Not Your Average Joe
When a recently separated Dad attempts to go into a gay club for the first time pandemonium ensues.
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Dennis LarkinDirectorFully Vetted, Chicken-Hawk
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Dennis LarkinWriterFully Vetted, Chicken-Hawk
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Dennis LarkinProducerFully Vetted, Chicken-Hawk
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Johnny KostreyKey CastThe Chauffeur
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Randy ShellyKey CastKid Racer
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Kelley MackKey CastThe Elephant Garden
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Carly Thomas SmithKey CastYoung Americans
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Genres:LGBT
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Runtime:15 minutes 24 seconds
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Completion Date:June 15, 2016
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Production Budget:20,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:RED
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:Yes
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HollyShorts Film FestivalHollywood, CA
United States
August 14, 2016
World Premiere -
Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival 2016Los Angeles, CA
United States
September 5, 2016 -
CINEMA DIVERSE: The Palm Springs LGBTQ Film FestivalPalm Springs, CA
United States
September 23, 2016 -
Big Apple Film FestivalNew York, NY
United States
November 4, 2016
East Coast Premiere
Dennis Larkin is an actor/writer/director from New York, now based in Los Angeles. He holds a BFA in musical theatre from the Boston Conservatory and an MFA in filmmaking from the New York Film Academy.
Dennis has written and directed the short films "Fully Vetted", "Chicken-Hawk" and "Not Your Average Joe". His shorts have screened in Film Festivals from New York to Los Angeles.
Dennis has also won directing awards for episodes of the web series "DogGone It". "DogGone It" and "Not Your Average Joe" are still playing the festival circuit.
Dennis plans to begin production on his first feature, "Hacking Hollywood", this fall.
Sexual identity has continued to be an ongoing personal struggle for me. I have never had an official "coming out". My family and friends all seemed to know instinctively, some even before me.
I did not begin to come to terms with my sexuality until my late twenties when I moved to West Hollywood. Within a few weeks of moving to WeHo I landed a bit role in the indie film LEATHER JACKET LOVE STORY. Shortly after the film wrapped, I had my first boyfriend who had played the lead role in that film.
That relationship was the first one I began to feel at ease with publicly. I attribute my level of comfortability to living in a city that allowed me the freedom to be who I was without fear of judgment or ridicule. However, the inhabitants of West Hollywood can also be a tough crowd, especially as you get older. And I have found there to be a sort of push/pull welcoming in the LGBTQ community. We simultaneously love and hate you because you are one of us.
In a sense, the character of JOE JONES is my alter ego. If I had stayed in my small hometown of Pleasantville, NY, gotten married, had kids and did everything my family expected me to do, I would have felt as confused and trapped as Joe does. Fortunately, my struggle has been my own and I did not involve children or a spouse.
But I will never forget my early days in WeHo and how the city itself made me feel as if I had finally been given the permission to fully explore my sexual identity. NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE is in part homage to that time in my life and the liberation WeHo allowed me to feel for the first time. But it is also an exploration of how every individual experience of "coming out" is extremely personal, often painful but always unique at whatever time in life it occurs.