Stephen Sayadian

Stephen Sayadian
Born (1953-10-18) October 18, 1953 (age 71)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Pen nameRinse Dream
OccupationCreative director, production designer, film director
Years active1980s–1990s

Stephen Sayadian, also known as Rinse Dream, is a multimedia artist who was active in the 1980s and 1990s.[1]

He was the advertising creative director for Larry Flynt Publications and an art director and production designer for VHS box art covers and movie posters of the 1980s. Later, he wrote, produced, and directed underground films, including Nightdreams (1981), Café Flesh (1982), and Dr. Caligari (1989).[1]

Career

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Sayadian began his career as a magazine satirist, having submitted work to Mad, Marvel Comics, and National Lampoon. In the fall of 1976, Sayadian took his portfolio to publisher Larry Flynt. who immediately hired him as the creative director of humor and advertising for Larry Flynt Publications, where he conceptualized ad campaigns for Hustler.[1][2]

After Hustler relocated to Los Angeles in 1978, Sayadian continued to work with the magazine as a contractor. He founded Wolfe Studio, an art direction company, with photographer Francis Delia. Together they designed one-sheet imagery for film posters and VHS box covers of the 1980s, including Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill (1980), John Carpenter's The Fog (1980), and Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse (1981).[1][2][3]

In 1981, Sayadian and Delia teamed with former Hustler writer Jerry Stahl and began collaborating on avant-garde pornographic films. It was at this time that Sayadian began using the pseudonym Rinse Dream because of the risk involved with using his actual name for creating pornographic films. Nightdreams (1981) was co-written by Sayadian (as Rinse Dream) and Stahl (as Herbert W. Day) with Delia (as F.X. Pope) behind the camera as the cinematographer and director. Nightdreams was produced on a budget of $65,000 and used recycled sets from Wolfe Studio's Dressed to Kill and The Funhouse photoshoots to save money.[1][2][3]

The trio followed up the horror themed Nightdreams with the post-apocalyptic science-fiction themed Café Flesh in 1982 with Sayadian as the director. The film had a budget of $100,000 and was made in two separate parts, using the non-pornographic elements of the film to attract financiers.[4]

Nightdreams and Café Flesh were financially unsuccessful in the pornographic market, but they broke house records as midnight movies and replaced David Lynch's Eraserhead (1977) and John Waters' Pink Flamingos (1972) as they toured the country.[3]

The April 1984 edition of Hustler featured a 21-page spread that Sayadian produced and directed in collaboration with musician Frank Zappa for his triple album Thing-Fish (1984). Flynt was going to pay for the production of a Broadway show based on the spread but reversed his decision when Thing-Fish did not result in increased magazine sales.[5]

In 1989, Sayadian directed and co-wrote with Stahl the film Dr. Caligari, whose title is inspired by the 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Made on a budget of $175,000, the film went on to become a midnight movie that found a cult following after it was released on home video.[6]

Sayadian continued to write and direct surreal alt porn films as Rinse Dream, releasing a total of six feature length video releases between 1990 and 1993 before advanced cirrhosis impeded further work. Initially told by doctors that he had six months to live, Sayadian was seriously ill for over a decade before receiving a liver transplant in 2008.[3]

Filmography

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  • 1981: Nightdreams – film; co-writer and producer (as Rinse Dream)
  • 1982: Café Flesh – film; co-writer and director (as Rinse Dream)
  • 1987: "Do It Again" – music video for Wall of Voodoo; director
  • 1989: Dr. Caligari – film; co-writer and director
  • 1990: Nightdreams II – film; co-writer and director (as Rinse Dream)
  • 1991: Party Doll A Go-Go – home video; writer and director (as Rinse Dream)
  • 1991: Party Doll A Go-Go Part 2 – home video; writer and director (as Rinse Dream)
  • 1991: Nightdreams 3 – home video; writer and director (as Rinse Dream)
  • 1993: Untamed Cowgirls of the Wild West Part 1: The Pillowbiters – home video; writer and director (as Rinse Dream)
  • 1993: Untamed Cowgirls of the Wild West Part 2: Jammy Glands from the Rio Grande – home video; writer and director (as Rinse Dream)
  • 2015: The Art of the Sell: Stephen Sayadian – featurette included in the Criterion Collection's Blu-ray release of Dressed to Kill; commentator[7]

Awards

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Further reading

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  • "The Surreal Visions of Rinse Dream", Ultra Violent Magazine, Issue No. 4 (2002)
  • "Dr. Caligari" in: Gods in Spandex: A Survivors' Account of 80s Cinema Obscura. (UK: Succubus Press, 2007)
  • Smith, Jacob. "Sound and Performance in Stephen Sayadian's Night Dreams and Café Flesh", The Velvet Light Trap No. 59 (Spring 2007)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Smith, Jacob (22 March 2007). "Sound and Performance in Stephen Sayadian's: Night Dreams and Cafe Flesh". Velvet Light Trap. 59 (59). University of Texas at Austin (University of Texas Press): 15–30. doi:10.1353/vlt.2007.0007. S2CID 190124808. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Castel, Jacqueline. "The Music of Café Flesh". Screen Slate. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Croll, Ben (20 September 2013). "Stephen Sayadian Is 'The Most Interesting Man in the World'". Screen Anarchy.
  4. ^ Peary, Danny (1988). Cult Movies 3. Simon & Schuster. pp. 52–56. ISBN 0-671-64810-1.
  5. ^ "Thing-Fish: Frank Zappa And Stephen Sayadian's Satirical Photo Fantasy For Larry Flynt's Hustler". Desperate Living: Cultural Chaos and Forgotten Stories. 27 May 2018.
  6. ^ Smith, Mark Chalon (13 July 1995). "Movie Review : 'Dr. Caligari' Offers a Dose of Nuttiness". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ Dr. Svet Atanasov (September 3, 2015). "Dressed to Kill Blu-ray (Second Printing)".
  8. ^ "访问错误". Archived from the original on 2008-08-28.
  9. ^ "The XRCO Hall of Fame". Adam Film World Guide 1993 Directory of Adult Films. Vol. 7, no. 2. p. 279.
  10. ^ "Hillary Scott Big Winner at XRCO Awards". Xbiz. 6 April 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  11. ^ "XRCO 2006 AWARD CATEGORIES, NOMINATIONS, AND WINNERS". dirtybob.com. 5 April 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Class of 2017: The AVN Hall of Fame's Newest Inductees". AVN. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
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