Gay Short Films & Web Series

There are quite a lot of LGBT-friendly web series out there, however relatively few of them have properly dealt with the issues around being HIV+.

Now though there’s Unzipped, directed by Tyler Curry and coming from HIV Equal Online, a documentary web series where nine guys talk about their experiences of sex, love and HIV.

The first five episodes have now been released, which look at everything from first gay experiences and what makes sex good, to dealing with issues such as broken condoms, and the things about HIV that scare the men involved.

It’s well worth a look, starting out relatively light and funny before moving onto more serious issues, while never getting too bogged down in angst and misery. You can take a look at epiodes 1-5 below, along with the first episode of Unzipped In Depth, which takes things a little deeper, with Eric talking about behing HIV+ in NYC. [Read more…]

There are a lot of great gay-themed short films out there, but if you can’t get to a gay film festival, it’s often difficult to see them (although there are things such as the excellent Boys On Film DVD series). It’s always good them when one of these shorts gets put online, which is what has happened with the cute Only Always You, which you can watch below.

In the nine-minute film, ‘A young man spends his time drawing sketches and daydreaming of a life he wishes to have’. It’s a familiar theme and one that’s well handled in the film (even if one of the characters does occasionally seem a little stalker-y.

Director Anthony Aguiar has previously noted, “We shot Only Always You with almost no budget in two days. The crew consisted of myself and one other person. Please watch the film in full screen mode in order to get the full picture. Thank you.”

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here.

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A few months ago we published a short promo for Teaser. Now the short film has been released online, revealing a rather avant garde short, which gives an impressionistic look at the journey of drug dependence for a young, gay man, based on the real-life experiences of its director, Adam Jones.

Adam has written a piece for us, talking about the imagery in the short. You can read that below, and the film itself is underneath that:

The cover art for the short film is a young girl watching a television special, a demonic hand shadows above her; the perfect fit for my project. The film opens with a burst of static, my videos always seem to lend to this type of thing. The opening really was a playful type of approach to the story. My story is wild, why not be hopping on a bed flipping my hair around? Well… it just fits. During the time I encountered my rock bottom I let a tweaker shave my hair off. I had a Britney moment, but I needed a drastic change in my appearance to figure out who I was. The next cut is driving to Woodside Apartments off of Fulton Ave in Sacramento, CA. I spent a good 9 months of tweaking at this complex. I revisited the apartment number, routes I would usually spend walking for hours. We shot it in a dream-like sequence, on 8mm filters. Definitely gave me chills being at this location. My worst times were spent here, I was so confused. After we shot some footage my boyfriend and I jumped in the heated pool.

The next cut was definitely in a darker direction. Over the last 3 months, I edited the short film in an odd fashion. Every 2 weeks I would edit a 2 minute segment. Going to a location and shooting some footage, then pulling a few missing pieces from stock footage.

Taking a break for a couple weeks and revisiting the footage when I had the vision again.

For this specific cut, “The Path to Destruction” I wanted to capture a path to darkness. I went in a montage route for this because I could say many things within 2 seconds.

The score was the most important part for the story, I researched so many composers. I love setting videos to orchestra… to me it’s my favorite part.  This scene represents losing yourself to the devil; it’s my path to madness. Being consumed by other broken men like I once was.

So we made it to 05:25, running away from my issues. All the imagery really lends itself to the point of no return. The audio is a recording of a few treatment centers I attempted to contact in the past. No matter how bad it got I really thought that my life was better outside of treatment. The visuals I show really symbolically represent that life is horrible for me outside of a recovery center. The Amy Winehouse remix is a bit of a cliché.

The film begins to climax with a clip of a distraught mother. The black shadow under the young mans eyes really show the family dynamic happening here. My mom is searching for answers; I’ve reached my rock bottom. The “fun” is over; we think that we may have found an answer. The black and white theme fades; Napa, CA, the beautiful scenery, the vibrant colors of the hills. Driving to Azure Acres Treatment Center was such a beautiful & spiritual time for me. I spread my arms wide over a heaven-like CGI effect.

I’m free.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

First off I should probably apologise, as we probably don’t pay enough attention to the B & T of LGBT on Big Gay Picture Show, and of those, it’s probably the B we most ignore most. Initially I thought Bacchanal might help on that score, but it doesn’t really as it uses an initialy air of bisexuality to suggest the men are really hiding their homosexuality.

And while that may be true in some circumstances, it’s certainly not universal.

But assuming it is true here, Bacchanal is strange and a little pretentious, yet very intriguing and good at building a sense of sexual tension.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Two young friends reveal their hidden desires by a theatrical presentation of Dionysus. The myth as well as the girl, initiating and redemptive becomes the catalyst of the hidden inner desires.’

The film comes from Manfred Rott, who also made one of out other showcased films, Utopies. You can watch Bacchanal below.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

Sometimes you don’t need a long time to make a good point. Long Exposure is only two minutes long but even so it makes you think – while also raising the blood pressure with its focus on a barely-dressed man whose face we never seen.

Jamie Webster’s film follow a guy’s beauty regime as he attempts to fit into the modern world’s definition of male perfection – although it’s only at the end that we really understand what all his efforts are for, and why he feels all the moisturising and exercises are necessary.

It’s certainly got a point to make in a world becoming ever more populated by websites and apps where, if you don’t have the right look, you might as well be invisible.

Take a look at Long Exposure below.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

In the first episode of It Takeis Two, Brad Takei was very upset by a mean meme he found about himself on the Internet, and while George said there’s no point taking on the web, Brad wasn’t convinced.

As a result in Episode 2 they’re off to Google NYC HQ, where George is due to take part in a Hangout. However negotiating Google’s labyrinthine offices proves tough (Brad can’t even get the coffee machine to work), and then discovers a rather surprising artificial intelligence at the heart of things.

It’s a lot of fun and this is only the beginning, with George promising that the rest of the episodes will have surprise guests, lots of silliness and a few pranks.

You can take a look at It Takeis Two: Episode 2 below. [Read more…]

The multi-award winning 2011 LGBT-themed short Trunks is based on an odd but intriguing idea, where a man feels straight when he’s on land, but gay when he’s in the local swimming pool. But will he tell his ex-girlfriend the whole truth?

The film won Best Short Film at the Northern Nights Film Festival, London; Best Experimental Film at the Limelight Awards 2012; and Best Screenplay at the Van d’Or Independent Film Awards 2012, so it’s certainly had some love.

You can take a look at it below (and as director David Hewitt points out on the video’s Vimeo page, it’s never made any money – gay short films rarely do, no matter how good they are – so if you want to tip him, you can do it there).

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

While we’re fortunate to have as many LGBT film festivals as we do, it’s a shame that most of the time gay-themed shorts stay in gay film festivals and find it difficult to get much traction at other types of fest. However The Naturalist caused a few waves when it first emerged in 2012 as it one one of the first gay-themed sci-fi films and its genre straddling allowed it to screen beyond the gay film festival circuit.

Now the high concept short is available online and you can watch it below.

The Naturalist is set in a future where mankind is obsessed with genetic ‘perfection’, something they’ve decided homosexuality doesn’t fit into (by the looks of it, being gay is far too hipster-ish for society at large).

Simon and Oliver are a gay couple living a quiet existence, until their genetic ‘anomaly’ is discovered. Threatened with being relocated away from the ‘perfect’ people, Simon must make a very tough decision – he can be genetically modified to become straight, but that will mean leaving behind the love of his life and changing the person he is at a core level.

It’s an interesting film and thought provoking as it explores the nature of sexuality and whether even if being gay was a choice, whether being straight would be the choice everyone would want. Take a look below.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]