Alison Faulk worked with Channing Tatum to design the sexy dance moves in “Magic Mike XXL” (pictured); Nerdstrong Gym is where pop culture geeks are changing the image of flabby, couch-bound obsessives; Paramount Pictures and Hulu make the latest moves in the streaming world.
Nerdstrong Gym: Where pop culture geeks get in shape
You’d be excused for thinking the 10 sweaty and grunting people lobbing weighted balls at each other in the parking lot of a North Hollywood strip mall are members of Cross Fit or some other local gym.
But listen to the instructor — not a word about blasting your abs or feeling the burn or glutting your core. He’s talking about Cyclops, one of the characters from the X-Men comics, as the members use barbells to do dead lifts and back-squats.
“Cyclops didn’t give up, his girl liked that other dude, which was nuts….”
One gym wall is painted with space invaders from that 1970s video game, there’s a Dungeons and Dragons throw rug and enough other trappings of geekdom to make you realize how serious they were when they named the gym Nerdstrong.
Andrew Deutsch, the gym's owner and creator, was asked why nerds would need their own place to work out: “For me, it’s so I can stay up playing 'Batman Arkham Night,' but for others it produces a wonderful experience of going through something [with] the same logic you can apply to any online video game.”
Deutsch came up with the idea while trying to help a friend through some tough times by getting him to work out with him. It lasted one session.
“He came back to me and said, 'It’s alright, but I’m not coming back.' And I said, 'Well, we’re going to be doing a dungeon workout next Sunday, where you kick down the door, defeat the monster then go to the next room and we’ll do that in 20 minutes.' And he’s like, 'I’d do that, I’d show up for that.'"
And thus a concept was born: a gym for people who hate gyms, who don’t work out often, and who like a hint of role playing with their weight lifting.
So how do they get people to keep showing up? The instructors aren’t just paying lip-service – they list their geek cred online, along with their trainer history.
Instructor Blair Herter used to work for MTV. He runs marathons and lists Diablo II as his favorite game. He says the trick is to keep members focused on the things they like, not what they hate.
“It’s [like] magic, man — check out what going on in my left hand while I do the magic in my right. We don’t want you to think about the fact that you’re doing things you thought you were incapable of."
Herter says his approach is more like, “You look like you’re struggling, let’s talk about Josh’s run on 'Astonishing X-Men.'”
Everything is on message – in a role-playing game reference, the website talks about how people can add plus 1 to their strength, dexterity and constitution. Classes are themed to take down the death star, fight zombies, or to do some X-Men training in the danger room.
Patrons exercise at Nerdstrong gym in North Hollywood (photo by Collin Friesen)
Sound a little hokey? Don’t be such a nerfherder. (Yes, that’s a "Star Wars" reference — shame on you if you didn’t get it.)
But Nerdstrong Gym members say it’s more than just a place to improve their health, it’s finding a community, where non-workout-related social events, like movie nights, are part of the package.
“[At] other gyms, you might get some support during the work," says one participant. "But this is a lifestyle."
“There are people here [for whom] it’s the first time going into a gym, first time taking their health seriously,” says Brett Charles, wearing a t-shirt adorned with “The Tick." “Or people who used to [go to gyms], and now they’re not — they just don’t want to be around that kind of toxic masculinity.”
Nerdstrong has already taken over the retail space next door so there appears to be a market for what they’re selling. And maybe that’s because there’s one other thing you really notice about this gym: maybe there’s a little less sweating, but there’s a lot more laughter.
It won’t surprise you that the gym shuts down during Comic-Con, but the people behind the operation will be part of a panel called "Getting Fit for Cosplay, Geekdom, and Life."
They’ll give advice, take questions and probably look for some new members — people like Brent Charles who summed up Nerdstrong this way: “We all were picked up on. We all just felt like misfits forever, and now we’re misfits together.”
Paramount Pictures changes distribution model for some upcoming films
Paramount Pictures has announced that it will release some of its upcoming titles in an unconventional way: the studio intends to release two films —including the latest entry in the "Paranormal Activity" franchise — on video-on-demand platforms just weeks after their theatrical debuts, going against a long standing routine of a three-month wait period.
This is all happening in the wake of Hulu's $192 million deal for rights to the TV show, "South Park," as well as Netflix's recent deals with independent film producers.
