A year or so ago the BBC put out a talent call for ideas for ideas that included trans* people and lives, as they had realised that while their public service remit means they are supposed to reflect all parts of British society, this is one area they’d pretty much ignored.
One of the main things to come from this effort is the upcoming sitcom Boy Meets Girl, which made a few headlines when it was announced due to the unfortunately rare fact that it cast a trans* woman, Rebecca Root, in one of the lead roles, rather than handing it to a cisgender actor.
Boy Meets Girls was created by Trans Comedy Award winner Elliott Kerrigan, alongside Simon Carlyle and Andrew Mettam. As well as Root, the series stars Harry Hepple as the ‘boy’ of the title, as well as the likes of Denise Welch, Janine Duvitski, Nigel Betts, Lizzie Roper and Jonny Dixon.
Boy Meets Girl has been compared to Gavin & Stacey, focussing on the developing relationship between Leo and Judy. However this isn’t a show that’s only about the issue trans* people face in the dating world, as there’s also a mini May-December thing going one as Leo is 26 and Judy is 40, and both have plenty of other things to negotiate.
Now the first 30-second promo for the show has been released, which you can take a look at below. The show will air in the UK later this year on BBC2. [Read more…]
After the success of his gay-themed movie Weekend, it was a good idea to hire Andrew Haigh to help develop the show Looking, but even he couldn’t overcome the difficulties the show faced, with the series getting cancelled after Season 2 (although a final, two-hour ‘movie’ will wrap things up).
It’s a strange thing about a lot of charities – they’re very much needed, but it’s difficult not to hope for a day when they can close down because the problem has been sorted out. That’s tru for Hunger Games star Hosh Hutcherson, who co-founded 
It can be difficult for stars to comment on anything these days, as the internet means that if some people don’t like it, they won’t hold back from telling them so. 
After receiving huge amounts of positive buzz at the Cannes film festival (with some suggesting it could be a strong runner in the Oscar race), Carol is gearing up for release later this year. Something that will help keep it in people’s minds if the fact it’s been announced that Todd Haynes’ beautiful 1950s set drama will screen as the American Express Gala and the 59th BFI London Film Festival.
The first things most people think of when they think ‘male strippers’ is ‘vampires’. No, they don’t, but that’s no reason why we shouldn’t mix them together! That’s the idea behind Male Strippers Must Die. However, while the movie already has a trailer (which you can watch below), it hasn’t gone into production yet, partly because it needs some more cash, which it’s hoping to raise via an ambitious $125,000 
It seems to come around faster every year, but now Iris Prize has announced its 2015 line-up, with films from 18 countries competing for £30,000 main prize (it’s still the world’s largest LGBT short film prize, as supported by the Michael Bishop Foundation).
Actor Gerald McCullouch is probably best known to general audiences for his recurring role on CSI and to gay audiences as one of the main characters in the Bear City film series. Now though he’s turned director (and star) for Daddy, which has just released its first trailer.
In the last 20 year the visibility of gay characters on TV has increased massively, and it’s something the documentary Playing Gay: How America Came Out on Television wants to take a look at. But to do so it’s hoping to raise as extremely ambitious $137,500 on 
After a successful run at festivals a couple of years ago, The New Black has now arrived on Netflix in the US, but if you want to see whether it’s a gay-themed documentary that’s worth a watch, you can take a look at the trailer below.