LOS ANGELES — Tera Patrick and Bree Olson have landed lead roles in a new feature film called “Live Nude Girls,” which showcases both mainstream and adult stars and will wrap principal photography in July.
Adult stars Asa Akira, Nikki Benz and Missy Martinez will also make appearances in the raunchy comedy, while veteran actors Andy Dick and Dave Foley, along with singers Har Mar Superstar and Kuba Ka all have prominent roles.
Executive producer Mike Hatton, an actor and TV personality who is financing the movie through his company Ton of Hats, told XBIZ he recently launched a crowd-funding campaign on IndieGogo.com to help with post-production costs.
Set in an L.A. strip club in the '80s, Hatton said the campy film already has received interest from cable networks.
“Just since posting this IndieGogo campaign I’ve gotten calls from producers who want to take meetings,” said Hatton, who co-wrote the film with director Jay Leggett, and also stars in it.
The premise revolves around Hatton’s character Shane, a "regular guy" from Chicago who inherits a struggling strip club that’s on the verge of going out of business.
“And he inherits this crazy cast of characters along with it,” Hatton explained. “One of the characters he encounters is his uncle’s ex-girlfriend Nancy played by Tera. She’s pissed that she didn’t inherit the club and feels like it should be hers and she’ll do anything in her power to get it.”
Hatton said the tone is reminiscent of classic, sexually charged comedies such as “American Pie” and “Porky’s.” He shot most of the movie during a 10-month period last year at the Déjà Vu club in downtown L.A., where they’ll complete the film with a few pick-up scenes and inserts in July. And getting Patrick on board for what will be her mainstream film debut was a priority from the beginning, Hatton noted.
“We thought of Tera originally and approached her about a year ago, but her schedule is so crazy we couldn’t get her until now,” he said. “So we started to shoot anyway and thought, ‘Oh we’ll figure it out.’ That’s not always the best approach, but we kept in touch with Tera over the course of a year and finally we were able to make something work with production to get these scenes in with Tera.”
In addition to hiring five well-known porn stars, two of which are retired (Patrick and Olson), Hatton said the ensemble female cast also includes seasoned actress Annemarie Pazmino. Olson’s character comes to the strip club “fresh off the bus from Indiana” thinking she is applying to be a cocktail waitress, Hatton said.
“Bree’s got a really fun character,” he said. “Her name is Chloe and she shows up at the club kind of when the club is at a really desperate point and Shane is thinking about closing the club down.”
Olson’s character then “accidentally helps Shane discover a new type of dance that was not popular before that,” Hatton explained.
“That’s when Shane realizes they can make it. So they accidentally make strip club history I guess.”
Olson, who also is making her mainstream film debut, added, “I'm grateful for the fans who have stayed with me after retiring from the adult industry and I'm excited to show them what I can do in a mainstream comedy.”
Akira, meanwhile, plays a “wacky stripper who’s been around the club for a while,” according to Hatton.
“She’s got a few really funny bits and of course Asa can just stand there and steal a scene she’s so hot.”
Hatton said there would be plenty of nudity but no actual sex scenes.
“That’s another reason we wanted these girls. When you’re dealing with traditional actresses and asking them to be comfortable in these wardrobes and these scenes with this material, even though we’re making a comedy and not an adult film, they turn into divas,” Hatton continued. "Some of them have a hard time with it. But with the adult stars, they are laid back and they are confident, and that’s really what you want on a set like this. We want to make sure these women are comfortable. And not only are they all comfortable, but I don’t think they get enough credit for how well they all can act.”
He said Olson “went toe-to-toe” with Foley, a veteran of TV sitcoms whose character is the patriarch of the club as well as an alcoholic and sex addict.
Hatton has shot several corporate videos and local cable commercials, but this marks his “virgin foray into executive producing feature films.”
The director Leggett is a former cast member on the early '90s, sketch-comedy series, “In Living Color." The 20-year veteran actor also was Hatton’s teacher at The Second City, an improvisational comedy enterprise.
“Jay's a talented writer and a great stage director," Hatton said. "He loved the material and loved the idea. He also loved the formula, if you will, of getting these adult actresses to play strippers in a mainstream movie. He’s great because he works with a lot of actors and actresses who are relatively new to the big screen.”
Hatton added, “And let’s be honest, everybody’s a fan of adult even though everybody doesn’t talk about it. These girls have a huge audience.”
Sam Tripoli, the producer and host of “The Naughty Show,” will also make an appearance.
The movie is slated for a late Fall release.
Pictured: Mike Hatton, Bree Olson, Dave Foley and Asa Akira.
