The Chances has just debuted at Sundance, giving a welcoming audience the first chance to see Josh Feldman and his writing partner and co-star Shoshannah Stern’s five-part series. It’s a show that’s interested in intersectionality, exploring deafness and sexuality, which is currently being developed as a TV series.
In the series, ‘Best friends Kate and Michael, who are deaf, try their best to see their friendship through new changes in their lives as Kate adjusts to being newly married, and Michael attempts to get over his ex-boyfriend.’
Feldman comments to NewNowNext, “Usually, deaf characters in film and television have been written by hearing people. So they often are written into episodes of shows strictly for that purpose: ‘Let’s make this patient of the week deaf’ or ‘Let’s have our lead fall in love with a deaf man [this week].’ These characters often have their deafness as their defining trait.”
However, he was keen to get past that, saying, “I want deaf characters to be portrayed like anybody else on television, as long as it’s authentic. With an entire backstory and a life to lead outside of the trait of not being able to hear. I’d love to see deaf roles of all kinds—good guys, villains, boring people, messy people. The more deaf people we see on television or in movies, the more familiar we will become to hearing people, which will make inclusivity that much easier.”
Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]
Have you ever slept with a friend and then wondered whether a comparatively short bit of fun might change your relationship forever? It’s something a lot of gay guys have faced, and that’s the subject of Bed Buddies, from director Reid Waterer. In it, three guys wake up in bed together, then try to figure out whether their wild night out means anything or not – and perhaps whether a throuple is a possibility.
In the last few months, much of the international news coming out of The Philippines has been about its rather unusual new president, Rodrigo Duterte, who has essentially given permission to death squads to kill suspected drug dealers and users, without bothering with niceties like a trial. However, it’s easy to forget that it’s also one of Asia’s most gay-friendly nations, although still with strides to make in LGBT rights.
There are quite a lot of gay-themed web series out there, and a few trans-ones too. And while there have been bisexual characters in various series, few have looked directly at the particular issues faced by bi people.
Time To Come garnered plenty of interest while it was in production, both for its successful Kickstarter campaign and for its timely story about a young, gay Muslim man contemplating what he should do. Now the short has been completed and it’s been released online for us all to take a look at.
The new Canadian web series Coming In wants to turn things on its head, taking as its premise a man (Dylan Archambault) who heads to an ex-gay support group, not because he wants to become straight, but because he’s realised that’s what he actually is. He just woke up one morning and he was hetero! However, he’s already got a male hubby, a good life, and would quite like to find out how to be gay again.
Following success on the film festival circuit last year, the Taiwanese short, Stay With Me has been released online, and it’s well worth a look. You can watch it below.
It’s hard to believe, but another fun season of Where The Bears Are has come to an end. We’re a bit behind though, as in our last post we’d only got up to Episode 9, and since then eps 10 to 16 have arrived. You can take a look at them below.
Not many gay-themed shorts can boast a well-known name in the cast, but Curmudgeons can, as it stars and was directed by Danny DeVito. The short has know been released online via Vimeo, and you can take a look at it below.
Back in January, the