On Friday, July 8, 9:30pm at the Ritz East Theatre 2 in Old City, Philadelphia, QFest will present Sean Paul Lockhart with the 2011 Rising Star Award.

Sean Paul Lockhart began his career in the adult industry and quickly – under the name Brent Corrigan – became one of the gay adult world’s most popular actors and won many awards including GayVN’s for “Best Bottom” and “Web Performer of the Year.” Not content to work in this field alone, Sean has entered the mainstream world with roles in such films as Another Gay Sequel, Milk and The Big Gay Musical. At this year’s festival, he stars in two films: QFest’s gala opening night feature Judas Kiss, and the short film I Was a Teenage Werebear.

The number of adult performers who have transitioned from porn into the “mainstream” world of entertainment can pretty much be counted on one hand, with Jenna Jameson, Sasha Grey and Traci Lords being the best examples. Apart from Rocco Siffredi’s appearances in Catherine Breillat’s art-house films Romance and Anatomy of Hell all have been straight and female - which makes the addition of our 2011 Rising Star Award recipient to this roster all the more astonishing.

Born in Seattle in 1986, Sean Paul Lockhart relocated to San Diego in his early teens and became involved with student and experimental film projects. Lockhart originally garnered attention – and some controversy – when he burst upon the gay adult scene as Brent Corrigan. After some scenes for a smaller studio, he was cast in Falcon Studios’ blockbuster The Velvet Mafia before starring in and subsequently directing his own line, which rocketed him to superstardom.

An utter natural, it was only a matter of time before Lockhart took his love of film to the next level – and the ‘legit’ film industry took notice right away. His role as Stan the Merman in the hit comedy Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! was one of the most-talked about of the year, followed by an appearance in Gus Van Sant’s Oscar-winning Milk and Casper Andreas’ charming The Big Gay Musical. Lockhart’s boyish looks convey the rare combination of innocence and seduction, and this year will clearly be a breakout via his two films screening at this year’s QFest.

“As one of the adult industry’s most-popular models, we had been aware of Sean via his alter-ego “Brent” for some time,” said Erik Schut, Managing Director at TLA Entertainment Group. “But once we saw his performance in the TLA Releasing title Another Gay Sequel along with the other non-adult roles he had taken on, it became clear that Sean has an immeasurable amount of talent. It’s always exciting to watch someone move forward in their career, and Sean is clearly doing that. We can’t wait to see what he does next.”
QFest is pleased to present this year’s Rising Star Award to Sean Paul Lockhart.

The award recognition will precede the 9:30pm shorts program “Short & Scary”.

For more information on Lockhart and the full QFest lineup, visit www.qfest.com.