The naked truth about The Homewrecker

The Homewrecker starring Peter Szeliga (left), Dylan Vox and Bruce Hart

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Imagine a Lifetime movie filled with nothing but gays. That’s the idea behind The Homewrecker, a new DVD release about a ruthless man who comes to Hollywood determined to make it big.

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“It’s not your typical indy gay movie,” reports writer/producer Bruce Hart who also stars in the comedy flick. “It’s not a coming out story, it’s not a story about HIV. It’s a story about stable characters whose lives are turned upside down by this interloper.”

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The story involves red-neck ex-con Boyd (play by Dylan Vox) who come to town determined to get revenge against the Hollywood producer who cast him years ago in a TV pilot but then released him to go in “a different direction” when the pilot went to series. With a newly buff body and hair color, Boyd is mistaken for someone else and invited to stay in the home of the producers Derrick (Peter Szeliga) and Colin (Hart). Once in, Boyd gains their trust and begins his reign of terror, not just with Derrick and Colin but with two other gay couples as well.

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“We deliberately tried to parody Lifetime movies,” says Hart. “People may not notice it, but we tried to get every cliché that’s standard for those Lifetime movies. The difference is it’s gay characters dealing with the situations.”

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The Homewrecker started as a stage production titled Naked Deception starring Vox, which had an 8-month run at a small theater in Hollywood in 2006. Before the show closed, backers were already talking of a big screen adaptation.

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Vox, who starred in the Here TV vampire series The Lair and appeared in gay porn under the name Brad Benton, agreed to reprise his role. They also signed Rebekah Kochan, best know for the three Eating Out movies.

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With those names attached, Hart was able to land a distribution deal with Arizical Entertainment before filming even began. “We put together a package with Dylan and Rebekah, and they bought,” says Hart, a blond haired Michigan native. “So when we played the gay film festivals, we didn’t have to sweat it out since we already had a distributor. We were able to enjoy the festivals a lot more.”

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Having those names attached also necessitated script changes. “The play emphasized the couples more; it was more of a parody of Desperate Housewives,” reports the 50-year-old Hart who looks a decade younger. “But we adapted it to give Dylan and Rebekah bigger parts.”

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Shot over 3 weeks, Hart hired his brother to direct. Paul Hart, a film editor a Sony Pictures who worked on the three Spider-Man movies, was eager to try his hand at directing. “Paul and I shared the same vision for how the film should look,” explains Hart. “And because he had such extensive editing experience, he was able to set up a wide variety of shots. It was a very economical shoot. People continually comment on how many different angles we used given the budget we had.”

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Hart, whose first TV role was a bit part on Just the Ten of Us, hadn’t planned on appearing in the movie, figuring executive producing would be time consuming enough. “Dylan talked me into playing the part in the movie,” he says. “We’d played well off each other in the stage version and he really wanted me to do the movie. I didn’t think I could produce it and act in it, but it worked out.”

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Response to the film has been positive. In fact, it’s renting well both with gay audiences and straight audiences. Now there’s talk about doing a sequel. “If we can get a tight enough script and we can get the original cast back, we’ll do it.”

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View the trailer for The Homewrecker.