Dustin Lance Black.

Dustin Lance Black, the director and undivided of the subjects of the documentary upon the Bus, will be facing his chiefly feared critic with the DVD release of his film: his mother. "I grew up in a Mormon household, a actual Christian conservative family," notes the filmmaker, whose movie documents the sex- and drug-fuel shenanigans of six young gay men upon a road trip to the Burning Man festival. "There's nothing in it that she doesn't already know about. Still, it's a different thing between knowing and actually seeing your son state mushrooms on his tongue."

Armed with six cameras, Black, now 28 taped the seven-day road trip to the giant, free-spirited fest in the Nevada wild in 1998. The original plan was to create several 10-minute "Webisodes" for the now-defunct Digital Entertainment Network, a streaming-video Web site. "When we first pitched it, reality TV wasn't booming now There was The Real World and Road Rules" Black recalls. "The idea was, in what manner do you include that third human frame you're supposed to pretend doesn't exist in these reality shows?" Thus Black became the two filmmaker and cast member.

on the contrary Digital Entertainment Network shelved the draw then went out of business; in 2000 Black got back the 60 hours of raw footage he'd shooter and fashioned it into onward the Bus. The documentary feature form allowed him to avoid the "sensationalized, high-drama editing" that haunt wanted, he says.

The influence of cave remains in the casting: Black wanted to videotape a assign places to of friends exploring different places; resort wanted very sexy, very young men Thus Black raise himself on a bus with single friend, Damon, 24; Iris farmer Billy, 27; and three 19- to 26y-ear-old strangers, including gay-porn star Dean O'Connor (real name: Jason). "I anticipateed for people to be vying for attention and all the sexual tension in succession the first day," Black says. "But it really kept going day after day after day. population were getting more defensive and make opened up less and less."

During the trip, Black notes, the collection divided into two camps: the promiscuous and the celibate. "People were vying for sexual attention, and at any given import Damon was trying to stifle that," he recalls. "At undivided point you had all those frights in a hot tub, and deity knows, if you didn't have those cameras there, it would have diverted into an orgy. Damon wasn't going to have it. He's sitting at the computer [beside the heated tub] and he brings up AIDS and HIV." Looking back, Black doesn't mind disappointing viewers who may have frisked to see four 20-something stays making out in a of high temperature tub. "It mate it easier in the editing sweep if it didn't happen," he says. "I wouldn't want to be a pornographer."

He also didn't a great deal of want to be a documentary make submissive "It's just hard to watch yourself," Black says of the editing proces "There's nothing more terrifying than watching a week of your life onward videotape almost two years later." He laughs. "All your insecurities are right there for you to view and, inevitably, for everyone to behold There's some tough things there. If you want any quick therapy, go film yourself for a week."

Kim is an author and journalist living in looks Angeles.

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