Piece Of Cake Lgbt Short Film Full Movie

Los Angles based actress Ella Lentini chats exclusively with We Blab Entertainment Magazine about, working with Selena Gomez, writing her first project 'Piece of Cake', and highlighting LGBT issues through her passion project 'The Riot Life'.

Piece of Cake is a brilliant short film about, sarcastic Jessie and her free-spirited girlfriend Alex. Can you tell us how you come to write this film?
Thank you so much!! Oh man..When I first wrote this project, I was making sense of my own identity. It's really cool how my Generation is becoming more and more accepting; rejecting labels and embracing gender fluidity, but there still are people who don't understand.. And self-acceptance is hard enough. We don't need other people telling us who we should be or how we should love.. So I guess you could say I wrote because I HAD to write. It was the only place I could be honest and felt safe. To me that's the beauty of film - often it says what we aren't quite able to say in our real lives. I think any artist can relate to that, at times it's almost like being creatively possessed, by a character, or place, or feeling, that needs to be expressed.
​I also read this beautiful article about a girl who come to her parents with a cake, and it made me realize I'm not the only feeling alone, and what if I could just reach one person. I gave my Producer-Co-Founder, R.W Reinhardt, four honest, messy pages, and he said 'This is Great. Now let's make it better.' And really Piece of Cake is what it is because of our team, and I'm so grateful to have that creative community.

You’re the founder of The Riot Life, which helps LGBT teens with bullying issues. Can you tell us why you started The Riot Life?
The Riot Life supports LGBT teens, and beyond that, humans everywhere. I was inspired to help create this community because I felt like there wasn't one for me. It really is more of an idea than a brand. It's a lifestyle and an attitude. An inviting place where creatives are encouraged to collaborate and make that inspires the world to 'Live Free. Love Endlessly. Stay Weird.'

​I think it starts with young filmmakers, like myself and the people I work with who are passionate to tell diverse stories and are not afraid of voicing their own experiences and struggles through film and TV. As storytellers we have to be extremely empathetic and listen. Listening is the key to acting, and I think the key to directing and writing as well. If you listen close enough, and I think Moonlight winning best picture (the first LGBT film to ever win best picture) is a testament that we not only need but want authentic LGBT stories and characters.
​We need to break the stereotypes - enough with the comedic gay best friend - it may be a characteristic but sexuality is not an archetype and it needs to stop being treated that way in film and TV. An archetype is the hero, the rebel, the wanderer - and last time I checked the hero, or heroine, can be LGBT too.

That was my first big job in LA! I worked on Law & Order: SVU in NYC, so I was familiar with TV sets but The Wizards Return was multi-cam which is a whole other format. I played Selena’s cousin, Francesca. It was a blast. Selena is so talented & hilarious, just such a badass. I have so much respect for her; especially after hearing that speech she gave at AMA’s about feeling broken. When she said, “I don’t want to see your bodies, I want to see what’s inside here {your heart}.” I was like, “YAS QUEEN, SLAY.” I always tell people, I don’t care what you do; tell me what sets your heart on fire.

​Working on Until Dawn was one of my favorite experiences. We worked with motion capture - which is such a cool new technology. We shot on a sound stage, in large a green room, wearing these helmet-back-brace contraptions and had dots drawn on our faces. It wasn’t glamorous at all, but that almost made it better. We had to use 100% of our imaginations to create the world we were supposed to be in, while acting with each other through these Daft Punk style helmets. Also the cast was so incredible. Rami Malek, who plays my brother, Josh, brings so much vulnerability to the character… That’s the kind of acting career I would love to emulate. Just need my Mr. Robot.

​My main advice is, just make stuff. Make plays. Make films. On your iPhone or a DSLR, it doesn’t matter. Get on any set you can and learn from anyone who will teach you. And most importantly make it for yourself. Stay true to what it is you really want to say. Originality is always in demand.

​I’m directing and acting in another short I wrote with The Riot Life, Chasing Unicorns. It’s super fantastical and stylized. My DP, Corey C. Waters has spent a lot of time on rollerblades to get the shots we need. Lol. A feature film I acted in, Art Show Bingo, should be released later this year… I’m also launching/directing a YouTube series called #RIOTGIRL on The Riot Life’s channel which will feature some badass female collaborators.
​I really want to inspire girls to break barriers. As a little girl I wished I was a boy, not because I physically wanted to be a boy but because I hated being what I was told to be as a girl - so I’m hoping the #RIOTGIRL series will speak to those little girls all over who feel the same way.