I would find it extremely funny. I would enjoy the dark irony.

Rachel, don’t be afriad.

Hugh, be good (and I don’t mean: behave.)

Casten, It was… fun.

Lori, My love.

Ethan and Gareld, shut that fucking preacher up and throw hinm out.

One of our YouTube alternate cuts garnered some interesting attention.

This one:

“BackPage deleted scene Megan interview ”

http://youtu.be/fZnb5gabyVc

It seems that it somehow became a recommended video related to this other YouTube clip:

“Trying To Buy A Hooker On Backpage.com ”

http://youtu.be/VdaQK2B5d1k

So, over the last month, they rocketed to 61k views and we piggybacked on their momentum with 26k views.

A nice chunk of that traffic sought out our website, and watched other clips and even the movie.

It was a heady ride, until it all cratered two days ago.

I don’t know what internet gods they pissed off, whatever expired meme they belong to, but traffic came to a screeching halt. We’re not even a recommended clip anymore. Oh well.

I searched you tube looking for similar videos of prank calling escorts. I found dozens of them. I’ll have to reach out and let them know that we made a movie about them.

Oh, and our cost per click on our monetized YouTube clicks has risen to $.70! I have to assume a corollary causation.

I’ve previously mentioned how much the site benefits from searches for BackPage escorts. It’s a coincidence that the characters in the film have the same name as several popular BackPage escorts. A cursory search for whoever Megan might be in real life yielded these results:

http://detroit.backpage.com/TherapeuticMassage/angel-megan-full-body-massage-60/6576410

http://losangeles.backpage.com/TherapeuticMassage/queen-spa-grand-opening-49-for-1hr/17759304

http://louisville.backpage.com/BodyRubs/megan-in-tuesday-12-7-502-403-6452-36/2830535

That last one has a lot of pictures you can find on Google.

So, what else? Not much until the next fad.

P.S. The website showed a small increase in traffic but the weird thing is that newsfeeds exploded. That in and of itself is weird enough, but it didn’t generate a traffic increase. Odd.

> I was watching your film and I was just wondering why you did’t get real
> girls off of backpage. I use to be apart of the industry and I think if
> you were open and honest with the girls that you wanted to interview them
> I think you would have had better luck. That is if you really were trying
> to make a true documentary. Well that’s my two cents.
>
>
> Brittany
>
>

So, today I finally got around to replying to her:

Brittany,

Thanks for reaching out. Sorry for the lateness of my reply.

I’m glad you enjoyed our film.

You’re right, having real working professionals in BackPage was a very real possibility. And I seriously considered it.

But, I simply wasn’t willing to occupy their time without proper reimbursement. Since all of our budget was already eaten up by limousines, helicopters, and beer, I just couldn’t afford to do that.

Furthermore, it just didn’t seem to fit the tone of the film I was trying to make. I wanted to make fun of filmmakers and academia. Making fun of hard working women… ? Well, the film’s already chauvinistic enough as it is without adding that layer. There’s a point in the film where the character of Bill’s misogyny stops being funny and becomes pathetically tragic. (Other than that moment when he as a filmmaker literally fucks his subject.) Having real escorts in the film would have seemed really exploitative, no matter how respectfully we would have handled it. Also, as I would have been delicate in that situation, Bill would not.

Finally, it would have seemed too real. (Your two cents are correct, we weren’t trying to make a true documentary.) I’ve been told by experts in the field that none of the actresses in the film are convincing as sex vendors. The way they speak, the way they do business, none of it is convincing. And there’s a reason for that: that portion of the film is a fantasy. Like Pretty Woman, we needed to ignore certain darker aspects of the sex trade in order to tell our story.

Being honest about the world of purchased companionship, that’s another film altogether. The genesis of this project grew from a grad school assignment I had proposed. But, that summer of ’98, my partner and I decided, or rather stumbled into to producing this film instead:

http://www.richardmassey.tv/media/personal/partywmv.wmv

Even today, I’m still curious about the subject of escorts. I’m not averse to finding out how this industry thrives in plain sight. What would you recommend?

