor rolls showing their boobies and getting killed.
i call bull shit...
every single person acts every single day of their lives...
a great director could take someone off the street and make them pull off a very believable scene
Yeah, after maybe 62 takes per shot and months of coaching. Could have saved a lot of effort by casting the right person.
I knew an actor who had a Polish acting teacher. That acting teacher said that a good actor is, or should be, director proof. That means that the actor can pull off a watchable and even good performance in the worst of circumstances. If a director has them do something humiliating or absurd, they do the best they can and think creatively.
On the flipside of the coin, Mark Wahlberg delivered what I consider to be one of the most unwatchable performances ever. Looking at past work he has done, I don't know if that's purely his fault.
There's no black and white answer
On the flipside of the coin, Mark Wahlberg delivered what I consider to be one of the most unwatchable performances ever. Looking at past work he has done, I don't know if that's purely his fault.
There's no black and white answer
Almost the entire cast of SPONGBOB came from HBO's very adult Mr. Show with Bob and David (Bob Odenkirk and David Cross).
Yes it can. It'll limit your ability to distribute through particular distributors.
Usually it won't hurt you, though at the same time, it's also unlikely to help you much too.
Even if they're willing to distribute you, the deal that they offer may be negatively affected due to perceived increased risk. As EuropeanDistributor said, it'll depend on your film.
Just remember, not all stars are created equal.
I wanna know what "porn star" Token had in mind?
We talking a headliner name in the biz, some foreign chick with a global following, your local stripper with a 3X skin mag portfolio, or what?
And then precisely what kind of distro are you considering?
DIY VOD, direct-to-youtube or vimeo, all media, DVD, international, limited theatrical, what?
Were you hoping that a recognizable porn star would have some built in market?
https://swarm.tv/t/Lav
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxina
We talking a headliner name in the biz, some foreign chick with a global following, your local stripper with a 3X skin mag portfolio, or what?
And then precisely what kind of distro are you considering?
DIY VOD, direct-to-youtube or vimeo, all media, DVD, international, limited theatrical, what?
Were you hoping that a recognizable porn star would have some built in market?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxina
porn star with about 200k followers on the tweeter... pretty well known
horror thriller genre
horror thriller genre
What kind of horror? More Friday the 13th or Silence of the Lambs? Gore and girls horror or 30 minutes of suspenseful build up horror?
I disagree. There are sub-genres and different types of horror. I love the film The Shining, but I've failed to sit through 1 Troma movie. A film like Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, or even Mr. Brooks (example given by OP) would not benefit from a porn star. Although a gory slasher film, exploitation film, or something similar to those to types of horror would most likely.
While all of the movies listed above are directed at adults, that does not mean that they will appeal to the same adults.
If you have a porn star who wants to work on a film with you, ask yourself why you want to work with her. Is she:
a) a good actress? In that case, if you're doing a horror film, it doesn't matter. If Silence of the Lambs had a porn actress in it, but was the same movie it is now, it wouldn't have mattered what else she had been in. But to the point of others, that she was a porn actress isn't a marketing tool you can effectively use (and might turn some people off, no pun intended).
b) popular in her circles? Do you want to use that to promote your film? In that case, get down in the gutter, splatter up your film and have fun! Let's be honest, there's a bit of a shared market between exploitation horror and porn. Doesn't mean you can't make it a good film, but be a little tongue-in-cheek about it, and you've got gold!
a) a good actress? In that case, if you're doing a horror film, it doesn't matter. If Silence of the Lambs had a porn actress in it, but was the same movie it is now, it wouldn't have mattered what else she had been in. But to the point of others, that she was a porn actress isn't a marketing tool you can effectively use (and might turn some people off, no pun intended).
b) popular in her circles? Do you want to use that to promote your film? In that case, get down in the gutter, splatter up your film and have fun! Let's be honest, there's a bit of a shared market between exploitation horror and porn. Doesn't mean you can't make it a good film, but be a little tongue-in-cheek about it, and you've got gold!
