AUGUST 1,2008
final edit. The reason it’s taking
so long? “I could clean it up more,
get the timing better, do more in
teresting color correction. When
I was a kid, I would turn in schcxd
projects two weeks late, not be
cause I was a procrastinator but
because I thought there were still
things to he done. I couldn’t let it
go. But at a certain point, you’ve
got to let go.”
Kyle has a slightly different
Sissyboy: A Documentary gives viewers a fly-on-the-wall
take: “This is Devan’s swan song,
perspective on the defunct drag troupe.
his goodbye to Portland before he
McGrath agrees: “When you’re doing some
leaves for film school. This is something he can
thing campy, the tendency is to go for the cliché.
share with his new friends in Chicago, something
It was good to have that challenge; it makes you
to give back to Portland and Sissyboy.”
push it.”
Thomas adds: “Sissyboy was always a com
Production itself proved to he a challenge
promise, fast and dirty and amazing and super
as well. The original idea, hatched hy Kyle and
cool, but you never got to see the potential of
Darling, was to shoot something “quick and
what all of us could do on a big project. I was
dirty” that wouldn’t take much time or resources.
excited to see that. Devan’s the one who’s mov
However, when McGrath and Thomas became
ing forward in his career; for me, it was a good
involved, the project grew into something much
bye to performance art. I’m done and satiated.
more ambitious.
I just wanted to do one last big thing to see what
“Splendora Dearest was shot in an afternoon,”
all my friends are capable of.”
says McGrath. “It had a kind of script, but mostly
As far as the documentary goes, none of the
we were just watching Mommie Dearest, then
boys have seen it yet, nor do they know what the
turning around and shooting that junk shot for
focus will be or how they will be portrayed.
shot. Zebra and I wanted this to be self-contained.
“Katie Turinski, the director, was a fly on the
Whether or not you’ve seen the original, it still
wall. I forgot she was even there,” Thomas says.
makes sense, it’s still funny. Nobody, though, re
McGrath disagrees: “Everyone’s a performer.
ally anticipated that it would be such a big proj
You get to the point where it’s like you’re comfort
ect...I just kind of went crazy with it.”
able and it’s like you’re natural. But I never forgot
McGrath began by watching a subtitled What
she was there. I feel like people were always step
Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, pausing to write
ping it up just a notch. I mean, people were being
down dialogue and description. Then he and
real and honest, just...people were being their
Thomas began cutting, inserting jokes and per
most interesting selves.”
sonalizing the script for their stars. The writing
Thomas adds: “1 know there are going to be some
alone took three months.
incredibly embarrassing moments for me. She’s like
Barbara Walters—she made me cry twice. "©
Just how long it took to actually shoot the film
is up for debate. McGrath says it tcxik exactly a
month; Kyle remembers something closer to eight
weeks. Regardless, the film looks strikingly differ
ent from anything Sissyboy has ever done, alter
nating between a color-saturated screen and one
subdued in a swath of black and white.
According to McGrath, much of the Icxik has
to do with director of photography Travis Blue,
a new addition to Sissyboy Films. “If I had shot it
myself, it would not look this gcxxl,” he says.
As of press time, McGrath was still cutting the
jUStjOUtXI
A MASTERPIECE.
The movie intelligent filmgoers have waited
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SATURDAY
ROSE CITY ROLLERS SEASON 3 CHAMPIONSHIP
S issyboy F ilms presents the world premiere
of What Ever Happened to Fannie Mae?
and Sissyboy: A Documentary 9:30 p.m.
Aug. 7 at Cinema 21,616 N.W. 21st Ave.
Admission is $10from Brown Paper Tickets.
B rett G lass is a former fashion contributor
to Marie Claire happily living in Portland
and writing for several publications. He can
be reached at brettglass@gmail.com.
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