“American Cannibal,” produced and directed by Acme Pictures’ Perry Grebin and Michael Nigro, opened Friday in select cities to largely positive reviews. The documentary was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival last Spring in New York City.
Kevin Blatt and his brother Darren “D-Money” Blatt rented out the New Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Friday to privately screen the film for an audience that included colleagues, friends and family.
The documentary was overwhelmingly well-received by the audience who clapped and cheered loudly at Kevin Blatt’s first appearance on the big screen.
Also garnering uproarious laughter from the crowd of approximately 150 was Blatt’s conversation with adult industry entrepreneur and one-time owner of Sex.com, Gary Kremen. The two sit in Kremen’s office jokingly discussing the next wave of reality porn sites.
In footage familiar to members of the adult industry, the front cover of XBIZ World and clips from Darren Blatt’s series of The Player’s Ball parties also were featured in “American Cannibal.”
In their documentary, Grebin and Michael Nigro set out to answer this question: How far can a reality TV show push its contestants?
“American Cannibal” features exclusive on-set access and interviews with TV industry insiders, critics and reality-TV veterans. The documentary peeks through the looking glass of TV to discover the human cost of popular entertainment.
Among the more prominent names discussing the rising impact and influence of reality programming are New York Post television critic Linda Stasi, “The Real World” creator Jon Murray, “The Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead, Syracuse University professor of media studies Bob Thompson and reality show contestant Trishelle Canatella.
The documentary, shot mostly in a cinema-verite fashion, follows two frustrated TV writers, Gil Ripley and Dave Roberts, after a pilot of theirs (think “Sex and the City” for senior citizens) set to air on Comedy Central crashed and burned. The two, who dread getting involved in reality TV but are desperate for a taste of success, come up with two ill-conceived reality concepts in hilarious brainstorming sessions.
Ripley and Roberts believe they found a bankable idea in “Virgin Territory,” a show with a tagline of “You win it, you lose it.” The pair is hooked up with Blatt, who is characterized in the documentary as the “porn guy.”
Holding court in his office in the back of a strip club, Blatt eagerly listens to the writers’ pitches and likes both concepts, but it’s the throwaway idea of “The Ultimate, Ultimate Challenge” that Blatt latches on to because he sees it as his chance for mainstream success.
Blatt’s aborted show, which ended production before there was enough footage filmed for the pilot, sought to test the limits of the human psyche by starving contestants on a deserted island and presenting them with what they thought might be human flesh to eat.
Blatt reasons, “I could make ten tapes of Paris Hilton and she could suck off the Queen of Jordan. It’s still going to be Paris Hilton sucking dick. You’ve never seen anybody eat people on television, have you?”
Almost immediately upon reaching the island, disaster ensues. The show’s host, George Gray (of The Weakest Link), is forced to quit after union problems, the weather makes filming difficult, numerous contestants get sick, and ultimately, a female contestant is seemingly critically injured on the show, forcing production to shut down.
The filmmakers fail to pursue what really happened to the allegedly injured contestant, leaving the audience questioning if the injury really occurred. Ripley and Roberts don’t know and Blatt refuses to speak to cameramen after they catch up with him. Even her family doesn’t comment.
While the ending of “American Cannibal” was a bit sloppy and rushed, the dialogue between Ripley and Roberts is thoroughly entertaining. The presence of Blatt as the fast-talking financier adds a sizeable amount of zing to the documentary.
In the end, Blatt achieves what he set out to do: promote Kevin Blatt as an upwardly mobile entrepreneur. In fact, the release of “American Cannibal” has done wonders for Blatt’s next project, “Virgin Territory” – the pitch he eschewed in favor of “The Ultimate, Ultimate Challenge.” Blatt has appeared on Entertainment Tonight and in the pages of TMZ.com, The New York Times and New York Post to promote his latest stab at mainstream success.
Attending the private screening were Smashbucks’ Mike Hawk, HustlerCash’s Jean Marie, The Adult Broker Lori Z, Sexentertain’s Mike M, AVN’s Chris Lebrun, All Media Play’s Shari B, OC Cash’s XXXJay, Tony Testa, “Family Business” star Cousin Stevie, director Roy Karch, XBIZ President Alec Helmy, Pure Vanilla’s Steven Yevoli, The Content Store’s Jonathan Silverstein, WantedList.com’s Anh Tran, Double Click Management’s Leslie Sharp, Vivid Entertainment contract star Briana Banks, Video Secrets’ Chuck Tsiamis and Giga Cash’s Stephen Bugbee.
The screening was sponsored by AVN, WantedList, PussyCash and Clips4Sale.