Richard

So, do you think we have a new project germinating?

http://www.backpagemovie.com/2011/angela-gant-look-into-your-heart-wont-you-help-a-lesbian-fight-cancer-by-buying-her-dvd/

Just incase you haven’t seen the film about her attack:

Here’s an easy way to do so without having to actually donate anything. All you have to do is watch our film on YouTube, and be sure to click on the pop-up ad or ad that plays before the film (actually, the 10 second mark):

http://youtu.be/6zlnRP0V_NI

I’m contractually not allowed to reveal what our clicks are worth, but let’s just say that if the 120k visitors to the site and viewers of the film thus far had clicked on that ad, we’d be a long way toward paying for Angela’s reconstructive rhinoplasty.

It’s just that simple.

http://lovedocumentaries.com/best/backpage-the-movie-hd

51 views, one vote: 9 stars.

No reviews yet.

We’re filed under a category they call “z section (news)”, herp derp?

“Don’t badmouth our promises just yet! Matt and I aren’t blowing you off, we’re just very busy people. I’m working two jobs and taking care of my lady friend; matt is (to my knowledge) only working one job, but he also is attempting to get a silly thing called a college degree, so he too is rather busy.

Matt did say he’d watch and review your little movie (technically he said “we’ll” review it, though I was not consulted, so I don’t know who he meant by “we”. Maybe he meant him and some robot action figures). However, he did not state a specific timeframe. You’ll notice that he hasn’t posted anything at all to the site since the flame war, so presumably, its still on his plate, he’s just been too busy to blog. He’ll get to it when he has time, but it might be a while.

I, Hungry Evan, may review your movie at some point too, though I make no promises of that. However, as you noticed, I’ve got about 8 more posts worth of Transformers review to get to before I could really consider it. (And unlike you guys, I’ve been watching it sober, which might be the problem. Next time I may watch it with my friend, a Whiskey Sour) I also do Horror Movie reviews on the 13th of every month and on relevant holidays. So there’s a lot of movies ahead of yours, were I to ever get to it. And, as I mentioned above, I am quite busy. So again, no promise from me, but were it to happen, it’d be a ways out, probably next month at the earliest.

But unless Matt says otherwise, you can assume a review is coming from him eventually. No need to cry yourselves to sleep on a pillow of broken promises under your blanket of betrayal. It’s coming. Maybe not soon. But coming.

Sorry about the comments sections, too. The first time you comment it can take a while to get approved and show up. Every subsequent time you post, though, should be instant. So from now on, the name-calling should go much quicker.

And not to reopen the wounds of the original flame war, but “funnier than Schindler’s List and sexier that Roger and Me” is a MUCH better tagline.”

Evan,

You know what all this reminds me of? The slap and tickle fight that Chris Wallace and Mike Gallagher have every Friday morning on Mike’s radio show. It’s all fun and games until Megyn Kelly gets her panties in a bunch.

Hungry Evan? No. You can’t claim the mantle from the fiery, manly realm of Hungry. That’s my pet name for Matt. “Hungry Evan” is too onomatopoeiatically stilted. The metre’s wrong. Hmm, what will your handle be? Have to think about it… must avoid alliteration, too obvious. I’m torn between christening you “Side Dish Evan” or “Evan Flow”.

And Matt did invoke the plural when promising us a review. Ke-mo sah-bee, there’s no “who’s ‘we’, Tonto?” Matt drafted you.

Because this also is good content for my site, rest assured, this screed will at least be a weekly re-occurrence. Until you come down from your mantle of mediocrity, your throne of theses, and anoint us in heady vitriol, it’s just going to be more wedgies and willies.

BTW, is Rose cute?

