Virago might be better known, for now, as Margie Schnibbe, the documentarian of 2004's Pornstar Pets.
GP: When I think of swingers, I think of people of a certain age and hairstyle drinking boxed rose' and having pronounced tanlines. Your Silver Lake Swingers seem different. What is it about the triangle between the Red Lion, the Edendale Grille, and the "Silver Lake" itself that shatters that Orange Countyesque stereotype?
VV: Call me sentimental or retro, but for me, the word “swingers” has always been evocative of the Swinging Seventies: Warren Beatty in Shampoo, the Golden Age of Porn, Plato’s Retreat, Deep Throat, Debbie Does Dallas, etc. It was my intention to have a bit of that swinging seventies spirit in a contemporary setting.
The Silver Lake Swingers tend to hook up in the local bars and coffee shops, as opposed to organized swingers parties. Although the Silver Lake Swingers are reluctant to associate themselves with any group, I have witnessed some hook-ups at the Wednesday Night BBQ Club and at random Los Angeles Cacophony Society happenings. Most are hesitant to call themselves swingers for those exact Orange County (and San Fernando Valley) connotations you mention. The swingers here in Silver Lake are young, wild, political, and many consider themselves to be sexual anarchists. Yes, and I believe some do indeed hang out at the Edendale Grill as well as the Red Lion. And perhaps you have spotted some there.
GP: I disagree with the term "sexual anarchist"; I think you should just say you're gay. Is the movie a feature or a gonzo or some kind of hybrid? Set up a typical scene for us.
VV: I’m no expert, but I believe Silver Lake Swingers would be characterized as a wall-to-wall. There is a simple set-up and then there is sex.
A typical scene goes like this: The performers talk about Silver Lake and then they fuck. Although there is no script and minimal dialogue, the premise might be best described as a “mockumentary” in the style of Christopher Guest.
GP: Having already made Pornstar Pets, which is a funny and accomplished documentary about porn stars, did you have any jitters about directing an actual porn movie?
VV: Production days are long and intense and perhaps, prior to the shoot, it was the anticipation that made me the most nervous; e.g. once the day starts there’s no turning back, you keep going and no mater what goes down, you get through and finish, no matter how long it takes. In my mind production is like an acid trip. The thought of the trip induces a bit of anxiety, but the trip itself is thrilling and better than expected.
I am grateful that I was able to work with my friends. With the support of Eon McKai, Malachi Ecks, and the crew I felt confident that everything would work out fine and of course it did.
GP: Now those guys are sexual anarchists. Are you under any pressure to describe the movie as "alt" or "steveporn"? If you had your druthers, how would you categorize the movie?
VV: When I was in high school I hung out a bit in Max’s Kansas City and CBGBs. Most days I feel like I haven’t really changed much since then. I’m kind of like a big neurotic teenager, which is perhaps how all the alt kids nearly half-my-age put up with me. The cast of my movie is tattooed and all of the girls have real breasts. If alt porn did not exist I would not have a directing job. No one would hire me.
GP: Were all the locations technically in Silver Lake?
VV: All of the locations were in Silver Lake except for the Nietzsche Bangers scene, which I felt belonged in this film even though we shot that in Downtown Los Angeles.
GP: Where is Silver Lake's Porn Ground Zero?
VV: There was a time that Circus of Books ( Sunset and Virgil) would have been ground zero, but for the swinging alt crowd I would have to say the Silver Lake Lounge on a weeknight and then the Brite Spot Diner (technically in Echo Park) afterward.
GP: Describe the process by which you conceived of and wrote this movie, pitched it, and put together the cast and crew.
VV: The Conception: Most of my movies document very specific times and place in my life. I had been wanting to make a movie about Silver Lake for a couple of years. A while back, I had applied for a Creative Capital (a New York Arts Funding organization) grant to make a documentary about my community. I didn’t get the grant but I still wanted to make a movie that was bigger than something I could finance out of my own pocket. Silver Lake Swingers became that movie. I thought it would be fun to make a Silver Lake porno after there had been a couple of failed television dramas about my neighborhood.
Perhaps Silver Lake can only exist in mainstream media as pornography. Perhaps pornography is representative of the next wave of Silver Lake gentrification. Perhaps gentrification and pornography are one and the same.
GP: That's what I keep telling my homeowner's association.
VV: The Pitch: Wit Maverick and Eon got me in the door at LFP/VCA. I pitched the Silver Lake Swingers idea to Drew Rosenfeld and he was very supportive of the project.
The Casting: Malachi and I cast it. I spent a long time staring at pictures and asking Malachi questions. He was very patient with me. Malachi is very good with people and all of the girls love him. I was extremely happy with the performers and their scenes. The sex is hot, but it’s also very tender.
The Crew: I worked with people I know and love: Eon McKai was the Director of Photography, Malachi Ecks was the producer and Jackson Slain was the UPM. Drew at LFP/VCA requested Octavio Winytiki for stills and I was really happy that he was available. That was the first time I had worked with Octavio and I think he‘s great, I love hanging out with him, he’s so fun. I’m fortunate that Eon was able to shoot it. We have worked together for a long time and I have a lot of respect for his talent.
More friends: The notorious Chuck Bronco (who just happened to get me my first San Fernando Valley porno job a few years back) wrote the theme song. The theme song is insanely wonderful. We shot the majority of the movie in the homes of two of my friends. The psychedelic house was created by my friend Bliss. His house is legendary and has been featured in books and magazines. My former art-studio mate Rhonda was the PA. She’s amazing.
GP: Does Baby Hans make an appearance, and/or will people acquainted with Margie Schnibbe see familiar things?
VV: My artwork is in the movie and I appear in the BTS. Babyhans gets a music credit. For fun, I put my house and my dogs Hans and Mickey in the BTS as well. Maybe someone will take pity on the pathetic state of my home and buy some of my artwork so I can get a housekeeper and get Mickey to the groomers.
There is a mention of the documentary in the BTS. Pornstar Pets has become very present in my life again as we have a new distributor (MVD/Music Video Distributors) and a street date one month prior to the release of Silver Lake Swingers. I’ll be promoting Silver Lake Swingers at our screening of Pornstar Pets in New York on June 10th at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater in the East Village.
GP: Was this a Quit Your Day Job experience?
VV: I quit my day job two days after we wrapped. I couldn’t wait. I’m ready to make more movies.
GP: That's the best news I've heard all day. Now if we can only get some other people to quit their day jobs.
