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Sunday, December 17, 2006
Drink, Talk, Rassle!
The point is guys love talking about wrestling, regardless of sexuality, and they love doing it if given the opportunity. Case in point, this past weekend I pulled this military guy and his buddy out of the bar and had them wrestle for the film after a good interview. I told the military guy to put his friend in a full nelson, and his buddy egged him on with "work it with some UMPH man!" Final last words, the big military guy held his friend to the ground for like two minutes as I continued interviewing them. It was great, and they talked about the rush it gave them to do it. I hope they continue to wrestle each other now that I've broken the barrior for them.
Have you ever talked to complete everyday strangers about wrestling? Use the comments link below to share your story. Vic
Monday, December 11, 2006
Pro Wrestling Round Table
This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Mr. Scott McEwan (above left), an artist and pro wrestler from Toronto, Canada, as well as his tag team partner Bill (right) at Dean's (center) ring in Annapolis, MD. Not only did we film lots of wrestling action for the documentary (which includes one of the hottest bearhugs I've ever seen), but also ended the day with a nice hour-long roundtable discussion filmed in the center of the ring. Then we went out to feast on roast lamb and beast. Wait, that's from the Grinch, but we did have a lot of food on our plates!
Perhaps I'll put a video snippet or two from it on the site once I transfer and edit some of the material and stop frothing at the mouth like a dog in heat.
Victor
Friday, November 17, 2006
Body Scissor Mousepads and more!
Vic
Thursday, November 09, 2006
WRESTLING MERCHANDISE, OH MY!
Coming soon, you will be able to select from a wide range of wrestling tshirts, sweatshirts, athletic gear, mugs and more with great designs. Perfect for the Holidays and wrestling buddies. I'm setting up the shop now, and I've ordered a few of the products to make sure they are of good quality. You will even be able to buy WrestleMen.com logo shirts and sweats. Grrrrr!
Vic
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
BINS AND BINS OF WRESTLING
From archival photos and books, to old film reels and videos, I’ve scoured the world for the best collection of materials to use in the STRONGHOLD wrestling documentary, and at the same time making sure I get the necessary permission to use them. Scanning every image and converting film to digital video is a chore among itself. Now you can see why it takes so long to make a film. Do I hear ebay some day?
Vic
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
HOT Wrestling Overload!
Ok, I knew it was going to come to this eventually. For the past three months I was reviewing every interview I shot for the film, (over 100 interviews) and piecing out the best statements. I then categorized (umph) what turned out to be 1200 interview soundbites into the roughly 45 segments that may make up the documentary. Tonight, I've started reviewing the hours and hours of wrestling footage I shot, and piecing out the best portions. You know, looking for those 4-5 second shots that just drive you mad. It's SO hard to wittle it down, I like so much of it! Here is a still from a match that I shot. I could stare at pictures like this forever, do you feel the same way? This is how guys should be with each other every day, you think?
Ok, back to wittling down and trying to stay focused. HELP!
Vic
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Cinemarosa to Screen 'Changing Perceptions' Film
Victor
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Home is where the RING is
I just got back last weekend from interviewing one of the many men in the U.S. who, well, has a pro wrestling ring in their home! For seventeen years in this quiet townhouse community, Dean, pictured above, has allowed men from all over the world to experience the fantasy of wrestling in a pro ring which he has setup in his basement. I had the chance to talk to Dean about his passion for pro and submission wrestling, and what the neighbors think of him and his secret basement hideaway. Just one of the many great experiences while filming the STRONGHOLD documentary, which I am editing morning, noon, and night. I'm drowning in men talking about W-R-E-S-T-L-I-N-G. Help me! I cannnnn't move! I'm trapped! Smile. Vic
Friday, August 11, 2006
HotDogs for Homophobes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owF6cbhESgM
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Three Mysterious Letters
Here I hold in my hands three mysterious letters that I mailed out today. Where are they going? Who are they for?? I filmed myself typing up and then putting the letters into the mailbox. Just one of the many clips I've had to shoot for the documentary which I think you will enjoy. Click on comments below and take a stab at where you think the letters are going. You'll find out for sure when the film is released!
