Wash West

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Wash Westmoreland (b. March 4, 1966) has recently emerged as a nationally-known independent film director with his 2006 release, "Quinceañera", which had a double Sundance win (Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize), and also picked up the Humanitas Prize, and the John Cassavetes Spirit Award. In his career he has worked in television, documentaries, independent films. Westmoreland's route into film-making was an unusual one, having cut his teeth in the adult film world of the late-nineties making deliberately ironic post-modern porn that gained attention from academics and consumers alike.


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[edit] Biography

Wash Westmoreland was born Paul Westmoreland in Leeds, England on March 4, 1966.[1] His father was a maintenance engineer for the CEGB and his mother worked as a receptionist at a local hair salon. He was named "Paul" after a member of the The Beatles but received the nickname "Wash" as a child.[1] He finished high school intending to pursue science at university level, but after a short disruptive spell in a religious cult changed his direction to study social science. Westmoreland earned his college degree in Politics and East Asian Studies at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Fukuoka University in Japan graduating in 1990. He emigrated to America in 1992, initially living in New York, then moving to New Orleans where he survived by doing menial work, washing dishes and cleaning houses. In 1995 he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film.


[edit] Early career

After working as a camera assistant on Bruce LaBruce's movie Hustler White, Westmoreland decided to enter the Adult Entertainment world to make what he described as "post-modern pornography" and research material for a feature film project "The Fluffer." He managed to land a job directing for BIG Video, a minor label and directed under the name Wash West. Toolbox and Dr Jerkoff and Mr Hard were his first significant films .

In 1997 he wrote and directed Naked Highway for BIG Video. This film starred "Jim Buck" and received high praise from many critics and was filled with daring music, deep saturated color alternating with washed out sections and black and white sequences. It was also released in a softcore edit and made available in more mainstream outlets. The movie swept both the 1997 Adult Erotic Gay Video Awards and the 1998 AVN Awards.

It was also during this time that Westmoreland started to make his presence in mainstream films felt. He appeared briefly in Velvet Goldmine by director Todd Haynes. Haynes would go on to work with Westmoreland as a producer on Quinceañera.

Westmoreland went on to direct the cat-and-mouse thriller Animus for All Worlds Video, which channelled the millennium fears of the time (1999) and featured performances from Blake Harper and Thomas Lloyd, who both won GayVN Awards for their work.

Taking a different direction, he began to direct a series of comic videos for All Worlds Video under the name of Bud Light. Of these, The Devil is a Bottom won the 2001 GayVN Award as Best Sex Comedy and was surprisingly listed as one of the LA Weekly Critic's Top Ten Movies of the year.[2]

His work in the adult industry culminated in 2001 independent film The Fluffer which was loosely based on many real events and characters. Around this time he gave a candid interview to Terri Gross on NPR's Fresh Air. After this he only made two more Adult movies; Seven Deadly Sins Gluttony for All Worlds Video, based on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and a parody of the horror film The Ring called The Hole for Jet Set Productions which dealt with a videotape that would turn those who watched it gay in seven days. Westmoreland picked up many GayVN Awards for both titles. "The Hole" was also released in a softcore edit for more mainstream outlets.

[edit] Mainstream

Westmoreland's first mainstream film The Fluffer, was an exploration of obsession and power relations set with the adult video industry. The film received generally favorable reviews and was successful enough that West proved he could helm more mainstream films. He co-directed this film with his professional and personal partner, Richard Glatzer.[3]

After this Westmoreland segued into television work, making a successful VH1 show called Totally Gay which charted the evolution of mainstream gay culture from 1993-2003.

Then, Westmoreland made a documentary called Gay Republicans about the Log Cabin Republican reaction to Bush's support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the 2004 election campaign. The doc premiered on Trio cable network on election night. Shortly after, a longer version was shown at the 2004 American Film Institute festival where it picked up the Audience Award for best documentary.

Then came another collaboration with Glatzer -- Quinceañera -- about a 14 year old Hispanic girl discovering she is pregnant and being kicked out of the house. The film also received generally favorable reviews, reaching 86% on RottenTomatoes.com and has won awards at various film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival where it picked up the audience award for best narrative feature as well as the Grand Jury Prize.

