IMD Films and MVD Visual are pleased to announce the release of I Am Virgin for North American distribution on February 23, 2010.I Am Virgin is a spoof of I Am Legend, the 2008 science fiction release starring Will Smith. In I Am Virgin, Portland actor Adam Davis plays Robby, the last uninfected man standing in a world ravaged by a virus that has transformed all of humanity into horny, sex-crazed vampires. And as the title suggests, Robby is a virgin.
When it came time to cast the dozens of women who would chase Robby's cherry in the film, director Sean Skelding knew he needn't look too far for able-bodied talent. "Portland has some of the most beautiful strippers in the country," says Skelding. "I never for a second considered going to L.A. or Vegas to find beautiful girls to put in this movie. I figured I could take the opportunity to show the world that Portland is full of sexy, talented women who look great on film."
I Am Virgin is a purely Portland product, with the entire project written, financed, filmed and produced in the Rose City. All of the actors are locals from the Pacific Northwest who jumped at the chance to be in a film destined for DVD and cable TV greatness -- all of the actors, with one famous exception.
"We got Ron Jeremy to come up and do a scene for the movie," proclaims a proud Skelding. "He plays an aging vampire, complete with fangs. Ron doesn't have sex in the movie, but he says some really funny stuff. Adult film fans will get a huge kick out of his character."
Skelding himself is no stranger to the film business. He worked in Los Angeles for years on movie sets before returning to his native Portland to start Cheezy Flicks, an online distributor of B-movies on DVD. Cheezy Flicks sells over 250 cheesy movies at www.cheezyflicks.com.
"We started Cheezy Flicks back in 2000 to make our own distribution company so we didn't have to shop our movies around to buyers," says Skelding. "Now, Cheezy Flicks covers 85% of the world market, and any movie we make or distribute is out there less than 90 days after completion. There's no middle man between us and our customers."
Written by local screenwriter David Wester, I Am Virgin was filmed over 20 days in and around Portland. Locations included a warehouse on NW Front Street, the Portland Storage building underneath the Morrison Bridge, Cathedral Park Place, Downtown Portland, the Southeast waterfront and Devil's Point and Lucky Devil strip clubs. The crew shut down 3 blocks of SE Morrison Street one early Sunday morning to create a dead city look. The film also had a large CGI budget to help make Portland look abandoned and rundown.
The movie was co-produced by Shawn Justice, another Portland filmmaker and high school friend of Skelding's. Skelding's basset hound Billy co-stars as Robby's canine sidekick, further highlighting the director's preference for working with people (and dogs) he is close with and trusts.
I Am Virgin will hold its world premiere for cast, crew and media January 28th at the Clinton Street Theater in Southeast Portland. The film will run at Clinton Street from January 29th to February 3rd, giving locals ample opportunity to catch this triumph of Portland filmmaking before its release on DVD and cable TV. Skelding will begin shooting his next project, Stripperland (a spoof of Zombieland) in March.
