Gay Filmmakers' "Howl"

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman the Academy Award winning filmmakers (“The Times of Harvey Milk” and “Common Threads”) talk about their new must-see poetpic “Howl” that opens in theaters on September 24th with Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™. Starring James Franco in a brilliant performance as Allen Ginsberg, “Howl” interweaves three stories: the landmark 1957 landmark obscenity trial, a groundbreaking imaginative animated ride through the prophetic masterpiece and a portrait of a gay man who found new ways to express himself and in doing so changed his own life and galvanized a generation. The stellar cast also includes Jon Hamm, David Strathairn, Bob Balaban, Alessandro Nivola, Treat Williams, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeff Daniels. When asked what their commitment is to LGBT civil rights, Epstein stated, “First of all we’re artists and our role is to tell stories we find to be significant that haven’t been told otherwise and that’s what we look for. The subjects that we tend to be drawn to have been queer in nature and orientation. I can’t say that that’s anything conscious or deliberate. It’s more instinctual and I think that’s probably true for how most artists operate. You know you’re going on your own instincts because in the end that’s the only thing you can rely upon. I would like to think our work has made a contribution and certainly from what we hear from people, that is so.” In 1987, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman teamed up to form their production company Telling Pictures in San Francisco, California. Their first film together was “Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt.” Since then among the films they have jointly produced are “The Celluloid Closet” and “Paragraph 175”. "Howl" opens in theaters on September 24th. For More Info about “Howl”: howlthemovie.com

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