Starting out as an extra in Nickelodeon show "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" Austin Butler has quickly moved through the ranks at Nick to a lead role in "Zoey 101," replacing Sean Flynn as Jamie Lynn Spears love interest.

Born in Anaheim, California on the 17th of August 1991, 17year-old Austin had been on "Zoey 101" before in a guest spot but was more than happy to return. "I thought coming into the show so late would make me somewhat of an outsider, but everyone was so nice, and the cast was so welcoming, that I felt right at home. I had such a great time with everyone on set."

Having only been involved with acting since 2005 his filmography is till in it's infancy, mostly playing the hot teen boy who gets the girl on numerous shows for Nickelodeon including "Hannah Montanna" and "iCarly." He does, however, have a new film in the pipeline with 20th Century Fox "They Came from Upstairs." Probably best left to Autin to describe: "It is a movie about a group of kids who defend their summer house, and the world, against aliens, while keeping it all a secret from their parents." Sounds like an award winner huh? But then with looks like Austins who needs Oscars.

New York based photographer Bill Travis was not someone I had known, until he contacted me last year about doing a feature on his work for my old blog Current Obsessions. And I was very glad he did.

Trained in art history at the Institute of Fine Arts, Bill Travis has shown his work in New York, Berlin and Argentina as well as having his work on medieval sculptures published in countries around the world.

But it is his photography of the male nude that brings his exquisite images here to this blog. The male nude, that for him, has been too long over shadowed by its more socially acceptable female counterpart. Indeed, as he says himself: "Not so long ago, few people were willing to accept that the male nude and art belong together. The female nude had a long and glorious tradition in art, but the Classical tradition of the male nude had somehow become the province of stuffy professors and men who lingered over the “wrong” gender. All of this has changed today, especially over the past generation, as artists and photographers have given the male nude a new complexity, ranging from humor to compassion, disease, vulnerability, homosexual longing..."

Powerful and daring portraits that bristle and crackle with life. Reminiscent of unrestored paintings in dilapidated galleries or cracked vases featuring the forms of Ancient Greek Gods, each one of his pictures feels like it exists because it always has. In no small part, this can be put down to his unusual and highly stylised technique: "Technically, I do alternative-process photography, taking digital prints through successive manipulations with oil paint, gold, and other substances. These manipulations are never an end in themselves, but, rather, a way to enhance the images’ sensuality, whether the object represented happens to be a body or a building."

I for one am now a fan, and urge readers of this blog to visit his site and view his galleries. Who knows, you may even have found that you have a new favourite artist.

Bill Travis Photography

this post has been reviewd and updated from a previous piece in on my old blog

Born in Chichester in 1988, Edward Speleers had a couple of close calls with fame before landing the lead in 2006's 'Eragon'. He very nearly found himself playing Peter in 'The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe' before losing out to William Moseley. Ed was also lined up to appear as a young Hannibal Lecter in the then titled 'Behind the Mask' but again found himself ousted, this time by Frenchman Gaspard Ulliel.

When his time did come around, it was for the highly anticipated 'Eragon'. The phenomenal success of Christopher Paolini's rip-offs of everything from 'Lord of the Rings' to the Narnia books, managing to take in a bit of 'Star Wars' in between was down largely to it's youthful fan base of tween readers. Tween readers who were desperate for their new favourite fantasy to become the next big movie series.

A couple of rounds of auditions later and he'd quit his A-Levels and a role as Hamlet in a school production. “Next thing I knew, I was signing up for a movie. LA phoned my Dad, who told me, ‘You’ve got the part’ . . . I started yelling and screaming.”

After the release of the film and it's poor box office receipts it became apparent that the series ended with the beginning. The books, however, continue to grow beyond the originally planned trilogy with the third out soon and another in the pipeline.

After a year in the wilderness, Ed signed up Storm Models agency and did a couple of shoots with talented young photographer Kai Z Feng, Including one for an article in British gay mag Attitude.

Last seen playing both himself and hunk-about-Cornwall Jimmy Penwarden in show within a show, the surprisingly good, 'Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach', Ed has gone quiet again. Here's to hoping we'll see more of him in the near future on screen and in print.

Waking from his dreams, Chris cracks the sleep from his eyes and turns to the bed inches to his right. His blond room mate has pushed his covers down to his knees, his hands caress his smooth, strong chest, sliding down his firm abs and are pushing at the white Tommy Hilfiger boxer briefs that cling tightly to his frame. Chris calls to him but he doesn’t respond, he’s lost in his dream. Chris raises himself from his bed and looks around the room, at the four other boys. Each of them lay in their underwear, writhing on their beds groping their young bodies, sweat glistening on each muscle. From a peep hole in the wall some one is watching…

Welcome to “Voodoo Academy” and the world of cult horror film maker David DeCoteau. “I wanted to make a movie I wanted to see. That was it. When it became a hit, I realized my calling…”

Working in the film industry for nearly 28 years DeCoteau carved himself a niche, pretty much creating his own sub genre in 2000 with the aforementioned “Voodoo Academy,” a low budget horror movie shot over 4 days and with a small cast. A cast mostly made up of attractive Abercrombie and Fitch types who spend no small amount of the films running time in their tight boxer briefs.

