Wicked Pictures Steve Orenstein explains that Jenna Jameson missed the first day of the East Coast Show because the Dream Quest shoot ran long. "But when I spoke to anybody that was there," said Orenstein, "it was usually the same two things - it was taking really long but it looks phenomenal." Shooting was wrapped up Monday at 3 in the morning.
"We knew when we scheduled the movie that it was going to be crazy," Orenstein said. "I was trying my best not to have it affect her being here, but it was some long, grueling days. But she's here ready to go. Jenna told me in LA she would be here with bells on. I said leave the bells home, just come.
"I can't wait to see the footage," Orenstein said. "Maybe when we get back we'll have stuff to look at. But everyone said they haven't seen anything look as pretty and like a real movie. There were a couple of things we didn't get done that we needed to, so we'll schedule a pick-up day to cover everything we didn't get."
Because Dream Quest doesn't get released until March, 2000, Orenstein's inclined to heap huge praise on Wicked projects this year such as Double Feature. "I think that it's a great contender for the comedy category," Orenstein says. Kissing Game was also a movie I was into.
"We went a different style this year," Orenstein goes on to explain. "It appeared that everybody got into this how much money can I spend, how big can I go, and often can I do it [frame of mind]. I knew I wasn't going to be able to do that. So, instead of worrying about what's the big movie come awards time, I tried to do something different.
"Instead of shooting a $100,000-plus movie, I took the movies that would normally be $25,000 and bumped just about all of those up to 40, 50, 60 thousand," Orenstein said. "I tried to upgrade everything across-the-board. Come to the end of the year my big thing to say was we didn't have a blockbuster but compare any of our movies up against any of theirs. That was the goal. It may lose me something come awards time because maybe there isn't any blockbuster standing out in someone's head, but for the company it was a good move. It actually cost me, ultimately, a lot more money. Instead of spending on one or two movies, a $150,000, I had 25 movies that went up in budget $30,000. When it was all said and done, I spent $600,000 more to do it this way.
"I have about four or five movies this year that I'm proud of," Orenstein continues. "Do they standout when you're looking at blockbusters? But I do like Kissing Game [starring Serenity] a lot. I liked it from the script. I liked it from the minute I saw it. I really thought it was Brad Armstrong's best job at a tight story. I thought the movie stood up well. I just enjoyed it. There was a lot of cool things in there, some effects; the acting jobs were great: Herschel Savage, Missy, Randy Spears, Serenity. I think the four of them did great acting jobs. That and Double Feature are the two [for Wicked] that definitely stand out this year.
Orenstein: "When I say Double Feature, Jonathon [Morgan] has a tendency to be a little t oo goofy, but when I watch that movie, it was exactly what it was intended to be. I don't think he missed a trick. I don't know if there could be anything out there that stands up to it in the comedy category. I thought it was hysterical. My girlfriend's not into that type of humor, but she thought that it was great. She said take the sex out of this and it's still a great movie. Ultimately that's what we're trying to do more often than not - not sacrifice the sex, but have it still be a movie; not an excuse for sex, but a movie."
