Brandon Ruckdashel: Grinder's NY Premier

'Grinder is a story that is very close to my heart. Each year young men come to New York chasing after their dreams of becoming actors and models. These aspiring artists meet with various characters over the early parts of their career and it was my hope to breathe life into a few of these people. The seed for Grinder was planted when my long time business partner, Barney Oldfield, and I decided to make an LGBT film in December of 2013. In a typical Arkoff style approach we shot a prototype poster and came up with a title. A major influence on our selection of title was the famous cover of a woman going through a meat grinder illustrated by William Nirenberg for Hustler magazine. A Grinder seemed to be the perfect representation of what New York does to young talent in their first few years in town.'


Actor and writer Brandon Ruckdashel makes his directorial debut with Grinder, which has it's New York Premier this week! In Grinder, Luke (Tyler Austin), an innocent teenager, leaves his home in the suburbs and his abusive father (Jose Ramos) for the promise of a modeling job in New York City. Once there he meets Rich (Jon Fleming), an unscrupulous model agent and is dragged into the dark world of New York nightlife. Tim (Brandon Ruckdashel), a photographer who leads a double life in spite of being engaged to a young woman (Sarah Lazar), becomes obsessed with Luke and destroys his relationship with her. Grinder reflects Brandon's personal experience as a young actor coming to New York.