Dennis is joined via Zoom from Provincetown, Massachusetts by Todd Flaherty, the writer-director-producer-editor and star of the new film Chrissy Judy. The film is about two struggling drag performers in New York City whose ride-or-die friendship is tested when one of them moves to Philadelphia to be with his boyfriend.  Todd talks about why he wanted to explore the theme of gay friendships, having virtually no experience in drag before making the movie, what it’s like to direct yourself in sex scenes and how his making the film grew out of the frustration he was feeling as an actor in New York. He also talks about how he made such a visually-striking, self-assured film with only himself and two other crew members; his brother Brendan as cinematographer and his sister-in-law on sound. Other topics include: his favorite film festival memories, why he chose to make his character Judy a occasionally irritating hot mess rather than a likable every gay, the entrepreneurial hustle of being a filmmaker, living in Provincetown year round, going to a taping of Saturday Night Live, appearing with Marisa Tomei and Bill Irwin in the upcoming film Best Place and P-town fox that was so desperate to be in show business that he crashed the set. Instagram: @toddflaherty

Dennis is joined by author Sam Staggs whose Substack newsletter “Did You Sleep With The Models?” documents the five years he spent as Editor-In-Chief of the gay magazines Mandate, Playguy and Honcho in the early 1980’s. Sam talks about how the project began as a book that he wrote during the pandemic and then evolved into a Substack newsletter with photographs and illustrations pulled straight from the magazines. He also discusses what it was like to oversee three gay porn magazines just as AIDS was starting to ravage the community. Sam also discusses two of his Hollywood-related books; All About All About Eve and Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind The Legend. Other topics include: the many upsides of publishing on Substack, his friendship with film critic Pauline Kael, interacting with gay porn icons like Al Parker, Casey Donovan and Kristen Bjorn, the dishy lunch he once had with actress Joan Fontaine, the rumor that Nancy Reagan gave good head and the gay agent who passed on representing Did You Sleep With the Models? because he thought it should be primarily focused on AIDS.

https://samstaggs.substack.com/

Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Gregg Araki (The Living End, Nowhere, Mysterious Skin) to discuss the re-release and restoration of his mid-1990s cult classic The Doom Generation, which stars Rose McGowan, James Duval and Johnathan Schaech. Gregg talks about what it’s been like to revisit the film, what makes each of his three leads perfect for their roles, how the film got the subtitle “A Heterosexual Movie,” and how and why he cast people like Christopher Knight from The Brady Bunch, Lauren Tewes from The Love Boat and Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss in cameo roles. Gregg also talks about the darker themes of the movie and how young people today seem ever more doomed than they did in the 90’s, how he approaches sex scenes, watching the movie again with an audience at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and whatever happened to the kick-ass belt buckle Jonathan Schaech wore in the movie. Other topics include: his recent forays into television with his series Now Apocalypse and short-term directing gigs on shows like American Gigolo and Dahmer, why he called his production company Desperate Pictures, the upside of film school, his punk rock roots and that time a fan told him that watching The Doom Generation actually made him gay. www.strandreleasing.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by singer-songwriter Brandon Stansell to talk about his latest album This Must Be the Place, his upcoming show at Hotel Café in Los Angeles on April 6 and shares the stories behind his songs “Pick Up Where We Left Off,” “Good At the Time” and “Did You Settle Down Too Soon.” He also talks about the reaction to his 2020 documentary Three Cords and a Lie, about the strained relationship he’s had with his family and hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee since he came out in his early 20’s. He also recalls being a dancer on Taylor Swift’s Fearless tour around the same time he came out, his favorite T Swift tune and the sweet note Taylor wrote to him. Other topics include: why he loves CrossFit, having lunch with Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks at their compound, why Amy Grant is everything, why he loves Los Angeles, working at Opryland from age 6 to 12, saying hell no to conversion therapy and that time Halle Berry came to one of his shows. @brandonstansell on Instagram https://www.brandonstansell.com/

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Wendy Miller, the entrepreneur behind the new Ask Your Gay BFF Oracle Cards, a deck of cards that, in Wendy’s words, “force people to get real about what they want out of life.” Wendy talks about where the idea to create the cards came from, starting her company Card To Believe, plying her gay male friends with alcohol to get their sassy retorts and finding the perfect black velvet bags to package them in. She also talks about the “woo-woo” aspects of the cards and how she’s always been an extremely intuitive person. She even recalls that one time she had a nightmare involving the vibrator in her nightstand and how the very next day, the nightmare came true! Wendy can’t vouch for any “magical” quality that the cards may or may not have, but she believes that the cards’ true power is that they get people to get very specific in the way they ask for what they want out of life. Other topics include: making her worst show biz mistake ever while working on the Oprah show, winning an Emmy for writing on The Wayne Brady Show and wanting to take her trophy to White Castle, her obsession with Christmas, writing fan letters to Betty White and Ann-Margaret and getting responses back from both and how she turned her wedding into a game show.

www.cardtobelieve.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright and director Steve Silverman, whose dark comedy Happy Birthday McKenna is currently running at the Hudson Backstage Theater in Hollywood. Steve talks about the fateful trip to a Chicago cemetery that inspired the play, mounting a show in LA when you live in Santa Barbara, rotating in different actors and the bratty 3 year-old who is the McKenna in question. He also talks about his career working in promotion for TV networks and directing stars like Cloris Leachman and Mindy Kaling. Other topics include: the Spielberg movie that rocked his world, how he learned the facts of life, what keeps him going, why The Wizard of Oz is so perfect and the one time he cried while recording his podcast World Gone Good. www.hbmtheplay.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by L.A.-based filmmaker Robert Chandler to discuss his new documentary Dirty Sexy Comics, which is about the world of gay, male, erotic comics.  Robert talks about how he got the idea to do the film, balancing this passion project with a day job in corporate entertainment, being starstruck while interviewing the artists he’s admired for years and how many of those artists destroyed their work when they were starting out rather than risk being exposed as gay. Robert also recalls his first comics crush, Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four, the days he spent perusing the aisles of A Different Light gay bookstore, and what it’s like to visit the Tom of Finland House in Los Angeles. Other topics include: being drawn by one of the artists he interviewed,. Getting Pansy Division to let him use their music for the film, what a Tijuana Bible is and the politics of dick size in comics. www.dirtysexycomics.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege for Part 2 of their annual year-end movie wrap-up. The films discussed include 13 Lives, The Banshees of Inisherin, Bros, A Man Called Otto, The Whale, Blonde, To Leslie, Official Competition, Barbarian, The Black Phone, Decision to Leave, Nope, Watcher, The Fabelmans, Babylon, The Cathedral, Emily the Criminal, Cha Cha Real Smooth, Emergency, The Inspection, Causeway, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Dog.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of last year; their favorites, the moments that have stuck with them and the movies they just weren’t that into. The films discussed include RRR, Tar, Marry Me, Bones and All, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Speak No Evil, The Lost City, Women Talking, Good Luck To You Leo Grande, Pearl, She Said, Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Menu and Triangle of Sadness.

Dennis goes from host to guest with this crossover episode with the podcast Cinema Craptaculus Presents The Expanded Universe hosted by John H.H. Ford and Smoore. Here’s the official blurb: Love … exciting and -- GONE? Are romantic movies going extinct? Dennis Hensley, host of game shows and the Dennis Anyone? with Dennis Hensley podcast joins the geeks to see if Hollywood still cares about love in films, where we can find them, and why we still need them. Romance, wherefore art thou? It’s a special Valentine’s Day episode of Cinema Craptaculus Presents: The Expanded Universe!