Ladies and gentlemen, this is Odorama. You will experience some odors that may shock you. But the producers of this film believe that today's audiences are mature enough to accept the fact that some things in life just plain stink. In 1981, John Waters invented Odorama for his film Polyester. Each time a number came up on the screen, audiences would scratch and sniff such scents as roses, flatulence, model airplane blue, pizza, gasoline skunk, natural gas, new car smell, dirty shoes, and air freshener.
That gimmick inspired J.C. Calciano to enhance his new film, Steam Room Stories, with an ode to Odorama called CinemaScent. Welcome to another edition of the listener-supported KPBS Cinema Junkie podcast. I'm Beth Accomando. Today, I'm speaking with director J.C. Calciano about John Waters going from YouTube to feature films and coming to San Diego for Film Out. His new film, Steam Room Stories, the movie, stars Tracy Lords, who also starred in John Waters' Crybaby. Ooh, okay, I need to take a short break to clear the air. Ooh, after scratching that Odorama number six. And then I'll be back with my interview with filmmaker J.C. Calciano. Ooh.
KVBS On Demand is supported by Bill Howe Plumbing, Heating, and Air Flood and Restoration Services. Family owned and operated for over 46 years, Bill Howe has been serving San Diego homeowners with home services since 1980. Bill Howe's full service team offers heating and air solutions along with dedicated flood and restoration services and an expert plumbing team. Their trained professionals are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to both routine needs and unexpected emergencies. Bill Howe is committed to providing excellent communication, transparent pricing, and quality workmanship on every job. Appointments can be scheduled by phone, online, or through live chat at their website. Call 1-800-BILL-HOWE or visit billhowe.com because we know how.
JC, you have a new film out, Steam Room Stories. Now, for people who may not be familiar, explain this comes from a TV series that you had worked on. Well, it actually comes from a YouTube show that I've done. I started it 10 years ago on YouTube, and it's the channel on YouTube. I started it 10 years ago. We have about 230 episodes. It was so popular and so much fun to make that I decided to make a feature film of it. And how has this evolved over the years from YouTube to television to now a feature film? Well, you know, it started as just kind of this weird little fun thing to do because I had finished my first film and I had...
And I was like, well, let me try something. And back in 2009, YouTube was getting hot. So I think of something I could do that was really awkward and it looked like tiles. And I thought, well, steam room. So I hung the tiles on the – I taped them to the wall of my living room. I got a coffee table and a couple of guys in my linen closet, put them in towels, put the fog machine on, and wrote a three-minute sketch. And I put it up on YouTube and thinking, well, you know, all right, well, it's probably nothing will come from it, hopefully. And all of a sudden I started to amass all these views. And I thought, well, this is really fun. So I started making more and more.
What kind of was a happy accident was that I couldn't keep track of the sexuality of the guys. You know, I just didn't kind of create characters who were predominantly gay, straight, bi, or whatever. I just kind of wrote what the day was for that. It was fine. And the audience really responded to the fact that I wasn't making anyone in particular with any kind of ethnic gay or straight. They were just whoever they were. It kind of really spoke at that time to the addressing, you know, the body and, you know, the gay history. So we just started to create more and more episodes. And over the years, it became more and more popular. It became more and more fun. I became friendly with the guys.
And I love doing comedy, and I try to address social issues here and there and then. So it just kind of evolved into this undeniable thing that I thought, well, let's make a movie out of it. Now, one of the things you do for the film, which you didn't do in the YouTube video or the TV show, is you're presenting it in CinemaScent. So explain to people what CinemaScent is. Okay, well, CinemaScent is, you know, well, first going back a little bit, I had the amazing fortune of getting Tracy Lords involved in the film.
even the John Waters days when she was in a film called Cry Baby. And I'm a big John Waters fan. I was a big Tracy available and interested in being in the movie. It gave me the idea of doing a tip of the hat with John Waters. At the time, I loved the idea that he did this movie in what he called Odorama. It had an accompanying scratch-and-sniff card, so when you watch the movie, you are prompted to smell the smell that are going on on the screen with this scratch-and-sniff odor card. I thought it was just the most fun idea, and I loved it in the 80s. And I spoke to Tracy about it. She's like, well, that's a fun idea to do the movie in that.
And she said, you know, absolutely. So we did. I was able to get in touch with him, and he says, you know, you have my blessing. I wouldn't call it a new line and trademark the word, but it's a card, and, you know, call it what you will. So I came up with the name CinemaScent. It's my little ode to the 80s odorama. Oh, hello. Dustin Cleaver here, head odorologist at Sally Faye Cosmetics. I'm here to instruct you on how to use these ingenious fragrance cards you've been given. The other scientists and I here have designed the card you're holding to enhance your viewing pleasure. All you need to do is follow the instructions.
A number will inevitably appear on the screen that matches a digit on your card. Just scratch the number and a fragrance will be released. Hold the card up to your olfactory receptor or nose and whiff sharply like so. Chamomile and elderberry. Delightful. It's simple, really. Now enjoy the show. I'm looking forward to this. Can you reveal what some of the scents are that you use? I could reveal. I could reveal that one of them is a dirty martini, but just how dirty that martini gets.
