Fleshing out an East End 'Orgy'

A good old-fashioned hmm-hmm. That's roughly what filmmaker Alex Gregory mumbles when parents at his children's preschool ask the title of his upcoming film.

"I do the same thing," admits Gregory's filmmaking partner, Pete Huyck. "It's called 'A Good Old Fashioned . . . ,' and I just trail off."

The comedy, "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy" -- yes, the "O" word -- opens on Long Island Friday, starring "Saturday Night Live's" Jason Sudeikis as Eric, a Hamptonite whose dad (Don Johnson) is selling the family summer home. For Eric's friends (including Lake Bell, Lindsay Sloane and Tyler Labine), losing the place means the end of an era. Then, a brainstorm: Hold an orgy as a last hurrah.

"We always envisioned the movie as a classic 'will they, won't they' love story," Huyck says. "But about friends."

"The title's actually ironic," Sudeikis says. "It's probably more 'Good Old Fashioned' than 'Orgy.' "

Not that they don't deliver on the "O." One can say -- without giving too much away -- that Eric throws one heckuva party. Though not everyone attends.

But that's much further than other casts have gone in previous generational ensemble pictures like "The Big Chill," "St. Elmo's Fire" or "Reality Bites," or other sex comedies like "Risky Business," "Wedding Crashers," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" or "Superbad."

"We're the MTV generation, and were introduced to sexuality at a much younger age," Sloane says. "But this film deals with it in a very real way."

It was still a hard sell. Gregory and Huyck (writing partners who've worked with David Letterman and Garry Shandling) co-wrote the script for their co-directorial debut. They reached out to actors and "every person passed," Gregory says.

"Every single one," Huyck emphasizes.

Actors eventually came around after reading the script.

Filming wasn't any easier. They couldn't afford to shoot on Long Island, but "you cannot fake the Hamptons -- the beaches are so spectacular," Huyck says.

They wound up picking Wilmington, N.C., but shot as many East End cameos -- The Stephen Talkhouse (their fave bar), Sag Harbor Cinema, Hampton Jitney -- as they could. Keeping it authentic was key.

There's an unmistakable allure -- beyond the A-list celebs, society functions and hedges grown tall so ordinary mortals can't peer in -- that comes with living on the East End. Anyone lucky enough to own or rent a home there can feel it, as can that special subcategory of visitors, the friends of East Enders, who snag space in spare guest rooms, on couches and sun porches, and who -- for a short time, maybe -- vicariously live the dream.

It's a quintessentially Northeastern feeling, say the filmmakers, who grew up in the tristate area and now live in Los Angeles. Californians, they feel, take the beach more for granted, perhaps because the seasons don't change much. For New Yorkers in cramped apartments, the fabled Hamptons summer share is a lifeline.

"I remember feeling imprisoned all winter," says Gregory, recalling his New York days. "Come summer, weekends really, really mattered."

Gregory grew up in a middle-class New Jersey family. Dad was a college professor. The first summer the family ventured east, "we spent weekends sleeping in a car in the parking lot of Gosman's restaurant in Montauk," he says. "My dad is a pathological fisherman, and when he discovered the fish out there, that was it."

They eventually found a place in Amagansett.

Huyck, too, spent time out east, but both make clear: They're not jet-setters. Their Hamptons trifecta? Barbecues, board games and beach.

Infusing their cast with such laid-back camaraderie was a top priority.

"The set was summer camp -- we had every meal together, became the best of friends," says Sloane.

The actors bonded. But the sex scenes were still awkward.

"There was a lot of flesh-colored underwear," she admits.

To show solidarity, Gregory and Huyck shot scenes in their boxers. The burly crew took off their shirts. Gregory even mooned the camera to get a flesh tone during a lighting test.

"We wanted to be in the same boat as our actors," Huyck says.

Oh, the cast made sure of that.

In one scene, Lake Bell takes a paddle to Nick Kroll's rump. "We asked for more takes," Gregory says. "The cast was like, 'If Alex and Pete want another take, they should know how it feels.' "

So, one at a time, the co-directors laid over Bell's lap, instructing her to hit them as hard as she could.

"I made up my mind I wouldn't flinch," Gregory says.

"He didn't," Huyck confirms. "I screamed like crazy."

Surely Scorsese or Spielberg never had it this rough.

Beyond the jokes about paddling, the film is about friendship, and the filmmakers feel that adds to the Hamptons' appeal as much as all the bling and enormous wealth.

The movie reminded Sudeikis of Overland Park, Kan., where he grew up and the popular retreat is going to a lake house in the Ozarks. "It doesn't need to be this upper-crust thing," he says. "It can just be a place with a pontoon boat where you do some tubing."

Getaways like these share a secret. They force you to slow down. For go-go New Yorkers, it's a welcome change.

"There's not much to do in the Hamptons," Gregory says. "You can't drive. You walk, bike. You just have to be -- in this beautiful setting. And that's a wonderful thing."

"It gets you to focus on the friends you're with," Huyck says. "That's what the movie is all about."