Private Project

Not Your Average Joe

When a recently separated Dad attempts to go into a gay club for the first time pandemonium ensues.

  • Dennis Larkin
    Director
    Fully Vetted, Chicken-Hawk
  • Dennis Larkin
    Writer
    Fully Vetted, Chicken-Hawk
  • Dennis Larkin
    Producer
    Fully Vetted, Chicken-Hawk
  • Johnny Kostrey
    Key Cast
    The Chauffeur
  • Randy Shelly
    Key Cast
    Kid Racer
  • Kelley Mack
    Key Cast
    The Elephant Garden
  • Carly Thomas Smith
    Key Cast
    Young Americans
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    LGBT
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 24 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 15, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • HollyShorts Film Festival
    Hollywood, CA
    United States
    August 14, 2016
    World Premiere
  • Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival 2016
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    September 5, 2016
  • CINEMA DIVERSE: The Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival
    Palm Springs, CA
    United States
    September 23, 2016
  • Big Apple Film Festival
    New York, NY
    United States
    November 4, 2016
    East Coast Premiere
Director Biography - Dennis Larkin

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.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

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.