BSU struggles with questions on erotic film

Muncie director says university knew he worked in porn industry

Controversy about a recently released vampire pornographic film is putting Ball State University in the spotlight, and officials are scrambling to answer questions involving a situation they know little about.

When Ball State allowed Muncie native Christopher Gregory to film a vampire horror movie in the Kitselmann Center, which houses the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, the university was misled about the erotic nature of the movie, Provost Terry King said.

"It was portrayed as a horror film," he said. "It was described as a gothic vampire film. Clearly, no one on Ball State's faculty and staff would ever condone anything with questionable content."

Gregory said he never misled Ball State about the content, and the university should have understood he was making an edgy, erotic horror film. He never explained to officials what exactly that meant, he said.

"As a filmmaker, when I make a movie, I do this with the full intent of being creative and keeping content of a story line private because," Gregory said, "I think if you give too much away you can run into problems with individuals down the road who may not like what I did."

While the filming was done during Fall 2004, Gregory signed two location agreements, in 2002 and to film movies tentatively titled "Bride of Dracula" and "Nightscream." The agreements do not describe film content.

When Ball State agreed to allowed Gregory to use the Kitselmann Center, officials did not know he was in the porn industry, King said. The resume he submitted showed he worked for Disney, Lucas Films and public television.

Because the resume made Gregory appear to work with children and public shows, the university didn't see any red flags, King said, so it did not do any further research into Gregory and his work.

He has also worked for Hustler and other companies that produce porn and Gregory said Ball State should have known what he would produce. He said the university knew what business he was in.

"I find it very ironic that they knew in advance they were working with a porn director," Gregory said.

The five students who acted in the film knew it was pornographic, Gregory said. Most were telecommunications majors, and they asked that their names not be released, he said. The stars of "Vampire Diaries" were porn actresses from Los Angeles. Gregory advertised in local businesses such as Dill Street Bar & Grill, to recruit the students, he said.

"It could come back to haunt them," Gregory said. "They all knew full well and they were all briefed about the project. Everyone knew they were doing a soft-core erotic XXX film. I can't control everyone. I can't make the rules of life."

King said the university is not sure what, if any, legal action it will take against Gregory. According to the location release agreement, Gregory was not allowed to show he filmed at Ball State, and the university cannot sue for libel or slander.

Although King hopes university employees would keep an eye on any activities at Ball State, he said, that does not always happen, which is why no one knew about the film's content until recently. Besides passing all contracts through Business Affairs for examination, he did not name specific measures Ball State will take to ensure projects like this do not happen again. However, he ensured they wouldn't.

People watching the video would not know it was filmed at Ball State, Gregory said. He took care to not show university logos or anything that indicates where it was filmed, he said.

Concerns about pornography, especially on a university campus, are fueling the controversy around the movie and placing Ball State in a hot spot. King is fielding questions from the media, but said he did not like attention focused on the porn film rather than the projects Ball State does.

"I think it's unfortunate," he said. "It distracts from the wonderful resource the Virginia Ball Center is for Ball State. To an extent it's being overshadowed. I'm kind of dismayed."

While publicity for "Vampire Diaries" is not welcomed by Ball State, Gregory said he has had more than 100,000 hits on his Web site during the past two days. Criticism does not bother him because porn has become part of society, he said. He plans to continue making both horror and horror-porn films, and his company, Midnite Films, is based in Los Angeles. He is looking to expand it to Muncie and said he intends to do more filming in the area.

"I don't aspire to go the Oscar route," he said. "That's just not what I want to do. People want to harp on what I'm doing. I think there's a lot more important things to this world than two consenting adults having sex."

"Vampire Diaries"

An 18th-century vampire creates other female vampires and explores her sexuality as a college student in the 21st century.

Length - 38 minutes

Genre - Erotic Horror

More information on the film available at www.glassceilingstudios.com

More information on the producer available at www.midnite-films.com

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