Stick to one thing and do it well. That’s the mantra of a true purist. But for those
brave explorers who choose to plow through the thicket of interpersonal relations,
Behind
a copious stack of requisite themes waits to be tackled. Casper Andreas has been
a relationship specialist since before his directorial debut in 2004’s Slutty Summer.
Now, having earned the respect of romance-hungry gay men everywhere, he
brings us a new embodiment of l’amour toujours: Between Love and Goodbye. An-
dreas spoke with The Rage Monthly about the fluidity of his career, the inspirations
that fuel his storytelling and the sharp way he balances love and work.
the
Like many of us, Andreas found his success in something quite different from
what he started doing. Luckily, this evolution granted unforeseen freedoms that
allowed his talents to flourish in unison.
“Originally I was very interested in acting,” said Andreas. “I lived in New York
for a while and did a lot of plays here. When I moved to L.A., I started writing my
first screenplay –that led to me wanting to direct. While writing I felt I could see
the characters playing out the scenes in my head and I thought, ‘I have to direct
Love
this.’ Slutty Summer was very much inspired…by a summer of mine (Laughter).
I thought this was something that I could really do on a low budget—basically
focusing on one location. We wouldn’t have to do a lot of moving, we could shoot a
lot of scenes in one day…so we actually shot that film in 14 days.”
Acting, writing, directing and producing—though he’s adept at all of the above,
it was the snappy script that garnered such popularity for Slutty Summer, not just
Andreas’ striking screen presence. The film’s “Greek chorus” element surrounding
An Interview with
the protagonist gave the plot a classic recipe for a squad of friends with opposite
views—a common occurrence in any gay man’s inner circle.
Casper
“These people weren’t necessarily based on any friends of mine…well, maybe
Jesse Archer [the audacious Luke from Slutty Summer]. He was based on himself,”
laughed Andreas. “When we were out touring festivals, I mentioned to Jesse that I
thought it would be really cool to make a film where Luke is the central character.
Jesse, of course, loved that idea. We ended up writing the script together. Origi-
nally we thought of [A Four Letter Word] as more of a sequel, but now I say it’s more
Andreas
of a spinoff—a free-standing story with recurring characters.”
Where Slutty Summer and A Four Letter Word poked fun at the wilder side of
“mascu-love,” Andreas’ latest chronicle (Between Love and Goodbye) plays a much
more dramatic note.
“I’ve wanted to make this film for a long time,” admitted Andreas. “This was actu-
ally the first feature script that I wrote. To make the film work, it definitely needed
by david vera
a bigger budget than I had when I first started. I thought, ‘I don’t want to just make
sex comedies for the rest of my life…The time is right to get this one out there.’ I’m
A FILMOUT SAN DIEGO SELECTION
actually very happy that I waited. It couldn’t have turned out the way it did, had I
SCREENING AT 2:00 PM, SAT. MAY 30TH
made it sooner.”
It’s hard not to see Andreas’ films as somewhat autobiographical. It’s also dif-
ficult not to wonder how closely the sobering events in the film resemble his own.
“When I started writing it, I had just come out of a long-term relationship—
which had gone kind of…ugly,” explained Andreas. “It was a long writing process
and I changed a lot of the plot. But the central characters who are first madly in
love and then come out of it, they were very much based on my experience—
losing that first love and not knowing how to deal with it. It’s a bit of a cautionary
tale. I hope people pay attention to how they choose to treat loved ones.
I definitely get a lot of feedback that it’s a bit over-the-top or that the characters
are acting crazy and immature, but that’s the point. A lot of people do act that way.
There are headlines in the paper every day of people doing crazy things to each
other.” As a film about passionate love, the final scene inevitably erupts with emo-
tion. But unlike most other contrived tear-jerkers, Andreas’ talent ties together a
lot of themes and recurring ideals so that the viewer isn’t left emotionally lost.
“I definitely felt that, the way things were heading, a happy ending wouldn’t
MAY 2009 | RAGE monthly 39
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