Quinceañera also received the Humanitas prize for best screenplay of an independent film and the John Cassavetes Prize at the Independent Spirit Award for best low-budget independent movie.

[edit] Filmography

As Wash Westmoreland

  • (2006) Quinceañera writer, director
  • (2004) Gay Republicans writer, director
  • (2003) Totally Gay director (for VH-1)
  • (2001) The Fluffer writer, director
  • (1998) Velvet Goldmine actor
  • (1996) Hustler White actor, assistant camera

As Wash West

  • (2003) The Hole writer, director
  • (2002) Rubber is Natural (short) director
  • (2001) Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony aka The Porno Picture of Dorian Gray writer, director, videographer
  • (1999) Animus writer, director, videographer
  • (1999) Technical Ecstasy writer, director
  • (1997) Naked Highway writer, director, videographer
  • (1998) Toolbox writer, director
  • (1996) Dr Jerkoff and Mr Hard writer, director, videographer
  • (1996) Taking the Plunge!director, writer
  • (1995) Squishy Does Porno writer, director

As Bud Light

  • (2005) Jet Set Direct: Take Two writer, director (one scene only)
  • (2004) Jet Set Direct: Take One writer, director (one scene only)
  • (2002) Porn Academy writer, director
  • (2000) Brothers in Arms writer, director
  • (2000) The Devil is a Bottom writer, director
  • (2000) Florida Erection writer, director
  • (1999) Lost Exit videographer
  • (1998) Red Hot and Safe writer, director

[edit] Awards

In addition, Wash West directed the following winners for Best Gay Video:

He also directed the following Best Sex Scene Winners:

  • 2000 GayVN Award Sex Scene (Duo) - Sam Crockett & Chad Kennedy - Technical Ecstasy, Men of Odyssey
  • 2000 GayVN Award Sex Scene (Threesome) - Tanner Hayes, Zach Richards, Jack Simmons - Animus, All Worlds Video
  • 2004 GayVN Award Sex Scene (Solo) - Tag Eriksson - The Hole, Jet Set Productions

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Wash West's brother Micko Westmoreland often writes the music for West's films; usually credited as "Bowling Green".
  • Wash West often includes references to gay culture in his films. These include:
  • In Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony, Tanner Hayes wears a The Smiths t-shirt during his opening narration. The Smiths were a notoriously ambiguous/gay rock group.
  • In The Hole, Tag Eriksson pulls the mysterious videotape off the shelf from between the titles Velvet Goldmine and Boys Don't Cry. Other titles on the shelf are Trash (1999), Arlington Road and Artemesia.
  • In The Fluffer, some of the fictional porn titles are Citizen Cum, Poke-A-Hot-Ass (the lead character is dressed as a Native American on the cover), Cocky III (as a boxer) and Tour De Ass (as a bicyclist). Also a series of films with titles that knowingly parody porn star Ryan Idol film titles Rebel Army, Rebel Inferno and Rebel Rebel.
Awards
Preceded by
Jerry Douglas
for Flesh and Blood		 AVN Awards for Best Director-Gay Video
for Naked Highway
1998		 Succeeded by
Kristen Bjorn/Gino Colbert & Sam Slam
for Man Watcher/Three Brothers
Preceded by
Chi Chi LaRue/John Rutherford
for Echoes/Out of Athens		 GayVN Awards for Best Director
for Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony
2002		 Succeeded by
Chi Chi LaRue & John Rutherford
for Deep South: The Big and the Easy
Preceded by
Chi Chi LaRue & John Rutherford
for Deep South: The Big and the Easy		 GayVN Awards for Best Director
for The Hole
2004		 Succeeded by
John Rutherford & Jerry Douglas
for BuckleRoos 1-2

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Prestigiacomo, Jennifer (February 21, 2002). "Fluffer explores most difficult job in porn industry". University Wire.
  2. ^ Wonder Boys and Girls. LA Weekly (December, 2000). Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
  3. ^ O'Sullivan, Michael (2002-03-28). The Fluffer. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-06-29.

[edit] External links

Caution: many of these websites contain graphic pornographic images

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