OIFF The Last Take: Brian Foyster

Please Introduce yourself:
I’m Brian Foyster.  I’m the writer, director, executive producer, and actor of the short film The Last Take.

Would you tell us a little about you?
I’m a New Yorker from Brooklyn Heights and Manhattan, but I’ve lived in West Hollywood for 27 years. I’m on the Board of Directors of The Actors Studio.

Would you give our audience a brief description of The Last Take:
It’s about two male movie actors in the golden age of Hollywood who are in love with each other but are forced into fake marriages by the studio they are under contract with.

How did the idea for the film come about?
I was inspired by photographs from a magazine article in the 1930s.

Being an out actor in Hollywood, would you talk about your experience and have you seeing any changes?
When I first started out, I auditioned for a TV movie called An Early Frost which starred Aiden Quinn as a man who gets AIDS. The thought of even auditioning for such a project back in those days made you wonder whether or not it would end your career before it even started. Thanks to so many brave artists who stepped up and broke down doors, we can all just be ourselves and focus on the art and commerce of the business without worrying about such nonsense.

Would you talk about the importance of film festivals like OIFF having LGBTQ+ themed films?
It shows how intelligent and savvy the programmers are. They realize that ours are important stories and they care about a wide spectrum of human experience. Many themes are universal regardless of what group is experiencing them. I’m constantly finding predominantly straight festivals and audiences to be highly supportive and excited about my story as well as many others in the same category. That’s extremely important and I’m grateful for it.

Why is it important for audiences to support independent films?
In this new age of comic book blockbusters, independent films give us all back a much needed dose of the human experience.

What new projects are you working on?
I’m developing “The Last Take” into a limited series.