Kit Williamson: Logo Online and the Web Series Renaissance

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

Kit Williamson: Logo Online and the Web Series Renaissance.

A few weeks ago, The Huffington Post announced that my independently produced web series “EastSiders” had been acquired by Logo to air on their website logotv.com. When we put the first two episodes on youtube in December I had no idea that the series would attract the kind of attention it did– being featured by the likes of USA Today, The Advocate, Out, Film Independent, Towleroad, After Elton, Queerty and of course right here on Gay Voices– much less the attention of a company like Viacom, which owns MTV and VH1 as well as Logo.

Kit Williamson and Van Hansis star as Cal and Thom in the Web series “Eastsiders.” Watch at http://www.logotv.com.

I only have one quibble with Kit Williamson’s excellent essay and that’s his use of and the headline writer’s pick of the world “renaissance.”

(My editor’s hat gets in the way sometimes. Editing professionally for years means I come with certain tics and strange opinions about semicolons, word choice and Oxford commas. You’ll just have to go with it.)

Renaissance implies a rebirth of something that has been before. Pick up your Roget’s (it’s a book, youngsters. Fine, use the app….) and you’ll find lots of synonyms that begin with “re” like reawakening, regeneration, renascence, renewal, resurgence, etc. Web series’ are not undergoing a renaissance, but rather they are a part of a revolution in entertainment — specifically independently controlled entertainment — that is in its nascent state.

Look back on this time period 12 or 18 months from now and you’ll see a shift. Two years from now the cultural landscape will be unrecognizable. I guarantee you that. Hell, Apple recently announced that the original iPhone — released in 2007!! — is now obsolete.

Bottom line: what Kit and his group and what others are doing in other places is quite extraordinary. They are the absolute pioneers in this new era and they will set the tone for what’s to come.

I have such admiration — and real envy, if you want to know the truth — for people in their early 30s and younger who have the technology and the chutzpah to throw their ideas out into the vast cauldron of the Internet and to see what bubbles to the surface. And to make an actual cultural impact.

I’m not really that old (I keep telling myself) but, honest to God, to think of the mind-numbing things I had to do when I was in college to get 100 people to see the creative stuff that I was working on, well, it would simply make your toes curl today!

Anyhow, I’ve been a dedicated viewer of this series since Day One and it’s deserving of a large following. I did see, recently, where someone asked that fans watch the show on the Logo site so that if “they” see the traffic someone might put it on TV. To that, I say with the wisdom of the ages (aged??) that’s skipping down the garden path to hell, my friends.

Why Rachel Maddow Is Right To Be Outraged

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

Why Rachel Maddow Is Right To Be Outraged.

Excellent piece by Saeed Jones on BuzzFeed. If you’re not familiar, the great Maddow went over the top on the air (and rightly so) criticizing Politifact for refusing to actually say that Martina Navratilova was correct — even after they checked the facts and found out she was correct — and called her response “half true.”

No one does righteous indignation as good as Maddow. This is probably because it is the province of the uber-smart and witty, which absolutely describes Maddow to a tee.

But Jones is no slouch, it seems, in that department. Here’s how he sums up:

And I have this unfortunate habit of needing to write essays when I’m angry. I sit at my computer, grating my teeth, hearing Zora Neale Hurston say over and over again, “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.”

Supposedly objective dismissal of inconvenient facts as “half truths” or dramatics is more than galling; it’s oppressive. The questions, “Why does this matter?” and, “Why are you so angry?” are conjoined twins, both hissing that we don’t even have a right to our own outrage.

And Delaware Takes it to ‘Leven

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

In numerology, 11 is one of those ‘magic numbers.’ There’s some serious partying happening in Rehoboth Beach tonight!

Image: AFER

Boy Scouts’ Gay Debate — Religion Beyond the Right

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

“I find it perplexing the way the ‘moral values’ phrase is used,” said the Rev. Mark Greiner, the pastor at the Presbyterian church that Ward attends. “Concern for the environment, concern for workers’ rights: those are moral values,” he told me. “But the phrase ends up being limited to matters of human sexuality, as if Jesus was primarily concerned with what people did with their reproductive parts. It’s crazy-making.” Greiner wants the ban on gay scouts and leaders lifted.

via In the Boy Scouts’ Gay Debate, Religion Beyond the Right – NYTimes.com.

From Frank Bruni’s excellent column in the Times. It’s a great quick read. I am so appalled and disgusted at the Boy Scouts of America I just can’t see straight.

Roller Derby Provides a Model for Acceptance of Gay Men

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

New York Shock Exchange players scrimmage at a recent practice. (Photo by Jim Flood) Huffington Post

Well, good on ya, roller derby dudes. Who knew? Great article by Jim Flood, BTW.

