STREAMING CINEMA
Road Trip to Who I Am
Gay guy, two friends fi nding themselves while driving
BY GARY M. KRAMER
Out gay actor and writer
Chris Ball is ingratiating
as Bray, a recent college
graduate in the sweet
coming-of-age road trip comedydrama
“Summerland.” The fi lm
has Bray heading to the titular
music festival with his best friend
Oliver (Rory J. Saper) and Oliver’s
girlfriend, Stacey (Maddie Phillips).
Bray’s purpose for the trip is
to meet Shawn (Dylan Playfair), a
guy he met online. However, Bray
has been misleading Shawn; in
their texts he is pretending to be
“Victoria” and using Stacey’s image
as a come-on.
As the trio drive from Spokane
to California, they come upon a
variety of people and experience a
series of reality checks that help
them better realize who they are
and what they want in life. The fi lm
also has moments of poignancy
even as its characters are enjoying
sex-and-drug-fueled adventures.
Ball spoke with Gay City News
via Zoom about writing and starring
in “Summerland.”
GARY M. KRAMER: You’ve
worked in the props and set department
on several features, acted
in and produced a few fi lms, but
“Summerland” is the fi rst feature
you’ve co-written. Can you talk
about your career in cinema and
how you have developed to this
point?
CHRIS BALL: After I didn’t
graduate high school, I got my fi rst
job on a fi lm set. I knew I wanted to
be in fi lm and I wanted to act, but
I also wanted to tell my own stories.
But where do you start? Become
an actor and audition? I saw
props, and that was my in; it was
my way of networking on set. I did
props for a number of years. It was
like my fi lm school. I got in with
a really good group. Kurt Harder,
one of the Lankyboys Noah Kentis
is the other, and the two are the
directing duo, wrote this script for
fun, and when I read it, it was like,
“This is my life. I have to do it.” We
wanted to wait for the right time
Chris Ball and Rory J. Saper play best friends on a road trip in lankyboy’s “Summerland.”
and have the connections and the
relationships in the industry to be
able pull it off.
KRAMER: What can you say
about making a road trip movie
and visiting San Francisco’s Castro
district?
BALL: It came from growing up
watching road trip movies — all the
sites, drugs, good times, and meeting
all of these interesting characters
along the way. Six of us were
actually on the road for six weeks
in the RV doing a road trip making
the movie. So, we got the authentic
experience of a having a road trip
movie while on a road trip making
a road trip movie. Visiting the
Castro was important to me given
my love for gay history. Cleve Jones
who is thanked in the credits is
a good friend of mine. I worked
with him on “When We Rise.” He
changed my life and brought me
closer to the gay community and
my love for gay culture.
KRAMER: Let’s talk about
Bray’s friendship with Oliver. What
observations do you have about
their relationship?
BALL: Oliver is, obviously, kind
SUPERCHILL/ FIRST LOOK FILMS
of a shithead in the movie. Oliver
is trying to have fun and live the
party life. He’s the bad infl uence
who makes us truer to ourselves,
pushing us past legal boundaries
and by doing that pushing us past
our personal boundaries. They are
best friends because they live together,
but they become closer and
realize something after what they
go through in the fi lm.
KRAMER: I like that Bray’s sexuality
is not an issue for anyone.
Can you talk about that decision?
BALL: One thing that was important
to me was that Bray’s sexuality
doesn’t defi ne him. When I
grew up, the only gay characters I
saw in movies were comedic relief
or tropes, or if they were the lead
it was about their struggle of coming
out or bullying — and those
are important stories to tell—but
it’s important to normalize it. No
homophobia is going to exist in
“Summerland.” His friends are
okay with it. Khephra Khephra
Lord is a hookup stereotype Bray
meets at a Grindr party. But Bray
is not on Grindr. Khephra represents
a seductive force that is often
present in the gay community and
Bray is tempted by him. Khephra
and Bray are opposites, but there
is a dichotomy there.
KRAMER: Yes, Khephra and
Bray discuss connection versus
experience. Bray is not ashamed to
admit he is a bottom, and he wants
to have a meaningful relationship.
It should certainly speak to gay
youth.
BALL: I hope it does speak to
gay youth and especially millennials
because the hookup culture
is more prevalent now. Gays have
this image, and I wanted to show
the other side. You don’t have to do
Grindr or live the hookup culture.
And it’s okay to hold out for something
real. We are meeting and
connecting online fi rst. How many
of us can relate to that? I came out
to friends online before I came out
to my parents. It was important for
me to represent those people like
me as well as the insecure bottoms
out there. I also had the inclination
to be in good shape to fi lm and my
boyfriend at the time said, “Why?
Not every gay twink is totally
ripped. You’re breaking the usual
stereotypes. Break one more!”
KRAMER: Several characters
in the fi lm lie or conceal the truth
to avoid hurting others. Of course,
the message in “Summerland” is
“Be yourself.” Can you talk about
honesty, and why you think people
are afraid to reveal who they are?
BALL: A lot of it does have to do
with the media and how gays are
portrayed. I’d like to see more gay
characters like the ones we have in
the movie. There’s toxic masculinity,
but there’s toxic homosexuality
as well. There are a lot of gay
tropes and gay stereotypes that
we are faced with in the media every
day and the more we can normalize
gay characters, the better.
Where characters are in movies
and they are gay just ‘cause. Being
gay doesn’t defi ne them.
SUMMERLAND | Directed by
Lankyboy | Superchill/ First Look
Films | Available VOD and on digital
platforms Sep. 14
September 10 - September 23, 2 28 020 | GayCityNews.com
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