I Am a Sex Addict, Zahedi's latest, chronicles his decades-long struggle with his addiction to prostitutes, a compulsion he depicts with unsparing, cringe-inducing honesty, and a dash of self-loathing humor. Playing himself, and convincing several figures from his past (as well as his current, third, wife) to do likewise, Zahedi rips through the safety nets of confessional nonfiction, restaging his life with knowing self-consciousness. It is, he says, "the movie I was born to make."

HOOKED: Caveh Zahedi indulges his addiction to prostitutes in I Am a Sex Addict.

Although a few critics have slammed the movie for its narcissism, Zahedi says the response has been generally gratifying, vindicating the decade-plus he spent trying to get it made. But although good reviews and that provocative title have netted Zahedi his widest-ever theatrical release, the movie has hit a few bumps on the way to being seen by a larger audience. As part of IFC Films' new "First Take" program, Sex Addict was simultaneously released in theaters and made available via Comcast's video on demand (VOD) service two weeks ago—a similar "day and date" arrangement to that employed by Steven Soderbergh's Bubble earlier this year (albeit without the latter's concurrent DVD release). But without Soderbergh's name attached, the First Take arrangement has yet to generate substantial ancillary publicity for its films, and Comcast's part in the deal has caused Zahedi some unique headaches.

Two weeks ago, Mark Cuban, who owns the Landmark theater chain and the HDNet network, had I Am a Sex Addict pulled from Landmark theaters days before its release, citing Comcast's refusal to carry HDNet, which handled the VOD end of Bubble's release. But after an exchange with Zahedi on the latter's blog, Cuban elaborated: The problem was not Comcast per se, but the structure of the First Take deal, which he characterizes as burdening theaters with the bulk of promotional costs without giving them a share of VOD or DVD revenue. (The entire exchange can be seen at blogs.indiewire.com/caveh.) "Everyone has to acknowledge where and how they benefit and share in the upside," Cuban wrote. "If any one component doesn't benefit and share, it doesn't work."

Either way, Zahedi says, he feels like he's been unwittingly drawn into a battle between media giants. "The issues [Cuban] has with Comcast have nothing to do with IFC or with me," Zahedi says. "I definitely feel like I'm being caught in the crossfire."

Local exhibitors are split on the viability of day-and-date. The Ritz's Jay Ayrton says he's flat-out "not interested" in booking movies in theaters that are simultaneously available elsewhere. "I don't personally like the idea," he says. "It's cannibalizing everything, including the ability of movies to be properly sold and received." The Roxy's Bernard Nearey, who booked Bubble in January, says the movie did "modest box office," and, if anything, was helped by the publicity generated by its unusual release. "No main circuit theater would play it, because they're scared to death of the concept," Nearey says. "But I don't think I'm doing anything wrong—certainly not contributing to the death of the theatrical experience. People who come to see a film at the Roxy, they want to see a movie. They're not necessarily DVD people." As for profit-sharing, Nearey says it "wasn't offered and I didn't ask it," but Cuban, in an e-mail exchange with City Paper, says that all theaters who showed Bubble will get a chunk of the net revenue, whether they know it's coming or not.

Since HDNet is only available via satellite in much of the Philadelphia area, the city has yet to test the waters with a simultaneous theatrical and VOD release. None of the First Take movies has gotten closer than the Clearview Cinemas in Bala Cynwyd, which will open Sex Addict this Friday. Still, Zahedi is dubious that the VOD release has had a negative impact on the film's theatrical prospects—at least, not nearly as much as its obscure star/director and its touchy subject matter.

"I don't think theaters are refusing to play the film because it's also opening on VOD. I think that most theaters that haven't agreed to play it have done so because they don't think it will make any money. I think they'll change their mind if the numbers warrant it." Besides, he says, "I'm just thrilled to be in any theater at this point in my career." And if people stay home and watch the movie, that's fine with him, too. "I would really watch a film at home myself, for all kinds of reasons," he admits. "I'm not one of those people who is a theater snob. I don't care if they watch it on an iPod. I just want them to see it."

I Am a Sex Addict starts Friday at Clearview Bala. See Sam Adams' review on p. 46.