Some Nudity Required


Photo Courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival

Within the first fifteen minutes of Some Nudity Required, filmmaker Odette Springer asks the question, "How did I go from Beethoven to B movies?" Thus starts a tale that is both personal and investigative. Trained from childhood as a classical musician, she ventures to Hollywood in the 1990s, where she ends up as the music supervisor for over fifty Roger Corman erotic/slasher/action adventure movies.

The B-movie genre has a long history in Hollywood. In the early years, most major studios made B pictures as part of their regular lineup, using them as minor-league training grounds for future stars. In the 1960s and 1970s, several of today's best-known stars and directors were apprenticing in this low-budget world, including Jack Nicholson, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese.

Although at first put off by the nudity, sexual exploitation, and violence of B movies, Springer eventually becomes both fascinated and turned on by the films. Making Some Nudity Required is Springer's opportunity to question her involvement in the industry. She takes the viewer on a journey to meet many of its top stars, producers, and directors: Maria Ford, actress in over forty films; Julie Strain, actress and 1993 Penthouse Pet of the year; Roger Corman; and pioneer Samuel Z. Arkoff. Woven throughout in voice-over is Springer's own story of growing up, longing for a father who disappeared, and being doted on by an extended family. In the process, a hidden memory is revealed that leads Springer to walk away from the B-movie world.

- Gail Silva

Directed by: Johanna Demetrakas, Odette Springer
Written by: Johanna Demetrakas, Odette Springer
Produced by: Odette Springer
Original Music by: Odette Springer