Director’s Statement:

 

 

I wrote First Time Long Time as a satirical reaction to the endless onslaught of erectile dysfunction commercials we are bombarded with daily.  One day we woke up in America and it was acceptable for drug companies to go directly to the consumer and paint compelling visuals that made us want to live better lives.  There is one particular commercial where a group of men improbably sit in a circle playing guitar and sing about their sex lives.  They change the words to "Viva Las Vegas" describing how a drug has helped them recapture their past.  So now they were  bringing Elvis into it and would HE want people using drugs recreationally in a consequence free environment?  ....... er never-mind.

 

Strategically placed at the end of these commercials, an announcer comes on in a monotone voice and describes the possible side effects of the ED drugs.   One of the side effects casually mentioned is of course priapism or, more precisely, "an erection lasting more than 4 hours."  I began to think about what that moment must be like for those unlucky few who become inflicted.  The evening must have began so optimistically for the couple only to end with a forlorn debate about a humiliating trip to the emergency room.

 

Ultimately FTLT is a comedy and to that end the subject provided ample opportunity for humor.  It's hard not to find comedy in someone walking around with an erection out of context and performing everyday tasks.  But where the story became more interesting to me, and ultimately to the actors, was in finding the humanity in "Peter's" plight.  We decided to explore the three dimensionality of the character rather than have a walking punch-line.  I think there is an inclination to take this kind of material over the top and we all agreed that we didn’t want the film to do that.  As a result, the audience becomes more invested in the story because they relate to the situation rather than remain safely on the sidelines pointing and laughing.  "Nothing human is foreign to me," as the famous quote goes, sums it up well.

 

Of course the problems for "Peter" don't end with just a case of priapism.  We see how other drugs, non-pharmaceutical ones, can be just as tempting. In this sense FTLT is both a comedy and tragedy in the tradition of the Greeks.  But lets not make too much of it all, it's okay to enjoy the film just as a d*ck joke movie too.    

 

 

Jim