interveiw with... B-Movie Producer Rick Sloane

Favorite mainstream movie:
Not sure if Hollywood Blvd. from the 70's is mainstream, but it is the film the influneced the look of my work the most.

What toys did you play with as a kid?
I still have em now.

What TV shows did/do you watch?
I steal my best jokes from the Simpsons.

Vice Questions:
Is there a fair amount of sex in the new movie, compared to the others?
I always keep the nudity brief so its easy to trim for television. Mind. Body & Soul had more nudity and no one wanted to run the pic anyway. Vice 6 has an s/m themed striptease at a nightclub and Liz Kaitan visits the bank afterhours to get topless and jump all over Steve Mateo.

Besides the four obvious main characters, who will be returning to part 6?
Vice 6 had a really high ratio of returning actors, and no recasting for anycharacter. Liz, Raelyn, Jay and Jayne, Mark Richardson, Karen Knotts asMavis, Honey who was Tiffany Berkowitz plays a hooker, the school teacher who catches Liz hooking in Part 5 is a nun, Irwin is back, but not for very much of the picture, Hank Grisham who chased Traci in 5 is now a lead, Tami Bakke from many of my films plays a stripper, Steve Mateo from 3 & 4 is back as Liz's love interest, the liquor store owner from 3 is a bank guard and the hooker who Malathion beats up for her dress in 4 is a prisoner. (Ginger makesanother reused footage apprearance as well).

Hey, Jayne Hamil( Devonshire) took her shirt off in part 2, and Jay Richardson(Commissioner) was almost naked in Fugitive Rage. If there's a part 7,why not put in a lusty sex scene with those two? (You can answer this after you finish gagging.)
The joke of their relationship is that they never do it, (or that I'd want to stage it much either). If 7 ever materizlied, which I doubt at this time, the Commissioner's first wife was going to return, played by Tane McClure, the councilwoman in Part 5. She was going to turn to Miss Devonshire with, "Your new wife must be one lucky woman, does he still make love three times a day like he used to?"

Ginger Lynn Allen, the ex-porn star, is notorious for not getting along with other actors in your films. What has been the best cat-fight you've witnessed, and what were the circumstances?
Ginger doesn't get along with anyone, I wonder why Traci Lords turned her in for income tax evasion. I never witnessed anything too physical, but Ginger went out of her way to make Darcy DeMoss (the first Samantha in Part 3) as miserable as possible during the filming. When Darcy left the final day of shooting, Ginger couldn't let her go without announcing, "Oh by the way Darcy, I think you're a bitch" in front of the entire cast and crew. Darcy came back with "At least I don't take it up the ass." It escaladed from there, til Darcy left in tears and her then boyfriend, Wings Hauser, called minutes later screaming at me for what happened.

It's well known that Ginger and co-star Linnea Quigley never got along off-screen. In Vice 2, their characters seemed to get along more. Was there any reflection of that in real life?
Not at all, they still hated each other. Much of the actual filming of Part 2 was captured by a video crew for The Making of Vice Academy, so they were on their best behavior with every moment being captured for later.

In Vice 1, the porno office has posters of short films you've made like "Night of the Loving Dead". So, were those porno flicks themselves?
I've never made any porn, those were just short films I did when I was 18 and my mind was already twisted. There were more, the Clown Whores of Hollywood, Amputee Hookers, Nightmare of the Lost Whores, the prostitute thing was always there I guess.

Do you really think that anyone, no matter what age, would know who the fifth Beatle was? And couldn't it have been Pete Best?
I asked Jayne Hamil who the fifth Beatle actually was right as we were filming that scene since I wasn't certain myself who really had the title. The joke is that so many people named themselves the fifth Beatle, some even take as a far as calling themselves the sixth Beatle. Also, I couldn't come up with a better gag for the scene, I always thought it sounded funny when Irwin picked Cher when the question has muliple correct answers.

Why was Holly in jail in Vice 5 when she was released in Vice 3?
In real life, Traci Lords turned Ginger in for income tax evasion and she had to go to jail. She was really humiliated when she was drug tested later as part of her parole, then failed and had to go back to jail again. Ginger and I didn't part as friends after she demanded a huge salary to return in Vice 3, then showed up 3 hours late daily and stoned out of her mind. She never knew any of her dialog and threw the film way over budget, laughing that I'd never hire her again. She, still to this day, bad mouths me in every magazine interview she does, so I can have fun at payback by using clips of her from earlier films. I know she did get out of jail in 3, but if she can go back in real life, why not here as well. The potshot at her in Part 6 is even lower, she stars in a film on the Prison Channel called "I Killed Him, I Liked it So What?"

