In late spring, flyers announcing an open casting call for a Daniel Lurie impersonator for a “Gay Adult Film” popped up around the city.
Let’s Blow San Francisco, as the flick is tentatively titled, is still very much a work in progress, but its producers insist it’s the real deal. In July, the team started selling T-shirts with the flyer printed on it to raise funds and a public casting call is in the works.
In August, I was finally able to talk with a mysterious man who calls himself Scooter. (Deep Throat would probably be too on the nose.) This followed months of late-night, decidedly unsexy Gmail correspondences that felt like one long come on with the possibility of no payoff.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that Scooter called me from a payphone somewhere in the Mission. Like any good casual encounter, our chat had an air of intrigue and the electricity that only comes from knowing it could end at any moment. Scooter promised me five minutes, but I managed to get a little bit more from him.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity, but not length: it lasted about 15 minutes (or 3 quarters).
Tell me a bit about how casting's been going.
Things have been going pretty good. I mean, unfortunately, we've received more media responses than actual inquiries for people who are interested in doing it. I just feel like people maybe don't know if we're serious or not. But we're totally serious about doing this film. It kind of feels like it's taken on a life of its own, which is very interesting.
But no, we want to do this film and we're seriously still looking for somebody to play the role.
What do you have to say to people who worry that it's a bit that's gone on for too long?
I don't think I've seen any comments about it being a bit that's gone too long or or anything remotely negative. I think everybody is really interested in the concept. People think it's pretty funny. And I agree, it's pretty funny. [chuckles] I just think that people kind of just chuckled and moved along.
I really want to know what compelled you and your buddy [“Don Francisco”] to just get this started in the first place.
Well, [Lurie’s] inspiring Instagram videos were what inspired us. You know, the ones he records of himself and they're very inspiring to our city.
They are very inspiring.
Very inspiring. And, um, that inspired us.
Did you see Daniel Lurie's comments about the porno in his honor?
I did. I mean, it was very much a PR team response. Anything that, you know, will gain him a constituency. I don't know how he really feels about it.
Last time we spoke, we talked a bit about the production needing funding. Could you tell me a little bit about how that process has been, and how the T-shirts have played a role?
Well, the shirts have, um, they've done two things. They've basically provided a walking billboard for us, so people get the word out in public. I know that the shirts were pretty popular at Dore Alley; there were a few that were spotted there. We were doing outreach, but not anything really obvious [laughs], trying to find our leading man.
We’re intending on making some money from the shirts. But that's going to go to um, paying a host for an in-person event. I can't say much. It will be an in-person casting call.
Where do you guys see yourselves in San Francisco's porn history?
We're, to quote those hipster burger joints, we’re two guys with a crazy idea. Hold on, I got to put more quarters in. [laughter, then the faint sound of quarters clinking]
I do all my interviews via payphone and I have the payphones mapped out throughout the Bay Area, the ones that have a dial tone.
That rocks. Is this payphone that you're calling me from in the city?
Unfortunately, yes. But I try to do them outside of the jurisdiction of San Francisco, so that if they request to pull footage, they can't.
This might be a bit too far thinking, but who do you envision to be the target audience of the Lurie porno?
Um, well, it's kind of looking like everybody at the moment.
Who's everybody?
Like just about anybody. You know, my parents are into it.
Your parents are into it?
Mhm. Hopefully that doesn't allude too much to my age. [more quarters clinking]
What about the script?
As far as the script, we can't really say much about it because then the film wouldn't happen. But we can say we have a 40-page script. And that’s excluding all the sexual encounters. We can't really say much about it, although we do have a complete script.
I have to hope that no AI was involved in the creation of the script.
No. Nobody would have been interested had we said hey, we're going to make an AI Daniel Lurie porn film. I mean, then that just sounds like we're genuinely weird. We don't want to sound weird.
No. And you sound about as normal as two people making a Daniel Lurie porno are.
Well, thank you.
A version of this story first ran in print in Gazetteer San Francisco Issue 4.