Vic
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Wrestling Animations
Back to editing......Vic
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Wrestling Church Signs
On my recent travels thru Michigan and Ohio, I stopped to take a few pictures of church signs that I thought you may like. Enjoy!
http://www.wrestlemen.com/churchsign2.jpg http://www.wrestlemen.com/churchsign3.jpg
http://www.wrestlemen.com/churchsign4.jpg http://www.wrestlemen.com/churchsign5.jpg
Thursday, June 01, 2006
It Pays to Chat on WrestleMen.com
Enjoy! Victor
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
'OPEN MATS' video on WrestleMen TV
http://www.wrestlemen.com/tv
Vic
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Filming a Tournament
I just returned this past weekend from filming the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Championships in Maryland. This is a regional freestyle tournament for every age group, including an open division for men 19-50 yo. My goal was to film lots of wrestling, and then pull three of the older guys out to interview them about where they practice, etc. I was surprised that the very first person I got was from my alma mater, a very small town in Western New York State. (Population: 1900) He walked by me and I saw his shirt. Wow! Turns out he is 24 AND the wrestling coach there. Great interview, and he won his match. I then found 3 other guys to interview. Ages of 19, 24, 26, and 27. Apparently there was a 72 year old competing the prior year. Over the two-day period 1400 wrestlers competed this year on a total of 15 mats.
I'll put up a clip or two on the site soon, but most of the footage is of course for the big movie.
Vic
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
FORCED Submission Article
Hey guys, Canada has always been good to me. A Vancouver writer and one of our own, Tony Correia, put together this nice article for the Xtra-west publication last week. Enjoy! Vic
http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?SessionId=f8aaaa88-9646-4220-8078-dcf9f94e3419&AFF_TYPE=4&STORY_ID=1554&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=2
Monday, April 10, 2006
'CHANGING PERCEPTIONS' wins Telly Award
Today we have been notified that our documentary, "CHANGING PERCEPTIONS: Profile of an openly gay pro wrestler," has been chosen as a winner in the 27th Annual Telly Awards. The Telly Awards are similar to the Emmy Awards for non-broadcast film and video productions. The judges are a group of over 20 highly qualified professionals in the television and film industry, and judge each entry on a 10 pt. scale against a high standard of excellence. Previous year's winners included The Discovery Channel, Warner Brothers Home Video, Walt Disney Studios, Miramax Films, The Smithsonian Institute, and PBS, to name a few. "CHANGING PERCEPTIONS" was selected as a silver winner, the highest honor, in the Sports category.
For more information on this documentary, go to http://www.gayprowrestler.com
Victor Rook, President
Rook Communications
Monday, April 03, 2006
BRAND NEW CHAT ROOM!
After years of chatting on the AOL chat room and coming up with empty screens when I check profiles, I've now made it mandatory for this room. If you are closeted, then post a headless picture with your directory listing. Hopefully you'll be man enough to show your face and realize, it's just wrestling! Keep checking the room out as I promote it throughout the web, and stick around for others to chat with. I hope to build a good momentum. Enjoy!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
KNEE DEEP IN POST PRODUCTION
The photo to the right is a poster I took to Hillside, which includes only about 1/2 of all of the people I've interviewed.
Vic
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
'BJJ is like the GAYEST sport there is!'
In case you missed it, a sitcom called "Emily's Reasons Why Not," which died after its premiere episode in January, brought us this very funny clip on BJJ. Friends of one of the girls in the show go to her boyfriend's BJJ dojo to watch him practice, and make some hilarious comments. You gotta watch this, the guy is hot too! Sorry the show did not make it. Vic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYMMKIlRNCQ
Monday, February 13, 2006
'CHANGING PERCEPTIONS' IN TOP TEN
Thanks, Vic
Friday, February 10, 2006
"Into the Blue" Wrestling
The cinematography in this movie is beautiful. Ok, Paul shirtless and wrestling made it worth it even more. I searched the internet and found this picture someone made redoing the cover art. Love it!
http://www.wrestlemen.com/blog/paulandscott.jpg
Vic
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
GAY MEDIA OUT OF TOUCH WITH GAY AMERICA
GAY MEDIA OUT OF TOUCH WITH GAY AMERICA
by Victor Rook (February 8, 2006)
As I sit here today, after having a brief online conversation with the managing editor of The Washington Blade, I think it's time that I speak for the millions of gay men and women that feel that the gay media does an extremely poor job of representing us. It doesn't take but one or two looks at the headlines of some of these publications to realize where they like to put the spin. Recently, I caught a blog entry from this same editor criticizing 'Brokeback Mountain', and its actors, from not publicly announcing that this is a gay movie. To him, he felt they were alienating the gay community. I watched this editor, over the weeks that Brokeback garnered many awards and acclaim, still hang onto that chip on his shoulder with every new post.
