Stephen Sayadian

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Stephen Sayadian
Born (1953-10-18) 18 October 1953 (age 70)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Pen nameRinse Dream
Occupationcreative director, production designer, film & video director
Years active1980s, 1990s

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

He was the advertising creative director for Larry Flynt Publications and an acclaimed art director & production designer responsible for some of the most iconic VHS box art covers and movie posters of the 1980’s before he wrote, produced, and directed underground films, including Nightdreams (1981), Café Flesh (1982), and Dr. Caligari (1989). [2]

Career

Sayadian began his career as a magazine satirist, having submitted work to Mad Magazine, Marvel Comics, and National Lampoon. In the fall of 1976 Sayadian - just 23 years old - took his portfolio to publisher Larry Flynt, who hired him on the spot as the creative director in charge of humor and advertising for Larry Flynt Publications, where he conceptualized highly controversial and profitable ad campaigns for Hustler magazine. [3] [4]

After relocating to Hustler’s new Los Angeles headquarters in 1978, Sayadian shifted his focus away from the magazine but continued to work on a contract basis. He started an art direction company named Wolfe Studio with photographer Francis Delia, designing one-sheet imagery for many classic VHS box art covers and film posters of the 1980’s, including Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill, John Carpenter’s The Fog, and Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse. [5] [6] [7]

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 utilized recycled sets from Wolfe Studio’s Dressed to Kill and The Funhouse photoshoots to save money. [8] [9] [10]

The trio followed up the horror themed Nightdreams with the post-apocalyptic science-fiction themed Café Flesh in 1982 with Sayadian (Rinse Dream) 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. [11]

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 and John Waters' Pink Flamingos as they toured the country. [12]

The April 1984 edition of Hustler (volume 10, issue 10) featured an expensive and ambitious 21 page spread that Sayadian produced and directed in collaboration with musician Frank Zappa for his new triple album Thing-Fish. Larry Flynt was going to pay for the production of a Broadway show based on the album, however the cost of the Thing-Fish magazine shoot was not matched by an increase in sales, so Flynt backed out. [13]

In 1989 Sayadin co-wrote (with Stahl), art directed, production designed, costume designed, photographed and directed the avant-garde horror erotic 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. [14]

Sayadian's career came to a halt in 1995 when he was informed that he had advanced cirrhosis of the liver and had six months to live. He survived but was seriously ill for the next ten years before receiving a liver transplant in 2008. [15]

Filmography

  • Nightdreams (1981) film co-written and produced as Rinse Dream
  • Café Flesh (1982) film co-written and directed as Rinse Dream
  • Do It Again (1987) music video for Wall of Voodoo as Stephen Sayadian
  • Dr. Caligari (1989) film co-written and directed as Stephen Sayadian
  • Nightdreams II (1990) film co-written and directed as Rinse Dream
  • Party Doll A Go-Go! (1991) video written and directed as Rinse Dream
  • Party Doll A Go-Go! Part 2 (1991) video written and directed as Rinse Dream
  • Nightdreams 3 (1991) video written and directed as Rinse Dream
  • Untamed Cowgirls of the Wild West Part 1: The Pillowbiters (1993) video written and directed as Rinse Dream
  • Untamed Cowgirls of the Wild West Part 2: Jammy Glands from the Rio Grande (1993) video written and directed as Rinse Dream

Awards

Further reading

  • "The Surreal Visions of Rinse Dream", Ultra Violent Magazine, Issue #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 #59 (Spring 2007)

References

  1. ^ "Rinse Dream - internet adult film database". iafd.com. Retrieved 2015-04-21.
  2. ^ Smith, Jacob. "Sound and Performance in Stephen Sayadian's: Night Dreams and Cafe Flesh". Gale Academic One File. University of Texas at Austin (University of Texas Press). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  3. ^ Smith, Jacob. "Sound and Performance in Stephen Sayadian's: Night Dreams and Cafe Flesh". Gale Academic One File. University of Texas at Austin (University of Texas Press). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  4. ^ Castel, Jacqueline. "The Music of Café Flesh". Screenslate. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  5. ^ Smith, Jacob. "Sound and Performance in Stephen Sayadian's: Night Dreams and Cafe Flesh". Gale Academic One File. University of Texas at Austin (University of Texas Press). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  6. ^ Castel, Jacqueline. "The Music of Café Flesh". Screenslate. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  7. ^ Croll, Ben. "Stephen Sayadian Is 'The Most Interesting Man In The World'". screenanarchy. Etrange.
  8. ^ Smith, Jacob. "Sound and Performance in Stephen Sayadian's: Night Dreams and Cafe Flesh". Gale Academic One File. University of Texas at Austin (University of Texas Press). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  9. ^ Castel, Jacqueline. "The Music of Café Flesh". Screenslate. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  10. ^ Croll, Ben. "Stephen Sayadian Is 'The Most Interesting Man In The World'". screenanarchy. Etrange.
  11. ^ Peary, Danny (1988). Cult Movies 3. Simon & Schuster Inc. pp. 52–56. ISBN 0-671-64810-1.
  12. ^ Croll, Ben. "Stephen Sayadian Is 'The Most Interesting Man In The World'". screenanarchy. Etrange.
  13. ^ "The Reprobate".
  14. ^ Chalon Smith, Mark. "Movie Review : 'Dr. Caligari' Offers a Dose of Nuttiness". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times.
  15. ^ Croll, Ben. "Stephen Sayadian Is 'The Most Interesting Man In The World'". screenanarchy. Etrange.
  16. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20080828010022/http://www.bwdl.net/XRCO-2/hall.htm
  17. ^ "The XRCO Hall of Fame", Adam Film World Guide 1993 Directory of Adult Films. p. 279.
  18. ^ "Hillary Scott Big Winner at XRCO Awards". XBIZ. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  19. ^ "XRCO 2006 AWARD CATEGORIES, NOMINATIONS, AND WINNERS". 5 April 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  20. ^ "Class of 2017: The AVN Hall of Fame's Newest Inductees". AVN. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.

External links


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