Boom, linkback:

http://ynteonline.com/2011/10/14/evan-watches-transformers-3-so-you-dont-have-to-part-2/

What does this remind me of?

http://youtu.be/Wa_JdEqSLmA

At this rate, Evan’s going to take six months to get through T:DOTM: http://ynteonline.com/2011/10/14/evan-watches-transformers-3-so-you-dont-have-to-part-2/

Yes, it’s exactly like every other review you can read (no, really, Google it.) Ethan and I watched it high last week. It was a laugh riot! I think this Michael Bay kid might just have a future in cinema after all.

So, we’ll continue to provide them a gold mine of content (otherwise, they’re just a fraud to their sponsors.)

First up: YNTE’s comments section is apparently now working. Ethan found some time today for some most excellent prose:

http://ynteonline.com/2011/10/12/uh-oh/#comments

ethan says:

@Rose and Matt. “Tone is apparently difficult to convey with the written word– especially if you limit yourself to a paragraph or so, as I did. I certainly am not upset; any attention our little project gets is something I’m greatful for. And please dont tell my cellmate I’m homophobic (he just feeds on that). I thought I had understood the spirit with which you conducted your article and tried to respond in kind. Language (even grammar!) can be fun and stimulating. I only posted as late as I did because that was the first I had seen your column. That being said, I’d love it if you watched the movie and reviewed it. Feel free to use your most colorful language, too! I think you’ll agree that it is, in fact, funnier than Schindler’s List and sexier than Roger and Me.”

So, here’s some metre: My Haiku Ode to Ethan:

He thunders, he rains

makes the dynamite go boom

I do love him so

(He’s right, of course, sarcasm has no font or color, no point size; only context. YNTE: Oh well, keep swinging at our straw men, picking the nits, splitting the hairs. All the logical fallacies become apparent after sophomore year. Go on, keep playing checkers on this chess board.)

Thanks for a stimulating afternoon.

It’s curious why none of my comments posts to your site aren’t successful. WordPress. I use it, too. There’s no other way to contact you, the juno account you posted comments to my site with bounced my message back when I tried to email you. This one way blind communication sucks.

You’ll definitely be notified of this post through the following linkbacks:

http://ynteonline.com/2011/10/12/uh-oh/

http://ynteonline.com/2011/10/11/matt-got-hatemail/

I’m Richard Massey, the director of BackPage. I’m the homophobic douche-bag who called everyone involved a gaggle of cock-fags (that list obviously includes myself, Angela, “Roger”, Martin, and Ethan.)

No, I’m not upset. (Other than the fact that you called off the flame war.)

We’d be honored by a review (fair or otherwise.) We’ll provide you with whatever you need.

Richard

PS. There’s a contact page on the film’s website. Try us there.

PSS. This is what it’s all about:

http://www.backpagemovie.com/2011/angela-gant-look-into-your-heart-wont-you-help-a-lesbian-fight-cancer-by-buying-her-dvd/

So, one of the film’s ads got some attention:

http://ynteonline.com/2011/06/29/untrustworthy-name-backpage/

In what must be the most uninspired ad nauseum reoccurring bits imaginable, Hungry Matt claimed that, the film, one of the ads, or the whole enterprise in general was untrustworthy (See what I did there Matt, I was willfully obtuse also.)

So, Ethan wades on in and the grammar police start executing hostages.

http://ynteonline.com/2011/10/11/matt-got-hatemail/

What to make of all this? Clearly it’s a slow day at work.

And they’re wrong. It wasn’t bad, just vulgar and obscene. It wasn’t untrustworthy, merely obvious and transparent. They just didn’t get the joke, and now they’re embarrassed. They’re wrong: The ad was funny. And it was compelling. And, most important of all, it completely succeeded: It got his attention and he clicked on it. He can’t take that back.

Now I’m ready for them to not get the film. Let me pre-emptively say, haters, that thirty thousand Brazilians and Indians can’t be wrong (and that one Polish guy.)

Thanks to Martin Delgado for the heads up.

To be continued by the most desperate gaggle of cock-fags since Andy Dick’s fanclub.

http://demiandashton.org/