Chicago actor Craig Russell Lewis and Materville Studios have partnered to create Dance Floor Battle Scars, a talk show pilot dissecting the raunchy reality of gay nightlife.
‘I am a retired circuit boy, and have worked as a bartender in the scene,’ said Lewis, a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and cast member of Naked Boys Singing. ‘I wanted to create a show in which people can share their stories of sex, drugs, and hedonism in a nonjudgmental environment.’ Lewis is quick to add, ‘The tone of the show is not saccharine or victimizing. It is funny, candid, and unapologetic.’
Upon hearing rumblings about an ‘all gay’ network being developed by Showtime, Lewis held a meeting with Martie Marro, Lisa Hernandez, and Katie Jacobson of Materville Studios about Dance Floor Battle Scars. The trio was excited by the content, as well as the potential for edgy formatting and editing. Marro explains, ‘Our work is typically of the ‘Eye Candy’ variety. Dance Floor Battle Scars pushed us even further in that direction.’ Hernandez adds, ‘This is the quickest cut show we’ve seen or created. It’s like the autobahn of talk shows.’
The talk show pilot has been given to Lewis’ agent, Peter Forster of Arlene Wilson Models. He has, in turn, given it to Showtime as well as other networks. Lewis explains ‘Next we wait to see which network likes the pilot and wants to purchase it as a weekly series.’ Jacobson adds ‘With whole ‘gay’ networks in development, we hope they’ll need quality programming like our show.’
The pilot also boasts an original soundtrack with music from the Chicago psychedelic pop band Stewed Tomatoes. Samples can be heard on the band’s Web site, www.stewedtomatoes.com.