What to watch: Another Gay Sequel

Originally released in 2008, Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! is getting a re-release courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Written and directed by Todd Stephens, this is the follow-up to the 2006 absurdist comedy, Another Gay Movie - a queer-as-fuck spoof of the American teen genre.

Giving us a glimpse into queer life in the late 2000s, while much has changed in the decades that have passed, there's a lot that queer audiences will connect with in this sex-positive romp through Fort Lauderdale.

The story centres on the four characters established in the first film - Andy (Jake Mosser), Nico (Jonah Blechman), Jarod (Jimmy Clabots), and Griff (Aaron Michael Davies).

There's also a raft of cameos from performers such as RuPaul, Lady Bunny, Willam Belli, Michael Lucas, Colton Ford, Brent Corrigan, and Perez Hilton. 

Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! will be available on all major streaming platforms from 3 March.

Todd Stephens on Naked Men Talking

For our podcast, Naked Men Talking, we caught up with Todd Stephens for a behind-the-scenes look at the film.

In the conversation, we talk Brent Corrigan, navigating open relationships, and the importance of laughing at ourselves.

Listen to the episode

Gays Gone Wild is the sequel to your 2006 film, Another Gay Movie. The story continues the narrative of four queer guys navigating the world of man on man sex. Why was now the right time for a re-release?

When we originally made the film, we wanted to really poke fun at ourselves. A lot of films that had been made up to that time were coming-out films or films in which the queer people were tortured. I wanted to make a film that I would have liked to have seen as a teen growing up, where queer people are just being stupid like everyone else - having a chance to actually laugh at ourselves.

I think it's time again to realise that it's okay to be stupid - that it's okay to laugh at ourselves.

When we made the first movie, Bush was president in America, and part of it was an act of rebellion against the conservative regime. Who would have imagined, 20 years later, that would be a thousand times worse.

Does it feel like an act of rebellion in the current context to be putting this film out there?

I think so. It's hard to make a non-PC movie these days.

There's things about this movie that I would change. I watched it the other day - I hadn't seen it in a long time - and I was like, why did I do that? That said, I'm still very proud of it - it's really sex-positive and there's a lot of queer joy in it. I had fun watching it.

Looking back at the film, what does Gays Gone Wild tell us about the experience of gay men in the 2000s?

I think in the 2000s, a lot of gay men were trying to figure out whether monogamy was the answer for their sex lives. Gays Gone Wild shows couples experimenting with that and trying to think beyond the heteronormative rules and to think beyond monogamy.

Then, there's the Andy character - the horn-dog kid wanting to have the most sex possible. I thought it was really cute how he felt like he did want to just be with one person that he had feelings for.

Then and now, it's relevant in terms of us exploring our sexuality and what the parameters are in relationships.

You're touching on a couple of the key characters and their story arcs. I guess the one you haven't mentioned is Nico, who's struggling to connect with guys on this trip. Out of those four main characters, which do you most identify with if you're thinking back to that time when you wrote it?

I always connected the most with Nico because I always felt like I never totally fitted in.

Also, I've been in a relationship for a long time. Trying to navigate those sometimes treacherous waters of relationship dynamics is something I definitely relate to in the Griff storyline.

The cameos in the film is something that would jump out to anyone watching - people such as RuPaul, Amanda Lepore, and Brent Corrigan. When you look back at the cameos, is there anyone that you're surprised that you got to appear in the film or anyone that you wish that you'd been able to convince to be in it?

I think that almost everybody that we asked actually did it.

It was amazing working with RuPaul - that was right before she started Drag Race.

The scene with Brent Corrigan as Stan the Merman - that was my favourite scene in the whole movie. He's just radiating this innocent beauty. He's beautiful in real life too, but he's one of those people that the camera also loves him.

Given that it's nearly two decades since you made Gays Gone Wild, I was wondering how has your relationship with sex evolved over that time?

I've been in the same relationship relationship since I was 17 years old. I met my husband when I was still in high school. For many years, we were a monogamous couple. I think that around the time of making the film - when we were about 20 years into the relationship - we were questioning whether that was right for us.

There was this feeling that neither of us had gone crazy and sewed our wild oats. Gays Gone Wild was a way of me working that out - exploring what the limits might be in our relationship and living out that Spring Break fantasy.

What do you hope that people feel when they watch Gays Gone Wild?

I hope that people are able to laugh. It is just stupid humour, but sometimes we need that humour in our lives - especially in times of darkness. To be able to laugh at ourselves as a community brings us together as opposed to being so serious and tortured all the time.

I hope that people can see themselves in some of the relationships - that they can relate to things they might be sorting out for themselves.

I hope they can enjoy it as a celebration of queerness - warts and all. I think queer movies like this are needed more than ever.