Many films in the direct-to-video horror market have doubled up as sexploitation flicks before, but where previous entries in the genre would have the teenage nymphets stripped and running up several flights of stairs, DeCoteau reversed the trend. A daring move that could have proved a career killing mistake.

The film was felt too homo-erotic by producing partner Charles Band and the film was cut from 90 minutes to 70 for its original release (later fully restored in a directors DVD cut) and had production company Full Moon hiding their involvement until the credits had rolled. But the film made money and DeCoteau had found a new audience.

Setting up his own production company Rapid Heart Pictures, he continued with the new formula, “I wanted to try to make homoerotic, non violent, Cinemascope, shot on 35mm movies. I set up shop on my dining room table and started to develop ideas and raise funds.” said David. And he began with ‘Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy.’ But nobody, least of all DeCoteau expected the success of his next venture ‘The Brotherhood.’

“THE BROTHERHOOD franchise is a phenomenon. I can’t explain it but it has provided a type of movie that key audiences have not seen. Mainly gay men, teenage girls, straight women and couples. We’ve made four and will make more.”

When a film features a protracted scene with two of it’s stunning male leads in their underwear drinking blood from the arms of a dressed female student it’s no surprise that the film was taken to the hearts of many a gay man. The camera lovingly flows over their tanned, toned bodies, paying particular attention to those tight fitting now signature boxer briefs. “Actors want to be sexy and appealing. They know with me they will look terrific, because I really care about them. I want them to look like movie stars.”

His films are charged with homo-eroticism, whether it be the Vampire frat boys of ‘The Brotherhood’ trying to turn a new straight laced student to their side or an undead boy band lead by Baywatch’s Jeremy Jackson trying to convert a new member in ‘Ring of Fire,’ the metaphors are hardly subtle, but in the world of low budget horror film making, there really is no use or time for subtlety.

And it hasn’t bothered any of the films stars either, with Alumni including the previously mentioned Jackson, Sean Farris in ’Brotherhood II: Young Warlocks’ or Josh Henderson, playing to his obvious strengths as Speedo wearing swim team hero, Jason in ’Leeches.’

Things continue to go well for DeCoteau whose company has now produced 15 films and has many more in the pipeline with his take on Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ out so far this year. And the future? “ To make genre movies that I wanted to see and keep doing it until the market says stop. All indie filmmakers are slaves to the market anyway, and so far people are supporting my movies.”

And I have no doubt that the support will continue unabated.

Source 1
Source 2

Rapid Heart Pictures Blog

26 year-old Jody Latham is best known for his role as jack the lad scally-boy Lip in C4's acclaimed comedy drama series"Shameless" but he's no new kid on the block and has been knocking around on UK television. Back in 1998 he had a small role in the realistic police drama "The Cops" for the BBC when he was sixteen. After that roles followed in the usual bland Brit TV fare beloved by mothers up and down the country like "Casualty," "Holby City" and "Heartbeat."

Born in Burnley, Lancashire, Jody comes from a close family, not unlike that of the Gallagher's and their neighbours so lovingly portrayed in "Shameless." Indeed it seems like Paul Abbots semi autobiographical series also has links with Jody's own life. As he has said: "The house I grew up in was a real homely home in a little village where everybody knew everybody. My dad built the house. I helped him, reluctantly. I was a teenager so I should've been hanging around town looking hard. We had a big comfy couch for us all to crash out on, dogs and a big garden. Everyone used to come over. Neighbours never had to knock; the door was always open. It was busy and noisy."

He's been somewhat reluctant to accept his status as a sex symbol among both women and gay men. But hasn't been shy in coming forward by appearing wearing very little in Gay mag Attitude and as a centre fold in British Cosmopolitan. He was even voted 84th sexiest man in the world by readers on New Woman magazine. "..it can be quite daunting but it's all part of the job - and I'm quite a pleasant person, I'm a chit-chatty sort of guy anyway, so I just go along with it"

Starring along side Bob Hoskins in last years "Ruby Blue" and with his final season of "Shameless" as Lip under his belt Perhaps it's time for Jody to move on to bigger things? "As an actor you want to be as versatile as possible and I want to try different things… I want to do something more challenging now, to be someone different."

And that he has, playing petty thief in ITV's "The Fixer" and as associate producer and part player in the gritty new crime film "Act of Grace" directed by "Life on Mars" very own Phylis Dobbs aka actress Noreen Kershaw.

So with things on the climb for Jody it looks like the last ten years have just been a warm up, shortly they'll be little else to do but to pay attention to this guys rising star as his career goes from strength to strength.

Jody Latham at IMDb

This post is an expaned and revised piece previously posted on my old blog Current Obsessions