Andrew Wallenstein, co-editor in chief of Variety, spoke with the Frame's John Horn to discuss the news.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
There is some big news today out of Paramount, which is addressing what is know in the industry as "The Window." That is the time period between when a movie leaves a theater and when it is available on DVD and streaming services. What has Paramount announced?
Well, two of their upcoming titles — one of them being the "Paranormal Activity" franchise — they are going to try something interesting. Seventeen days after these movies have been in theaters, they are going to transition to digital distribution. Which might sound kind of wonky, but any kind of variation on the traditional is big news when it's coming from a big studio.
Paramount announced that it has two of the biggest theater chains on board, but it doesn't have Regal, which is the biggest. I suspect there is going to be a little bit of backlash from the theater chains, not just about these movies, but about the entire Paramount slate.
Yeah, there is indication that these are going to be just the first movies from Paramount to get that treatment. I have to think there will also be pressure, not only on other theater chains to modify and experiment in a way that critics have been calling on for years, but for other studios to do so.
The Paramount news really underscores the whole evolution of streaming. There is other big news this week about streaming: Hulu is reportedly paying $192 million for the rights to "South Park." That is even more than what Hulu paid for "Seinfeld." How do the economics of all of these deals make sense for these fledgling streaming services?
Well, what goes on in the subscription [video-on-demand] window is becoming a big piece of the puzzle for some of these shows. "South Park" is an example of a show that has done so well on streaming services that the amount of money that networks or studios are able to get helps support putting these shows on the air for many more years.
There is other news in the streaming world from Netflix, which is expanding its relationships with independent producers for original feature films. That's on the heals of a big deal it made with the Duplass brothers and its recent deal to distribute a film starring Brad Pitt. So what is Netflix's strategy and how does it differ from Hulu's?
Very different strategy. Very different business. [With] Hulu, we're talking about the economics of TV. With Netflix ,we're talking about the economics of movies — though we should make clear here these aren't big budget movies. But there is so much open space at the lower end of movie budgets that Netflix is just invading this territory at a time when studios seem to be retreating to just the absolute biggest titles. It will be interesting to see whether Netflix can have the same scale of impact [with movies] as it has had on the TV business in the past few years.
Amazon, Netflix, Hulu — is there another major player in the wings in the streaming world and who do you think that might be?
Well, I'm going to invoke the names of some old friends: HBO, Showtime — remember them? They used to have these things we call linear channels — or I should say they still have them. But what we've seen in 2015 is a handful of these networks are starting to put out streaming services that don't require you getting a pay TV subscription. It still is very early on, but you're seeing companies like Showtime — which just launched its service this week — do so because it's an acknowledgment of this new landscape. If they want to go toe-to-toe with the Netflixes of the world, they cannot be anchored to some traditional paid TV system that many see as too expensive and in the very beginning stages of declining in terms of its massive footprint in the U.S.
The woman behind the moves in 'Magic Mike'
"Magic Mike XXL" focuses on the lives of an ex-stripper as he and friends hit the road for one last hurrah. Starring Channing Tatum, the sequel to the 2012 original has been successful — especially among female audiences. Some estimates say 96 percent of ticket buyers are women.
Alison Faulk was the lead choreographer on both "Magic Mike" films. Faulk and her team, including Teresa Espinosa and Luke Broadlick, with some input from Channing Tatum, were behind the suggestive dance sequences seen throughout the film.
Faulk met with the Frame's John Horn to discuss her team's creative process.
Interview Highlights
What does Channing Tatum bring as a choreographer? And are there certain moves that he has done over the years that he wants to bring into the film?
He's a freestyle dancer by nature so he is always just going to [call] on his natural abilities. He just moves a certain way. For this [film] in particular, because the first one was a little bit more of a realistic view into the underbelly of the stripper world, this one was meant to be more fun. We wanted to kind of take it up a notch and add a little more dancing in there and make it a little bit more ... just more exciting. So he definitely had some ideas. We all had some ideas. So it was fun to try it all out. Every single rehearsal we were just cracking up constantly.
There is a scene early in the movie that unfolds in a workshop, including a part that involves a power drill. So is that an example of Channing Tatum free styling with a power drill or do you look at this workshop and say, "You got to do something with a drill."