Joe Andreone, aka Truth Hurtz, said he thinks of his two gay teammates on Baltimores Harm City Homicide as “brothers” just like the rest of the team. Andreone said that roller derby accepts anyone who wants to compete, regardless of race, sexual orientation or body type. “It has changed my life for the better,” he said, “and I wish that other sports would take notice of the roller derby community and all it has to offer anyone thats interested.”

via Jim Flood: Roller Derby Provides a Model for Pro Sports in Accepting Openly Gay Men.|Huffington Post|

How The Supreme Court’s DOMA Ruling Could Upend The Immigration Debate

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

This is a decent analysis by Chris Geidner on BuzzFeed. It takes a very complex legal issue (made overly complex by the masters of over-complexity, the U.S. Congress) and makes it easy to digest.

Truth be told, this just infuriates me. I simply do not understand what the Republicans think they have to gain by ruining these peoples families.

Because the Defense of Marriage Act bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex couples’ marriages, binational gay and lesbian couples — those where one partner is not a U.S. citizen — have been denied the ability to seek a green card that straight couples have been eligible to obtain for their spouse in a similar situation.

The legislation aimed at addressing this issue is the Uniting American Families Act, and it would create a new category, called “permanent partners,” that would make same-sex couples eligible for green cards. The “Gang of Eight” senators did not include the measure in their immigration reform bill, but LGBT advocates have been pressing for Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy to add the provision into the bill during the committee markup, which is slated to begin May 9.

via How The Supreme Court’s DOMA Ruling Could Upend The Immigration Debate.

Rhode Island Legalizes Gay Marriage

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

Image: glaad.org

Rhode Island Legalizes Gay Marriage.|Huffington Post

Rhode Island became the tenth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage Thursday with a 56-15 vote.

Just before he signed the legislation into law, Gov. Lincoln Chafee took to the steps of the Rhode Island State House, where he told a jubilant crowd, “Today we are making history … we are living up to the ideals of our founder.”

He went on to note, “When your belief and heart is in something, it’s easy work. I am proud to say that now, at long last, you are free to marry the person you love.”

By the way, the official name of the smallest state in the Union is the longest: the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The state bird is a chicken: the Rhode Island Red hen, and the state drink is “Coffee Milk,” which, I believe, is something like a coffee flavored milkshake.

The state motto is “Hope.” We hope that the next 4/5ths of the United States will follow Little Rhody’s lead down the trail of equality.

Jake Silbermann: Just My Type

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

This is a terrific essay by Jake Silbermann. The interesting thing about it is that it gives you some insight from an actor’s point of view. Silbermann is pointing out something that is patently obvious to many of us but that seems completely revelatory to so many others; and that’s simply that “gay” and “straight” aren’t character traits.

When powerhouse performer Van Hansis (l) as Luke Snyder was matched with newcomer Jake Silbermann's Noah Mayer, the two became American daytime television's first gay supercouple and were central to the storyline of As The World Turns for the shows last several years on the air.

Jake Silbermann as Noah Mayer (r) opposite Van Hansis as Luke Snyder on As The World Turns. The two became American daytime television’s first gay supercouple and were central to the storyline of the soap for the last several years that the show was on the air.

The sad part is that so many casting agents haven’t figured this out yet. And far too many agents are still of the old, old school where they counsel their gay clients not to take “gay roles” and they counsel their straight clients not to take them either because of the “fear,” as Silbermann points out of being typecast.

Hard to believe this question is still asked because “gay” isn’t a character trait anymore than straight is. Can you be type cast as straight? It may be that when we meet a new character on screen or stage, we assume they are heterosexual, but we don’t know who they are to the story. Is this the hero, best friend, love interest, antagonist, etc.? “Gay” is not a negative or a positive. It’s not descriptive. It’s really more of a circumstance, albeit a vital one. The point is being gay is not character defining.

Silbermann is a fine actor. He was terrific on the soap and he’s fast becoming a go-to actor in the theatre. He’s currently in Richard Greenberg’s Assembled Parties on Broadway. I haven’t seen this piece yet, but Greenberg is a playwright who relies on smart actors. You don’t get good notices in a Greenberg piece if you’re not a smart, savvy actor.

In addition to the Kickstarter that Silbermann talks about in this essay, he also wrote and co-starred in a fine short film called Stuffer a few years back. If you only knew him from his TV work, this piece instantly showed off his broad range.

Anyhow, take a read:

Jake Silbermann: Just My Type.

EastSiders Debuts on LogoTV.com

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Mark Blackmon

In spite of the fact that the subhead on this article in NEXT says Apr. 28, it’s actual debut date on LogoTV.com is Apr. 23. This is a terrific Web series and I’m so excited to see what will transpire as the story unfolds. So far, it’s been superlative acting and storytelling. It’s one of those bellwether shows, I think, that will show that there is a place for powerful, independent storytelling on the Web without corporate interference. A link to the series page is below. Watch it.

(Of course, I will be out of town on the 23rd and probably won’t have access to watch, but that just leaves me more to watch upon my return!)