Day 3 of the New York Television Festival
Out in front of the SVA Theatre on Chelsea waiting for the stars to arrive for the world premiere of Starz Presents NUDE. I was outside by the red carpet waiting for the line to die down so I can straight walk in. Once that settled I got inside the theater and waiting for the trailers to start. The film started and the first image you see is of course a naked woman. The documentary which chronicles the making of the Nu Muse calendar and the people behind it. From the beginning we meet David Bellemere, a celebrity photographer who puts models in uncompromising positions while taking their pictures to where it may be too graphic for some magazines. David is seeked out by Steve Shaw, a fellow photographer and owner of Treats! Magazine who wants to make a calendar similar to the Pirelli calendars of the 1970s where the models were completely nude but artistic. The first half hour chronicles how the models are selected(via social media) and where the locations are picked. Once all is settled it's up to David shoot every model in his own unique way but the problem is most of the models David doesn't like and he disagrees with some of the suggestions from Steve and his crew while out on location.
The documentary is visually magic after all it is chronicling fashion and photography so it had to be. There were some tense moments between David & Steve that made you wonder why the other took the role for this project. I don't want to give away the entire film but seeing New York City in a different light than usual was refreshing and looking at the Dominican Republic where the beach scenes describes the mood of the calendar for the most part. Meanwhile in the end either David and Steve didn't last long and their partnership becomes fractured. Overall it is a great first film for the Starz Network and it should encourage them to move forward into this medium. We shall see but for the TV festival it was a great day three closeout.