That was probably the only part that I was like, "Hey, do something!" ... The way that was written was Mike hears [the song] "Pony" come on and he messes around a little bit.
Why is that an important song for him here?
It was in the first film. It was kind of an iconic moment for him and people talk about it. So, everyone kind of connects to this song — people that saw the first film. So this song comes on in the workshop, and when we began choreographing the number we let him freestyle. We recorded him and then we picked out moments we really liked.
We gave him a couple of ideas and then he ran with it because he's so athletic. He can do things that [we suggest], Oh try this, and then he amps it up like 80 billion notches. I think I saw the drill on the table and [said], "Do the drill!"
Tatum is self-taught, he's experienced and he knows how to dance. A lot of the cast are actors who you have to teach how to dance. How do you make sure that the rest of the team doesn't look like they're not as good as Channing? How do you teach actors who are not experienced dancers how to dance?
On the second film it was great because we worked with the guys on the first film so there was a little bit of groundwork laid. They also knew the stakes for this film were much higher and they were going to be seen more. They wanted to do a good job. They really put the time in, which was great. We knew the guys, so we knew their strengths [and] pulled from them.
Adam Rodriguez is super athletic, so we knew we wanted to go in a b-boy direction for him and teach him movements like that. We just would see them move and then we'd veer in the direction that was good for them. Really, it was a lot of commitment on their part. If you're not a dancer, it's tedious to sit and practice and practice and practice. The guys put so much work in and we were really impressed with their commitment level.
You also have a couple of athletes in this cast who are pretty good dancers. Talk about working with them.
Michael Strahan — we only had one rehearsal with him. We had a routine set that we wanted to do and, to be honest, we had no idea how it was going to go. Michael, I didn't know him. I just knew he was a great guy and knew he was obviously, super-gifted athletically. So Chan had given me the idea, "Watch his [football] highlight reels, he's really dope."
We could see how he moved. We knew he kind of played around on his [TV] show, like with the tear-away pants, so we knew he was going to be game. We're [wondering], Man, how is this going to go? He killed it. He just literally saw the routine one time and then he started repeating it back to us. It was best-case scenario. He was just honestly a naturally gifted dancer.
There are people who probably think they know how a stripper should dance. Did you, in preparation for the first "Magic Mike," go out and watch a lot of strippers? What is the stereotype that you wanted to challenge and did you want to get to the more truthful depiction of how strippers actually strip?
For the first movie we actually did go see some shows. Just because we wanted to become familiar with the genre. Our team comes from the pop world. We work with pop stars and do films, television, commercials. Other than just what we've seen in life, we didn't really know about strippers. Chan and myself are both from Florida so we kind of have a similar music aesthetic and ideas about certain stripper-y things, so that's always been good.
We wanted it to feel real, but we also wanted to make it a little dancier. Of course we respect all the strippers out there, but we wanted to take it up a notch. From standing around, doing very basic dance steps and looking beautiful to [becoming] guys that really dance. That's at least what we tried to do.
In the movie you're doing two things: one is that you're choreographing dances for the audience that is in the film; and the other thing is that you're choreographing dances for the camera. How do those two compete and who wins?
Well I think it's a win-win situation. When you have Gregory Jacobs directing and Steven Soderbergh as the [director of photography], you really can't go wrong. From day one they're watching our choreography and plotting how they're going to be shooting all this stuff.
So you're really describing the way a sporting event is shot. You guys are going to have your game and they have to figure out how to shoot it?
Yeah, absolutely, and they're down for that. They always tell us, "Create what you want." Within what was written in the script, they always gave us free reign. We'll run ideas past them and most always they're like, "Yeah, cool. We'll shoot it," and they always have super-creative ways of shooting. I love what Greg did with the finale. You feel like you're that girl experiencing what is happening, but you also see what is happening, which is really cool as well.
One of the things that this movie really seems to celebrate is that the women of the movie are of all shapes, sizes and ages. Was that something that the filmmakers thought was important in terms of depicting?
One hundred percent, yeah, the filmmakers thought it was very important. The casting directors along with the choreography team wanted to depict women of all shapes, sizes, colors and ethnicities. Yeah! Because not just young, fit, skinny girls are going to want to experience this. That is not realistic. So, yeah, we thought it would be super-fun, real and important for everyone to see themselves up there in the movie.