So this is what you have, a young editor, who has no clue about how important this movie is in changing perceptions of the public. The fact that these men are not swishing around is monumental in itself, and I applaud them for not promoting the movie as a gay movie, because it isn't. It's a movie about two men that have both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. So many in the gay media feel that everything must be labeled gay, or compartmentalized to be either a "gay" thing or a "straight" thing, they miss out on the big picture. They latch onto that 'g' word as if their lives depended on it. Of course, that may be the case. If they can't divide every story into a gay or straight story, they wouldn't have a publication. The world is just not that simple, sexuality is not that simple, so much so that maybe it's finally time to throw out those labels, or at least tell stories about real men and women, who identify as gay, who don't fit the stereotypes that these publications constantly promote.
And so I had a very short conversation with this editor of the Washington Blade. Three weeks prior I had sent him a press release on a documentary I produced on the first openly gay pro wrestler in the history of the sport, entitled "CHANGING PERCEPTIONS: Profile of an openly gay pro wrestler." A true story about a man who, in line with the Brokeback Mountain men, does not exhibit the stereotypes so often promoted in the gay media. Of course, this is about a real person, named Simon Sermon, who has wrestled for nearly six years in the most rural of areas in the southeastern U.S., and has changed those audiences perceptions of what it is to be gay or a gay athlete. There are no feather boas or pigtails with Simon. He goes out there and kicks ass like every other wrestler. This is truly historical when you consider the decades of false "gay" characters that professional wrestling has exhibited to us, played by heterosexual men.
Is this man worthy of coverage? Absolutely. Here's how my conversation went with the Blade editor. "Hi, what does a guy have to do to get coverage in the Blade. (smile)" Response: "How did you get my AIM name?" My response, "I opened an email I sent to you and saw you were online and took a chance at contacting you." "I don't remember getting that, resend it to me." "OK," I said. Then he blocked my IM.
You can watch a trailer for CHANGING PERCEPTIONS at gayprowrestler.com.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
WrestleMen TV Launched
Check out WrestleMen TV where you can watch entire wrestling DVDs online at http://www.wrestlemen.com/tv .
Thursday, February 02, 2006
WRESTLEMEN TV Coming Soon...
Monday, January 23, 2006
Wrestling in the Movies
http://www.wrestlemen.com/screamers.wmv
Vic
Thursday, January 19, 2006
A Film in the Making
Victor
Monday, January 16, 2006
Brokeback Mountain Wins BIG!
This really is an incredibly historic moment in film history. It will be very hard for filmmakers in the mass industry to return to the same ole perceptions because of this movie's success, and message. I hope you have had the chance to see it. Now, cross your fingers for an Oscar win.
Vic
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
My Speedos Stalker
The next day I took him out to breakfast, gave him a free book and video, and took him all the way back into the Union Station and waited for his train with him. After he was gone I was a bit angry with myself for letting someone be so downright disrespectful to me, especially when I was hosting him. But I wanted to be the best host, and knew I wouldn't have to see him again.
Well, I got home and noticed my favorite white speedos were gone. The ones pictured here that I wrestled in the Scissorcams with, etc. It clicked in my head that he had told me how much he'd get off to those clips. I looked and looked and never found them.
Yesterday he tried to rejoin my site and list himself in the directory. I confronted him with my suspicions and wanting my speedos back, and low and behold, he said he had them. He claimed "I planted them" in his bag for him to have. Oh lord. He said he'd send them back to me in a week or so.
This morning I realized that I didn't want anyone else to get caught up with this person, so I removed his listing and sent him an email telling him why. He immediately called my home (god, he kept my phone number) and left a message on my answering machine, and he now says he "threw my speedos away" because he wanted nothing to do with me after he left my house. And here he is trying to rejoin my site. The phone message and emails have been kept on file, just in case.
I don't think I've ever publicly talked about some of the people I've met, because these things should be private; but I thought it was necessary for me to write something about this to warn other people. Really get to know the people you meet before letting them in your house. Even if you hit it off well on the phone, talk often before meeting. And don't let them stay the night on the first visit.
I think most people are generally good and want to have a good time like everyone else, but there are still some rather oddballs out there running low on their lithium supplies. What pisses me off the most is I miss my speedos! I got them in exchange for a video at Okie Rumble a few years ago, and they were my first pair. Sigh.
Vic