By K.C. Conner

Arizona Daily Wildcat.

There was a minor major occurence on campus last week. Andrew Fleming, 31, director of the soon-to-be-released film "Threesome" came to Gallagher theater two weeks ago for a special sneak preview of his film. It is rare that busy, mainstream Hollywood directors come to campus, or Tucson, for anything other than remote film locations or our exclusive spas.

"Threesome" is about college life and stars Lara Flynn Boyle, Stephen Baldwin, and Josh Charles. It is the story of a vivacious drama student named Alex (Boyle) who is mistakenly placed in a men's-only dorm room with Stuart (Baldwin), a heavy-partying business major and Eddy (Charles), a studious and thoughtful guy, whose serious side doesn't stop him from getting wild with Stuart.

Once the roommates get used to each other's presence, a love triangle begins to emerge. Stuart wants Alex, who yearns for Eddy_ well, Eddy is only just beginning to sort out his feelings about sex.

Director Fleming pulls few punches in this frisky sex comedy and the Gallagher audience was boisterously approving.

After the showing Fleming fielded questions from the audience. Some of the students' questions brought out more interesting responses than the scheduled interview that followed.

Student: What inspired you to make this film?

Fleming: I lived in the dorms. I lived there with all the soap operas that went on. I saw how people changed. You saw them arriving at the dorms as freshmen and they looked like these nice little kids and when they left they were these world-weary, different people. I guess I was the same way; a lot happened. I guess that's where it really came from.

S: Were actors hard to find for these roles?

F: Actors want to work. There are always a lot of actors who want to play parts like these, because they are big parts. There is really no one else in the film. Each of them carries a big amount of the story. These people where comfortable because they all knew each other. Josh and Stephen made a film called "Crossing the Bridge" together and Lara and Josh were in "Dead Poets' Society." Early on, I was worried if they would be comfortable touching each other. After the first rehearsal, I realized the problem would be keeping them off of each other.

S: I read somewhere, I think in US magazine that one of the actors said they didn't like how the menage-a-trois was shot.

F:I read that too. Lara said that, but she's wrong. (Laughter)

S: Have you gotten any negative feedback to the film?

F: No. I was actually hoping for something. People have responded much more positively than I thought they would. I thought people would be kind of scandalized by it, but they haven't been as much as you would think.

S: I think your film will be very successful because you have tapped into a fantasy many people have_

F: Do you want to talk about it?

Wildcat: What brought you and your film to Tucson ?

F: Actually, because a friend of mine teaches in the English department here. We are doing a lot of college screenings, but I'm not going to most of them.

W: How did you get started in filmmaking?

F: I sort of made films in high school. My parents were also peripherally involved in the business. I went to film school at NYU. I made my first film, "Bad Dreams" right after I got out of school.

W: You have been dubbed a "Generation X" director in your press material. How do you feel about that?

F:I don't have a big problem with it. I'm not sure what it means. I don't know if you can really define a generation that way. I don't think generations behave "en masse." There is no pheno-menon that makes me understand why Generation X is accepted other than journalists. The only conversations I have about "Generation X" are with journalists, and I've had about 30 of them.

W: How much of the film did you have to edit for an R rating?

F: Not much. We only had to cut about three seconds. Actually, one of the scenes had to be trimmed, but not cut.The studio was pretty scandalized at first. There is no violence in this movie. It is a very humane statement it's making. It is not exploitative, even though it is a very frank film. It is not a dangerous movie.

W: How do you feel about the fact that your film might be bashed for its sexual content, even though it is in a gentle context, when violence isn't?

F: Actually, I think the ratings board has been coming down on violence really hard. I made a horror film before but I don't have the stomach for it anymore. Sex is a positive thing, when it is relatively responsible.

W: How long did it take to write "Threesome?"

F: I wrote this very quickly, it took two or three weeks, but I have spent four years writing a script before. It was floating around in my brain. I didn't have to process it too much. I knew who these people were.

W: Really? So, what is your next project?

F: I don't know. I wish I had something to tell you, nothing is on the front burner yet. Read Next Article