JGPR

On November 8, 2023 Illogical Frog Studios announced a crowdfunding campaign on their Instagram page seeking to raise two thousand dollars for their short film “The Gourdons” . Three months later a cast announcement was made on their Instagram stating that Alyssa Winchell has been cast as the role of Amphora in “The Gourdons” and that the project will be a short film, rather than a series, as it was previously announced to be. One day later a second cast member, Roy Swersie, was announced to be playing the role of Wendehall, described as “the mischievous and always curious son in the family unit”. The Gourdons is a short film about a pumpkin family who goes through various events throughout the decades. It is a commentary on: the nuclear family, consumerism, and capitalism.  Recently rising star Amann Iqbal ( “Mean Girls” (2024 )) has been announced as the third cast member in a post on the production company’s Instagram. She will be playing the character Pepo, with the character...

Actor and star of Virginia is for Lovers , Quinn Fontaine Image Credit: @mr_quinn_fontaine on Instagram Virginia is for Lovers is the upcoming autobiographical drama short film about transgender man Quinn Fontaine returning to his hometown to help his mother as she struggles with dementia; leading the two to find some common ground as Fontaine confronts his past. Filming kicked off early on February 1st continuing into the evening at Hurkamp Park in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Bystanders looked on as the camera crew and cast assembled in the center of the park to begin filming. The scene consisted of Quinn and his costar Susan Mele’s characters giving out “free hugs” to park goers. Director Rebekah “Bekah” Wiggins ( “After Mask” ) directed the extras in groups pointing to each as their time to walk into the shot. The shot consisted of numerous park goers either being hesitant to, or accepting of the free hugs before all grouping together in a giant hug at the end of the scene. Virginia ...

Filming has recently wrapped on the upcoming short film by Andrew Chi Nguyen entitled “The Woman with a Name or Two”. Described as a Spaghetti Western meets a Japanese Samurai movie; production began in mid-October filming into late December.  A recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Arts and Cinema program, Andrew began working on the movie and two other projects (which are also in post-production) while still in school and in a post on his personal Instagram page joked “can’t wait to share it with everyone sometime between now and 2037”. On a serious note, the estimated 10 minute film should be available around Summer 2024.  The plot is still unknown, but from the title viewers can expect a post-apocalyptic Western but with a twist! A female lead!! Something not often seen in the genre.

Andrew Chi Nguyen, a student of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Cinema Arts program, continues filming on his upcoming project The Woman with a Name or Two , a post-apocalyptic Western short film. While the plot line is being kept under wraps, a source confirms the movie will be about ten minutes in length and is inspired by Spaghetti Westerns and Japanese Samurai films. Written and directed by Nguyen, the film’s production design will be carried out by Leilani Curran, who also makes a cameo in the film as loudmouth “tough-as-nails” bartender Trudy of Trudy’s Bar, a classic Western inspired bar in the apocalypse, with scrip only payments for such “delights” like rat soup and moonshine. Musician and filmmaker James Dew Hall also makes an appearance as one of the bar’s disgruntled customers. Amaya Fuentes serves as a makeup artist. Frequent collaborator Sophia Scotto serves as the film’s boom operator. Brock Cooper will also be producing.

Coming off the heels of her announcement that she will be appearing in 2024’s Mean Girls  after gaining a television spot in the recent trailer, Amann Iqbal has been cast in the upcoming psychological horror film “Autonomy” as Noor. Described as a “dancing delusion” Noor will be a main character in the haunting new film. Autonomy follows an Uber driver along his newfound delusions as he tries to locate his stolen car after suffering a psychotic break. Directed by Hekla Pjet as her Bachelors student thesis film, Pjet, a Virginia Commonwealth University student, took on this project to dispel myths about psychosis as it’s often misrepresented for shock value in mainstream entertainment. Using a culmination of everything she has learned in film school, Hekla has launched an IndieGoGo campaign to put her skills into this project. With a current goal of five thousand dollars, the money raised will go towards craft services for the cast and crew and camera equipment rentals to make the f...

  A recent comparison was made between the original composite sketch of transgender homicide victim Julie Doe and a still image of actor Freddie Stroble. The post was made on the “What happened to Freddie Stroble?” Facebook fan page. The likeness is there and the dates of Freddie’s disappearance and Julie’s murder are similar. Freddie disappeared in 1985 and Julie was murdered in 1988. Freddie could have left New York (where both of his projects were filmed) and either moved or relocated to Florida (where Julie is believed to be from and where she was murdered). He also could have furthered his transition from male to female during that time. The picture comparison is above. Do you think they are one in the same? NOTE: I’m still using male pronouns for Freddie until I can confirm that he was actually transgender. The word “transvestite” has different meanings and may have had different meanings in the 1980’s when Freddie was around. 

Michelle Tarrio on an episode of Jenny Jones in 1992 You may remember a beautiful yet hard to understand transsexual named Mona who appeared on your television screens on some of the most popular talk shows of the 1990’s? What happened to the beautiful transsexual in the age before social media? Born Michelle S Tarrio in Lisbon, Portugal she immigrated to New York, USA where she worked as a prostitute beginning at age 16. As detailed on her episode of Taxicab Confessions,  at age 17 she began dating an Italian mobster for six years. A volitile relationship, the pair dated until she was 23-years old. The mobster was married to a woman and had children. Originally planning to retaliate against the mobster (for threatening to inform police of a prostitution ring ran by Michelle) by telling his wife of his affair with a transsexual prostitute, Tarrio was a hit by her boyfriend who had another man shoot her in the back. Michelle survived and recovered in the hospital for two months befo...