J.C. Calciano likes to flaunt his influences openly and proudly.
And, given that the two filmmakers he reveres most are Russ Meyer and John Waters, attendees at tonight’s screening of Calciano’s latest film, Steam Room Stories: The Movie!, can and should expect to keep their tongues firmly planted in cheek, and their noses pressed to the CinemaScent card they will receive prior to taking a seat.
Attendees should also know that the screening, part of the Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, will mark the first time anyone but Calciano and his cast has actually seen the finished film.
“I love the ‘80s movies, the bikini car washes, Porky’s, and fun, silly films like that. I feel like that’s good Friday fun,” Calciano said. “That’s what I grew up enjoying. I think it’s like music. You kind of fixate on the music from your teenage years. The movie is like the music of the ‘70s and 80s that I fell in love with, and this is my homage to that.”
Steam Room Stories: The Movie! is the big-screen debut of Calciano’s wildly popular digital series, Steam Room Stories, which debuted in 2010. The series has produced 192 episodes, and the show’s official YouTube account has tallied more than 53 million views with 98,164 subscribers. The show currently ranks as one of the most popular LGBTQ series ever to air.
Not bad for a project that Calciano conceived as an homage to Statler and Waldorf, the two old, fussy puppets featured on The Muppets. He wanted a simple format to showcase two actors talking about real issues, but he wasn’t sure of the setting.
“I had a fog machine and a bench in my apartment. I went to Target and bought a shower curtain that looked like tile. I taped it to the wall and I had a couple of actor friends of mine come over,” he said. “I said, OK, I’ll make it a steam room.”
The show became a cultural touchstone, allowing Calciano to tell stories about real people dealing with current issues, sexuality, popular culture, politics and more. The movie, much like the show, focuses on a group of strapping young men who spend time in the steam room of a local gym that happens to sit atop the literal Fountain of Youth. The characters must rally together to raise enough money to protect their sanctuary from an evil cosmetics magnate (Traci Lords) who wants to buy the gym in order to tap into the youthful wellspring.
Calciano was already a fan of Lords because of her work for cult director Waters. But he actually contacted Waters to see if he might incorporate a gimmick, Odorama, which Waters debuted in his 1981 classic, Polyester, that allowed audiences to smell certain scents while they watched the movie.
“He said, unfortunately, the Odorama name was registered and trademarked by New Line, but he was flattered we wanted to use the same technology,” Calciano said.
Undeterred, Calciano decided to call his gimmick something different, CinemaScent.
“With his blessing, we’re presenting the movie in scratch-and-sniff cards that will be presented at the Tampa screening,” he said. “Throughout the film, there will be different opportunities to experience the fragrances that are happening on the screen.”
While viewed largely as a gay-centric series, Calciano said Steam Room Stories has gained a following across all demographics, meaning his film also doesn’t limit itself to one audience.
“This movie is really focusing more on the sexual fluidity of people, and it’s not necessarily as cut and dry as gay and straight,” he said. “Steam room stories are really about fluidity.”
In the web series, many actors are often called upon to play different characters with different sexual identities.
“The truth of the matter is when I cast, I have no idea what their sexuality is. I don’t write for sexuality. I don’t cast for sexuality,” he said. “This week you’re straight, next week you’re gay.”
Steam Room Stories: The Movie! marks Calciano’s fourth film to screen at the Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The director, who turns 55 today, said sadly he won’t be in attendance.
“I haven’t seen it with an audience. I’m dying to know what people think about it,” he said. “Everything you’re seeing on the screen is 100 percent effort on my part. I hope people love it.”
John W. Allman has spent more than 25 years as a professional journalist and writer, but he’s loved movies his entire life. Good movies, awful movies, movies that are so gloriously bad you can’t help but champion them. Since 2009, he has cultivated a review column and now a website dedicated to the genre films that often get overlooked and interviews with cult cinema favorites like George A. Romero, Bruce Campbell and Dee Wallace. Contact him at bloodviolenceandbabes.com, on Facebook or on Twitter
This article appears in Jan 24-31, 2019.