It’s been ten years since Act Naturally the most widely released naturist film in a generation debuted. The 2011 film was generally well received and reviewed in the naturist community. It remains the most widely available high quality naturist films in recent years and can be watched in a variety of ways. The mainstream publicity and success of Act Naturally and a lack of high quality naturist films generated interest in a sequel. Act Supernaturally was announced. Despite being listed on the IMDb web site, a series of factors have caused delay in the completion of the Act Naturally sequel. Back in 2016 we saw reports of the film needing financial support. An indiegogo fund setup to generate support to complete the film raised only $4500 of its $55,000 goal.
This week CFL caught up with Act Naturally and Act Supernaturally writer/director/actor JP Riley. He provided us an first hand update on some of the issues behind the scenes causing the delay and prospects for completion of the sequel.
The film has been delayed for a variety of reasons. Conci (co-writer/star/producer) had to undergo several rounds of chemo-therapy and emergency surgery. I had to have several operations on my shattered leg. Our Director of Photography passed away, two of our Executive Producers died and my house burned down. I built a guest house/container home to finish the movie in. Right about the time we finished a cut we felt good about, the GLOBAL PANDEMIC! Its no secret sequels are hard. But this has gotten absurd.
One of the things I was never in love with about the first film was there was really only three ways that story could end as is the case with a fish-out-of-water fable. One sister keeps the resort and the other wants nothing to do with it (the way it usually goes in my experience); both sisters keep it and run it together; or they sell it to a real-estate developer and nobody involved gets to keep it. Outside of some weird David Lynchian or out-of-left-field ending, like it starts raining water buffalo and there’s a towel shortage, those are the three logical conclusions to how that story ends. Having fun getting there and keeping the audience engaged until the very last moment that choice is made, is the challenge.
With the sequel, I never expected to make one, but clearly left the first flick open to the possibility. Going into the first movie, I was truly mentally prepared for the film to truly suffer in obscurity. I warned my cast, crew and investors, we might put in months and years of our lives only to sell Act Naturally on DVD-Rs in the gift shop at my parent’s club in Florida and at Olive Dell. That might have been as far it went. I never expected to win any prestigious film festivals or get a worldwide release with Cinetic Media (where literally ALL of my childhood heroes Kevin Smith, Rick Linklater, Robert Rogriquez, Cameron Crowe, the list goes on, are repped).
They’ve made some of my all-time favorite indie flicks and frankly, I was hoping they might take a look at it and point me towards a company that might be interested. Never thought they’d acquire it, you can hope and dream, but it wasn’t lost on me how the flick might be perceived in the art-house world. American Pie: Nudist Colony it was not. So, the fact that I was contractually obligated to start a sequel after we turned net profits on day 19 of our release was crazy. I had zero idea how much more challenging this one (the sequel) would be. I knew I was aiming higher. I didn’t know the universe had so much adversity in store, but I guess safety kills art, right?
But there were tons of ways the story could go now. As soon as I started to sit down writing the 2nd film, I knew where the entire story was going to end up. I couldn’t really get started until I was certain where it ended. Our film is considered ultra-low budget by the unions and it cost just a hair under $500K. 3/4th of those funds were raised from private equity investors. 1/4 from studio/distributor. It’s tightening the belt so much it hurts. We all work in TV to keep water on & our towels clean. We shot our last little indie on Kodak Motion Picture Film! For a couple of reasons:
- I want my film to look cinematic.
- I’m in these movies. I dont wanna see every pimple & ingrown hair on my 40 yr old ass in 4K Hi-Def! It’ll set ya back a few dollars more than an iPhone.
As you’ll see on the IMDB page, each new character, no matter how small, has a full name. Like Rhonda Rooney, as opposed to for example, County Health and Safety Inspector: Rhonda. You’d be able to just read the cast list and see where the story is going…maybe the health inspector is in the movie…maybe she isn’t a Health Inspector. I’ve managed to keep it under my hat for 7 long years and it’s got one helluva twist at the end and it’s gonna stay that way until EVERYONE CAN SEE WHO WANTS TO!
JP is also keeping a completion and release date for Act Supernaturally under wraps but we are thankful for the behind the scenes update on all the trials and adversities that have impacted the completion. Until then we will have to be satisfied rewatching Act Naturally which available to watch on streaming platforms for free. Buy the [aawp link=”B08XN7HVPF”] and get a glimpse of the sequel from teaser trailer. Regardless of the release date we wish JP Riley, Conci Nelson and all the cast and crew of Act Supernaturally health and safety and invite and all our readers to do the same.
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