LOS ANGELES—We first wrote about Old Stud, the TV-pilot-that-hoped-to-be-a-feature-film about adult industry veteran Randy Spears, back in February, when filmmakers Rick Caplan and Jim Martin tried to get crowdfunding for the project through Kickstarter, but wound up falling far short of their $25,000 goal.
"In 2010, I wrote a spec pilot script for a TV show about a middle-aged porn star who realizes that he is past his prime and his star is fading," Caplan wrote in an email earlier this year. "Jim read it, and when we talked about the early drafts, we came up with the idea of developing the concept together. After several drafts, we began to consider making the pilot ourselves. ... We set up a meeting with Randy Spears, and after talking to him about the project, everyone was in agreement that Old Stud was the perfect project for him."
But though a short excerpt from that pilot appeared on their Kickstarter page, the full version has never been shown in a public venue ... and for the moment, that remains the case.
But those who were intrigued by the project will have a chance this Sunday to catch a slimmed-down version of that pilot when it's shown sometime after midnight at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters—what old-timers may better know as "Mann's Chinese" (and real old-timers as "Grauman's Chinese")—at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.
"Due to scheduling conflicts, Jim and I decided not to move forward with the production of the feature length version of Old Stud," Caplan told AVN. "Instead, I recut the original pilot into a 12 minute short that I then submitted to several festivals. We're waiting to hear back from most of them, but we're pleased to announce that Old Stud is an official selection of the 2013 HollyShorts Film Festival."
A full schedule of the evening's "Midnight Madness" event can be found here, as well as a shopping cart to purchase admission to the group of 14 shorts online.
"Although we're disappointed that we can't invite you to a screening of a feature length version of Old Stud, both Jim and I believe that the latest cut is the best way to tell the story with the footage we have," Caplan stated. "If any of the festival screenings galvanize an interest in developing the concept into a feature, we're open to exploring the possibilities, but screening the short allows us to share Old Stud with a new audience."
"As far as what's next goes," he added, "I'm working on some new short and feature length screenplays and still looking for the right project to showcase Randy Spears in his mainstream lead debut."
One thing is certain: A big segment of the porn-watching community will get in line for that!
