Straight Eye for the Gay Guy: A Short Film Directed by Mary Lou Belli

Nicholas Snow welcomes Mary Lou Belli.  Her film, Straight Eye for the Gay Guy began as a play by Jonathan Dorf which was first read at the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights/City of West Hollywood Lesbian and Gay Play Reading Festival (West Hollywood, CA).  Director Mary Lou Belli saw it at this reading, and approached Dorf about turning the play into a short film. Tim Dougherty was in that original production and she attached him to star in the film. Bonnie Gillespie, the casting director, Aida Lembo, the producer, and Charles Dougherty the DP and EP, jumped on board the project. Belli secured Hamilton High School and its Performing Arts students under the supervision on their Drama teacher, Sam Toffler, and they filmed it on location in one day!  The film premiered at the Wood Hole Film Fest, then last won “Best Mini Short” at the California Independent Film Fest.

Mary Lou Belli is an Emmy award-winning producer, writer, and director. On TV she directed the CW’s Hart of Dixie and Girlfriends (7 seasons) and BET’s Second Generation Wayans, Reed Between the Lines, and The Game. Other shows include Monk, Eve, and The Hughleys, among others.. This season she will be directing NCIS New Orleans.  She currently teaches directing at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

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