What is the significance of Tiffany Berkowitz?
Just a funny name I made up, Honey who plays the character, went to the same jr high school i did and we graduated together, but had lost touch for over ten years.

I don't want to pick these movies apart, but in Vice5, after the VR Hooker brings in thebad guys, Mavis asks Bojangles if he's seeing anybody. Then there is an awkward pause as everyone looks confused and Treat? says: "You're not talking to me, are ya?" What was that all about?
Some jokes get lost in editing. Earlier in the film, Mavis gets her marriage proposal rejected by a convict on deathrow. Her fellow prison guard says, its ok, we can just keep living together and keep telling everyone we're sisters, an old excuse lesbian couples used in the 50s. When Mavis asks Bojangles if he's single, Treat is worried that she's asking her.

Can you find the grammatical errors in these two lines from Vice films?
1. "A Laundromat posing as a front for prostitution!"
2. "Do you really want to live on minimum wage salary?
Actors butcher much of the dialog I write, unfortunately, these two still sound right to me. Reword them correctly so I can learn. (Ed. note: 1. If a laundromat is POSING as a front, then it's not really a front. I'ts just kind of like a double negative. 2.Wages are hourly pay, and salary is getting paid the same, no matter the hours. I think)

Why did you make Irwin so stupid. In part 5,Candy asks him to the movies, and to go to his place, and he declines. Idiot.
Irwin is too obsessed with Traci and involved with the VR Hooker by then. In an earlier scene, he doesn't seem interested in Candy, comparing her to Bambi because of her innocence. When she asks him if he wants to go out to see Bambi, it's easy for him to refuse.

Where did you find an actress as talented as Rocki Gardner? Not only can she spin(p.4)...
Good Girls Don't questions:
...but she can wail on a blues guitar, too.
Rebecca/Rocki (See Good Girls credits for her real name) is still one of my favorite actresses who always knew how to deliver my dialog properly. I loved the way she scratched the record in V4, I thought of it just as we shot the scene. She married Tina Turner's manager after V4 and moved to New York. I begged her to return to play the lifeguard instructor in BabeWatch, but she declined. Liz and her remained friends after the movie.

-Wasn't Liz Kaitan supposed to play the part of Jeannie? If so, what happened?
-Why do Jeannie and Candy have the same last name?
Very perceptive, both questions have the same answer. Liz was supposed to play the role, but had another movie the same time in Italy and had promised to do theirs first, so I had to do a last minute recast, much like Linnea and Jayne disappearing in Vice 3. The same last name was an inside joke to see if people recognized it from the Vice film.

While in Cadillac Jacks, The waitress brings two plates: One with a big fat pickle and onewith a split open baked potato. Was the blatant innuendo intentional?
You know, I never caught that. My prop guys do obscene jokes and I was so busy trying to get a performance out of the no talent actress who played the one line waitress that I never checked out what was on the tray. There's a good chance the potato part wasn't intentional sexual, it was called for in the script to go into the tailpipe of the car in the next scene.

When Betina and Jeannie first run from the police, a man driving by in a car shouts something like "Yo, come on, man!". If that was a mistake, why did you leave it in the final cut?
You do notice all the litle details. I was trying to add more of an impact when Jeanie opens her bag to reveal the half million in cash to Betina. I dubbed in the sound of a brakes screeching and someone in a passing auto shouting at her as if she glanced at the money, got startled and swerved into the next lane.

When Betina says: "We know what trouble those insect sprayings can cause," was that a reference to her Malathion character?
Yes it was, it made sense since a different actress didn't have to fill in for her like Renee Estevez (Emilio's sister) did for Liz.

Did Jeannie's boss really once eat 15 of Jack's tacos?
I don't get the joke, explain this one.
(Ed. Note: In a Jack in the Box commercial, there is a big whoopla started at an auction about Jack's tacos. The actor who played the boss was in it and shouts: "One time I ate fifteen!")

Will you make me a personal promise? Please, never use that detective guy(can't remember his name) ina film again.
Hey, did you ever see me use him again? I didn't like his performance either.

Mind Body and Soul Questions
Mind Body and Soul….Why?
My least favorite film I ever attempted, I liked the picture Angel Heart and was trying to imitate it. Ginger's horrid acting ruined the movie for everyone and I lost alot of money on this one.

Other Misc. Questions
Do you like Sebadoh? Or even more appropriate do you even know who Sebadoh is?
NO

What would you consider to be worse, living your whole life sad and alone and then dying? Or getting married to someone you really don't love and spending life with them?
No answer when you have to choose between two evils. People create their own hell and have no one else to blame for it.
Have you ever been stuck in a room with so many little minor annoyances, that you justwanted to throw every little thing to the floor and bash the furniture against the wall?
No, I'd have to pay for the damages.

