Local Boys Make Movie
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Their second film–tentatively titled Objects, but “we’re leaning strongly toward” changing the name to Peoria Babylon, says Diller–is about two good friends, Jon and Candy, who own Peoria’s “most prestigious and only art gallery.” When business goes into a slump, the two devise a scheme to attract the attention of the international art world that winds up backfiring and leaves them at the mercy of a notorious gangster. In Diller’s story, Jon also happens to be gay and in love with an art student. The homosexual angle gave the filmmakers a chance to have some fun: in their vision of gay life in Peoria, there’s only one gay bar, a mere 20 homosexuals in the town, and the gay bar’s denizens dress up in different “costumes” each evening, appearing as drag queens one night only to return as guppies or in leather the next.
With a story they liked, Caplan and Diller drew up a business plan to pitch to investors. Their research indicated that recent low-budget films with some gay aspect had typically grossed between $500,000 and $5 million at the box office, while a few surprise exceptions such as The Crying Game had raked in more than $60 million. Based on the examples of the more modest, lower-grossing independent features, the two filmmakers estimated their project would cost around $375,000 to produce and could generate around $2.5 million at the box office.
