‘Naked Pool Party’ is a queer cinematic phenomenon, and you can see it this week at a leather bar

Most local short films quietly debut, find a modest, niche audience and slip away. “Naked Pool Party,” the new comedy short from Fort Worth’s Dario Studios, had other plans — arriving with a splash and a poolside chaise full of glorious, unbothered nudity. It has done what most local films only dream about. It sold out an entire auditorium at Studio Movie Grill, and then the larger room they scrambled to book. And now, for anyone who missed the first cannonball, it’s coming back for a free encore at the leather gay bar, the Dallas Eagle, on July 30th.

The movie’s plot is deceptively simple. Three gay friends—Frankie (Trevor VanArsdale), the fearless ringleader; Oscar (Anthony Ortega), the shy one clinging to his towel; and Chris (Jorge Oldez), freshly heartbroken and dragged along against his will—decide to attend their very first naked pool party. What follows is a 31-minute plunge into comedy, chaos and a surprising amount of heart.

Two husbands, one dry-erase board

Behind the camera stand Carlos Suarez and Jorge Jimenez, husbands and creative partners who run Dario Studios out of Fort Worth. Suarez wears roughly every hat possible — director, co-writer, producer, cinematographer and editor. while Jimenez co-writes, produces and handles makeup. Together with longtime writing partner Blake Pichon, they built “Naked Pool Party” the old-fashioned way: standing at a dry-erase board, mapping the arcs of three very different men until their stories balanced.

The inspiration for the story came from two places. The energy and spectacle of Dallas Pride lit the initial spark. The specific premise, though, was born poolside at their friend David Moore’s place in Arlington, where the husbands kept clocking the wonderfully strange cast of characters drifting through. Life, as it turns out, was already writing the script, they just added dialogue and a bit more cake. Moore, the generous host that he is, lent his home for the three-day shoot and even has a cameo as an Uber driver.

Suarez directs with the patience of someone who wants options. You could lovingly compare his approach to David Fincher—multiple takes, multiple angles, coverage for days. The goal is a wealth of footage to shape post-production. If that means running a scene all day until the water splashes in the light perfectly, so be it.

“The juice was definitely worth the squeeze on this one,” Jimenez says.

Andrew Begay and the art of the cathartic exit

Adam, the ex-boyfriend with a tongue sharp enough to cut glass, is played by Andrew Begay. A lifelong North Texas resident, Begay stumbled onto the casting call on social media last year and decided to leap.

“I’ve been on a self-evolution journey the last few years and just going for things that excite me and get me out of my comfort zone,” Begay says. “I did theatre a million years ago in high school, and I remember it lit a spark in me and brought me to life. Getting cast in ‘Naked Pool Party’ allowed me to get a taste of that again.”

The role turned out to be more than a fun credit.

“Playing the role of the big bad fuckboy ex-boyfriend was more than just a lot of fun for me; it was cathartic,” Begay explains.

Part of his own healing has involved letting go of a relationship that wasn’t good for him, which is exactly the wound Chris carries in the film.

“Being on the other side of that heartbreak playing the heartbreaker felt triumphant, for I knew the character, and playing him felt like exorcising a shadow of my past,” he says.

Suarez has no notes, saying Begay’s acting debut was seamless, “the camera just loves him.” Jimenez praised the emotional restraint Begay brought to the flashback scenes—enough bite to sting, never so much that Adam curdled into a total villain.

But it wasn’t all fun. Every production has its near disaster. Theirs arrived on day one, when minutes before call time, the actor cast as Fernando, the bartender, backed out. Fernando wasn’t a throwaway role, either. He’s woven into Oscar’s entire arc, which meant plan B was a quick recast or a rewrite that nobody had time to attempt.

Enter Frank Lacherre, who had signed on as a background extra and happened to walk onto set that morning. With one look, Suarez knew he found his new bartender. Frank stepped in, delivered comedic timing that surprised everyone, and turned a potential catastrophe into one of the film’s happy accidents. It’s the kind of story that only happens when a community shows up ready to work.

The tender scenes turned heads on the bridge

The film isn’t all skin and sass. Quick flashbacks give the friendships weight and history without stopping for exposition. Some of the most affecting shots were filmed on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in December.

“We definitely turned some heads that day,” Begay says. “Some people were really invested in the scene we were bringing to life but didn’t realize we were shooting a movie. Carlos did a great job stitching those shots together and creating something touching, and dare I say heartbreaking, in a movie that’s mainly spicy and hilarious.”

As for the pool scenes that demanded take after take? Begay keeps his tongue firmly in cheek.

“If a scene called for someone to be pushed into the pool, hypothetically speaking, of course, we’d have to run the scene several times to give him options for angles, splashes, movement and just the right amount of skin. Those of us with perfectly coiffed long hair had to suck it up — hypothetically speaking, of course.”

The movie is resonating with the local gay community for obvious reasons. The ensemble of “Naked Pool Party” reflects the range of the DFW queer community: different ages, bodies, styles and histories. Nobody is left unrepresented.

“As someone who was once deep in the closet, it was very special for me to work with a group of local, talented gay men and allies as we shot the film,” Begay says about the weekend on set. “I feel like we all just meshed so well together. Everyone was there to work and have a great time bringing the script to life. No one acted like a prima donna or dramatic — except when cameras were rolling.”

The film is now setting its sights on the festival circuit, with no online release planned yet. That makes local screenings your best and only shot to see it, and the Dallas Eagle is the best possible option. The encore lands at Dallas Eagle (525 S. Riverfront Blvd.), on Thursday, July 30 at 9 p.m. It’s the venue’s supposed first-ever film screening, and it’s completely free (21+).