Photo by Kate Beaudoin
The indie film No Pay, Nudity is shooting today on East Fourth Street at the New York Theater Workshop. Despite the below flyer’s promise of “Nudity,” we spotted none of it on set — but based on the cast we’re OK with that.
Photo by Kate Beaudoin
The feature-length film is directed by Lee Wilkof of Little Shop of Horrors fame, and features Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne, and Frances Conroy as washed-up actors who’ve lost their passion.
Wilkof described the meaning behind the title in an interview with BBW back in September:
Agentless young actors would go circle the ads we thought we were right for. Back then, in the seventies, there would be ads for experimental plays, and not so experimental ones, reading, “no pay, nudity” or “nudity, low pay” as requirements… People hear this title and they get excited. But there’s no nudity. It’s metaphorical, for actors—they don’t always make a lot of money but they wind up baring their souls if nothing else.
Photo by Kate Beaudoin
Wilkof launched a Kickstarter campaign in September to fund the film but the campaign failed to reach its goal of $450,000, raising only $171,061. At any rate, the show must go on. The film’s location manager tells B+B that the cast and crew are shooting an off-Broadway theater scene and an audition scene in the black box at the New York Theater Workshop. The rest of the movie will be shot on location in various neighborhoods throughout New York.
Here’s a promotional video from Nathan Lane about the project.