Do you know who Gloria Pryor is?
NO

Do you get a real big ego boost by producing movies…and directing the people with in them?
Directing is the ultimate job for control freaks. You get to dress people, tell them what to say, yell at everyone to shut up when they're talking, decide what they get for lunch and be able to cut to first in the food line. I enjoy it while I'm on set, but couldn't get away with the the rest of the year.

Have you ever made a cameo a la Hitchcock?
Not interested in being in front of the camera, the actors are all hired for being able to imitate my speech pattern, so my voice is coming out of their mouths already.

I've noticed that some people don't take you or your work seriously…does that ever bother you?
My films were never meant to be taken seriously, the budgets were always too low. I'd be bothered more if they didn't get such high rating when they're broadcast.

Have you ever gone on the couch with someone to put them in a film, or for any other reason?
Haven't done it, could get in too much trouble. You can spot my type by watching my films easily, blonde, big hair, small frame, dressed like trash.

Do you have a job other than making movies?
I may have to soon, the money isn't what it used to be. Have worked on several plays as well when I'm offered it. I've written several larger budget scripts, had all the distributor meetings,but its hard to get finacncing when you're known only for low budget. Would like to get into directing television if I had the choice.

About what would you say is the budget for one of your films?
Like I'd really want this to be known. Let's just say if you added up the budget of all thirteen of my features, the total would be $750,000

How could someone like me, with no formal film training, get started in the film industry?
Hard to say, I started at this in the 80's when the video cassette market was huge for low budget films, but you can't get them released on video these days. Wish I knew what to advise.

Where would you say is the best place to supply the actor's wardrobes; a chic Hollywood shop, or a secondhand thrift shop?
Since so many of my actresses have dabbled in porn, they all have their own wardrobe that makes them look like sluts. The remaining outfits I find myself at thrift stores, but only from the one dollar racks. I'd be more amused if the women were humiliated by my choices, but they always want the outfits when the films are done.

Your films seem to be of better quality with each feature. Is that because of an advancement in budget, or an advancement in technology?
Vice 3 and Good Girls cost the most from the series, the budgets actually went down for Vice 4-6, (it shows the most in 4, we had to cut alot of corners to get that one made). Its partly due to technology, but more because I learn with each film and always try to outdo the previous chapter.

Do you come from old money, or have you worked your way up from nothing?
People from old money don't make B-Movies. My family was very poor, we're talking welfare, and when I was ten I said I'd never grow up to be poor.

I know that some actors will work for little or no money, just for exposure. You seem to take advantage of that. So where do you find these people?
I advertise in Dramalogue for actors for the smaller roles. For the leads, I usually have to have seen them in something previously.

What do you have to do to get someone, male or female, to drop trou on camera?
Are you asking how I ask them to get naked? Most of the cast has porn experience, getting them to keep their clothes on is more effort.

Where do you find such lovely props; The "Just say no to Thugs" poster, guns, a Mystery Date game in such good condition, a licence plate that says "SCUZZZ", etc.
My favorite was the Doggie Style Pet Grooming sign, I thought of that one myself.
"Just say no to Thugs" poster, I made that one myself out of stick on letters and an old gretting card.
guns, the prop guy supplies them, most of the time they're real and even though they have blanks in them, you have to be careful
a Mystery Date game in such good condition, that was really hard to locate, not many copies of it are around. I collect all kinds of things from the 50's and early 60's and eventually found one. More work was humming the Mystery Date song from the commerical for my composer who had never heard it before.
a licence plate that says "SCUZZZ" A friend of mine swiped it off a car in a parking lot when I was in high school. Even then, I knew it had potential.

While there is no shortage of toplessness in your films, you use profanity sparingly. Why?
The nudity in my films is always brief, I like to keep the dialogue as offensive as possible without the bad language, it's more clever that way. USA Network had to clip all the bad language, so the less I had, the better.

What are your future plans? It's not my place to say, But I think you should make a thriller: Pinata Party Massacre.
Not sure what is next right now, my last few scripts didn't get approval. I would have had fun with Mall Cops or Confessions of a Catholic School Girl.

How do you do it?
You probably know better than I do by now.

Any last words, or advice to future film-makers?
Get your money up front or you'll never see it.

Thank you for your time. Is everyone in L.A. as courteous as you?
No one that I know.

If I think of more questions, I'll send them to you.
Whew, don't hurry. Hope you know how long this took.............Rick