INTERVIEW | David W. Ross

With the release of his brand new film ‘I Do’ on Peccapics this week, we hunker down with the incredibly sexy Mr David W. Ross to talk Hollywood, Boybands and Gay Marriage

The entire film feels very personal – how much is based on fact and/or personal experience?
I love that you thought that. I really wanted to have a sense of a fly-on-the-wall and a personal feel to it. Well, I became a photographer for the film. So that’s life imitating art. Mano is based on a guy I fell in love with in America but couldn’t get his work permit so had to move back to the UK. It’s the reason I wrote the film. And Sam, played by my dear friend and awesome actor Mickey Cottrell, is based on a friend I had living in LA. I lived with a lady who was quite eccentric and used to be Avedon’s assistant in the 60s in New York. But overall I was so outraged by the lack of marriage and immigration rights, and saw first hand through shooting rallies in California how families were being effected, that I wanted to tell a story that would move people to some sort of action.

The casting is superb – Alicia Witt is ideal as Mya, and Maurice Compte is perfect as Mano – how did you go about casting this piece?
I was lucky enough to get my script to Alicia Witt and Jamie-Lynn Sigler who signed on rather quickly. Then our amazing casting directors did the rest. We had a couple of days of sessions that I sat in on. I read with everyone. And the casting directors also sent us tapes. One was from Maurice and I knew right away that he was Mano. I think the casting directors knew that I DO is not really a gay film and got some amazing people. Casting makes all the difference. Who knew someone like Grant Bowler would come on board!

Funding: how did you fund the film?
I was in the normal Hollywood holding pattern for about two years. I had the script but couldn’t get money before the star and the star before the money. One day I got an email from a film maker friend asking for me to check out their project on Kickstarter and donate to their film. I had no idea what crowd funding was but but very quickly realized I could raise money for the film. I started a campaign on February 14th and the next three months were an amazing whirlwind of hard work, very little sleep and a lots of fun. I surpassed my goal of $50,000 and was able to secure more funding from private investors. I did another Indiegogo for finishing funds and again supposed my goal of $25,000. I’ve been so lucky to have such an amazing amount of supporters from all around the world, for this film.

Social Media: I follow you on Twitter, and remember you’re tweets relating to the film. I’m curious how you feel about social media and the part it can play?
So you’ve seen my crazy antics!? I love twitter. I’m still blown away by how amazing everyone is and how powerful it can be. I think it’s incredibly useful for getting ideas out there and for indie artists I think it may be the new way to fund projects. I love that I can be having a conversation with someone on there that I’ve never met and we’ve got something in common to talk about. Plus it really shows what a bunch of like minded people can achieve. Social media is the only reason I DO got made at this point and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Boy band member – hope or hindrance?
I think that’s changed over the years but I think now it’s all good. I didn’t want to be defined by it for years and really struggled with coming to terms with how I was viewed in the public eye. But these days I’ve lightened up and look at it as a great time of my life where I did something some would call extraordinary and in America they all think it’s incredibly cool, which I find amusing. I think making I DO, from writing to producing it, has really solidified something inside myself about who I am as an artist. I’m glad to be in film but I miss performing and touring. Too much fun.