All right. Well, you mentioned that this is a tip of the hat to John Waters. He was very much a filmmaker who was working kind of on the outside of Hollywood and very low budget. How do you compare kind of the way you started this with YouTube to kind of the landscape that was going on back in the 70s for him? Do you think it was easier, harder for you to kind of get something like this off the ground? Well, I think very, very different in the sense of apples and oranges. I think that John's challenges back then were different. Some things were of an advantage.
2009 was the fact that Craddock in the sense that people can create something. And one of the things that I really wanted to do, one of the things that I thank John for doing, was creating a sense of his community where he controlled and created within a family of people. And I respected that, and having worked in the industry for as many years as I have, and I've worked at the studios, I've worked in television, I've worked in a network, I kind of wanted to, and I always wanted to, just surround myself with people who I really respected and... wanted to create with and want to spend time with and insulate myself from the industry at large that can potentially be very toxic. So YouTube was my advantage, my opportunity to surround myself with people who I liked and create the product I wanted to create without getting no hearing. It was my way of making my movies my way and just controlling all aspects of it. And you mentioned Tracy Lourdes, and she's a very iconic actress at this point. And what was she like to work with? And did you end up creating the role specifically for her?
Well, Tracy is remarkable to work with. She is so committed, so hardworking, and so generous with not only her time, but she's the first one to step up and say, well, what can I help with? What do you need? What can I bring to the table? And that's amazing. Truly, truly a gift for an independent filmmaker. She gets it. She's been there for big-budget films and for smaller-budget films, and she knows the struggles. So being aware of that struggle is to help with. I kind of originally wrote the role for a much older gal, and when Tracy wrote, I rewrote the role for her.
the conversation when we were talking about a comedically evil kind of woman, but also give her a little sense of redeeming quality, a little lovability, a little quirky, broken nature to her. So we really kind of collaborated on that in a big way. And I was just watching the film, the other, which is 1,200 seats, and it's on this huge screen, and it looked fantastic, and I was so excited about seeing it in that theater. And she just lit up the screen. She's just funny and sweet and mean and just all these things that you'd ever want somebody to do.
They're doing what? I wouldn't worry about it. Those guys are so clueless you could lock them in a mattress store and they would still sleep on the floor. They want to save that steam room and you're going to help them. I am? I want you to join a little group and report everything back to me. Spy on them? I'm sorry. I'm not comfortable with doing that. Oh, Neil. You've been in the beauty industry for five years. And you're familiar with muscle relaxants? Just 45 milliliters of pure Botox injected directly into your spermworm. And the only thing you'll find hard is an algebra equation. Sally, please be reasonable. Can I count on you, Neil?
Good boy. I'll go do what I asked you to do. I'll be right back after this final break with more of my interview with JC Calciano. KVBS On Demand is supported by Bill Howe Plumbing, Heating, and Air Flood and Restoration Services. Family owned and operated for over 46 years, Bill Howe has been serving San Diego homeowners with home services since 1980. Bill Howe's full service team offers heating and air solutions along with dedicated flood and restoration services and an expert plumbing team. Their trained professionals are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to both routine needs and unexpected emergencies. Bill Howe is committed to providing excellent communication, transparent pricing, and quality workmanship on every job. Appointments can be scheduled by phone, online, or through live chat at their website. Call 1-800-BILL-HOWE or visit billhowe.com because we know how.
And in moving the story to the big screen, what did you feel you could do with a movie that maybe you hadn't had the opportunity to do either on YouTube or with a TV series? Well, the challenge was to get only in a steam room to a... Certainly it's not only going to be in the steam room because that would really... There are a lot of challenges. There are a lot of challenges in creating a storyline, grown to love and relate to these lovable kind of half... Something that's going to be sustainable for 90 minutes and a love story. A lot of things that go into crafting a 90-minute engaging story plus comedy, making something that was just a three-minute sketch.
So on some levels, you have all the creative freedom in the world. And on the other hand, you're kind of limited to what the fans and love about the show. And I understand you and Tracy Lords are going to be coming here to San Diego for the film out screening. Yes, yes. So I've played several of my films. In fact, I think all my films. My first film was called Is It Just Me? Ten Year Plan. A true champion of mine and the community and other great. Down to San Diego and then from the movie. And Tracy and I are all going to come down. And will you be scratching and sniffing along with the rest of us? Yes, yes, I will be.
scratching and sniffing, scratching and sniffing at the same time. All right. Well, I look forward to seeing the film with you guys and having it come down here to San Diego. Well, thank you for your time, and we look forward to everybody coming down and having a good time meeting Tracy and saying hi to me, and certainly thank you for this fun event. All right. Well, thanks a lot. Thank you. Take care. You too. Bye-bye. Bye.
That was filmmaker J.C. Calciano. He and Tracy Lourdes, as well as other cast members, will be in attendance September 18th for the Film Out San Diego screening of Steam Room Stories the movie. Thanks for listening to another episode of Cinema Junkie Podcast. Sorry the last podcast got delayed, but I'm back on schedule and the podcast will return every other Friday. Please subscribe to the podcast and recommend it to a friend. Till our next film fix, I'm Beth Lacomando, your resident cinema junkie.
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