Freestyle Digital Media To Release Byron Allen’s Freestyle Digital Media will release legendary artist and AIDS activist Vincent Gagliostro’s debut feature After Louie on March 30, 2018 in New York City, day-and-date with a VOD release on digital HD across cable, internet and satellite platforms.

After Louie stars Alan Cumming ( The Good Wife) as Sam, an artist and activist from ACT UP who lived through the early years of HIV/AIDS and is struggling with survivor’s guilt and Zachary Booth ( Last Weekend) as Braeden, a seductive younger man that Sam meets in a bar.

The pair drop their pants and quickly thereafter Sam drops his emotional guard. They develop an intergenerational relationship that reawakens Sam’s artistic soul and reviving his wilted heart.

Beyond the evocative performances and setting, After Louie is a love letter to New York City: engaging its rich backdrop, while honoring the history of the gay rights movement and the progress that’s been made. Amid the arguments over politics, loss, aging, white privilege and the dark side of gay sexuality, After Louie offers up a pervasively wicked sense of humor and a big, generous, survivor’s heart.

My film After Louie is a portrait of what happened to us — the generation who endured the AIDS epidemic, a generation whose shared history continues to haunt us. In confronting the end of a traumatic era and provoking a conversation between generations, I dare us to dream of a new and vibrant future, again. After Louie is a testament to the joys of the fully lived life and the inseparability of art and living. — Vincent Gagliostro

Running Time: 100m
Rating: NR
Language: English
Cast: Alan Cumming, Zachary Booth, Sarita Choudhury, David Drake, Joseph Arias, Justin Vivian Bond, Eric Berryman, Patrick Breen, Wilson Cruz
Director: Vincent Gagliostro
Written by: Vincent Gagliostro, Anthony Johnston
Producers: Lauren Belfer, Bryce J. Renninger, and Alan Cumming
Executive Producers: Jeff Wolk, Vincent Gagliostro, and Andrew Tobias

About Vincent Gagliostro, writer/director:

Gagliostro began his professional career as an art director in the worlds of fashion and beauty, creating campaigns for a variety of major brands while working with renowned photographers, including Bill King, Steven Meisel and Bert Stern. In a special collaboration with Richard Avedon, they created the award winning campaign for Hush Puppies Shoes, which went on to win the coveted CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Award for best accessories, as well as being cited by Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point, crediting the campaign as a pivotal example of when a trend crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Gagliostro’s career has included among other things working with celebrities such as Raquel Welch, Lauren Hutton and the recording artist Prince for whom he art directed three award-winning music videos.

In 1987, Gagliostro became a founding member of ACT UP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), and chaired the Communication and Graphics Outreach group. New York Magazine (September 30, 1996 issue) lauded him for his “in your face” graphic, “make no apologies” style, and cited him as one of the six most influential players in the gay community at that time.

In the early 90’s Gagliostro started a quarterly journal titled, XXXFRUIT, which was then commissioned by the Whitney Museum for an online version. At the same time he was the creative director of QW, a New York weekly gay news magazine.

For the past ten years, Gagliostro’s focus has been on multidisciplinary installations with an emphasis on film/video. He was a contributing cinematographer for the Oscar nominated documentary, How To Survive a Plague. His short films have shown in film festivals and art fairs internationally. He has recently lectured at Yale on the subject of Art and Activism.

Photo (above): Zachary Booth (L) and Alan Cumming (R) in After Louie.