Page 45 - AVN Januray 2017

LIGHTS, CAMERA
Politics as Unusual
Dana Vespoli recounts the election with Brandi Love as ‘The Candidate’
THERE’S A TRAGEDY THAT
HAPPENS IN THE STORY—THAT I
WON’T REVEAL—A TRAGIC SITUATION
HAPPENS THAT BRINGS THE TWO
IN THE RUNNING ‘The Candidate’ cast members include (clockwise from above left) Uma Jolie, Brandi Love, Bree Daniels, Lyra Law, Kira Noir, Penny
OPPONENTS NOT TOGETHER, BUT TO AN UNDERSTANDING.
Pax and Casey Calvert.
—DANA VESPOLI
WRITER/DIRECTOR DANA VESPOLI is in post-production with her “political thriller” The Candidate, starring
Sweetheart Video exclusive g/g contract performer Brandi Love leading a cast that includes Julia Ann,
Penny Pax, Kira Noir, Karlie Montana, Bree Daniels, Casey Calvert, Lyra Law and Uma Jolie, with Alec
Knight and Brock Doom in non-sex roles.
W
“It’s a political thriller, following up on Lefty, which is the first episodic feature we shot for
Sweetheart,” Vespoli told AVN. “We were brainstorming another episodic type of thing that would
resonate with viewers. We talked about the election and how we were bombarded with stuff in the
news—you couldn’t get away from it—so we discussed doing a political thriller. We have Brandi
Love under contract and she’s this very elegant, sophisticated woman. I came up with a treatment for
something that could sort of mirror our election—there’s a female candidate who’s a Democrat and
a male candidate who’s a Republican. They’re coming up against each other and there’s quite a bit of
intrigue.
“There’s a tragedy that happens in the story—that I won’t reveal—a tragic situation happens that
brings the two opponents not together, but to an understanding,” Vespoli continued. “There are two
stories happening, it’s not just her story, it’s Alec Knight’s story as well. He doesn’t have sex but he
has a lot of things happening, He has a daughter who’s a closeted lesbian who’s secretly liberal. There’s
also a controversy that comes out of Brandi Love’s past that’s used against her.”
The four-day production worked from Vespoli’s 30-page script. “The story is told in five segments, all
40 to 60 minutes, and each builds to a cliffhanger,” Vespoli said. “Each new episode starts ‘Previously
on The Candidate...’”
“I was fortunate enough to be around when Dana was describing the script she was working on,”
Love told AVN. “Just from listening to her describe the concept, she could see it in my eyes: ‘Please,
dear God, tell me there’s a part for me.’ It’s enthralling, it’s controversial, it’s unique, and the timing
couldn’t be more perfect. So lucky for me that she invited me to be a part of it.”
Love said playing her character was a challenge, because “it was different from my own personal
beliefs. When I read it, I thought this is going to be funny, because my fans know me pretty well and
I’m not shy about my opinions. I thought it would be fun from that perspective to see me play that
role, and then I had to jump into owning the role, because I knew my fans would naturally not believe
it.
my box, really allowing me to thoughtfully consider the way the
other side feels. It was awesome.”
Vespoli told AVN that she was casting the production in
her head as she wrote the script. “Brandi Love was easy, she’s
our contract girl. Alec Knight is a very strong actor. Julia Ann,
similar to Brandi, quite an incredible performer. Very good
actress. She can memorize anything super quickly. Penny
Pax: another strong actress, another strong performer. Casey
Calvert. It was very easy. I tend to write for people, and I try to
write dialogue that suits them. Everybody’s got a strength; I try
and think in terms of that.
“I’m pleased with it. I’m always hyper-critical, as I’m
watching I see things I could have done differently, or expanded
on, but we’re given a budget and a time frame and we work
within those parameters. Overall I’m quite pleased with it. The
performers were fantastic.”
“I really hope people watch it with an open mind,” Love
concluded. “I think they will be pleasantly surprised by
the outcome and by the characterizations of the politicians
themselves. I’m not going to say it’s the perfect ending, but it’s
the ending all of us would appreciate.”
The Candidate is scheduled for release January 23 from
Sweetheart Video, distributed through Mile High Media.
“Playing the lead is a lot more work. Feature films are a lot more intense, and there’s the pressure
of knowing that you’re the lead. But those are the type of situations that I thrive in,” Love said. “This
particular character was out of my comfort zone, which made the movie that much better, because I
was forced into becoming what I call ‘a natural actor.’ I had to remove myself from my beliefs and my
personal philosophy to really capture the role. Not only did it make the movie better, but personally I
think we can all become so polarized when it comes to politics and this particular role forced me out of
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