Category Archives: The Outs

The Final Pitch, the Last ‘Outs’

Posted on by
Hunter Canning and Tommy Heleringer on the set of The Outs. Image: The Outs Facebook page.

Hunter Canning and Tommy Heleringer on the set of The Outs. Image: The Outs Facebook page.

Today is the release day of the last episode of The Outs, the fantastic Web series chronicling the lives of young folks in Brooklyn. It’s achingly well-written and acted. It’s also so nice to see terrific stories about gay people where they are just part of the fabric of the landscape and not “quota fiction.” You know: Insert funny gay friend here.

WARNING: THE OUTS WILL HOOK YOU. YOU WILL WANT TO START AT THE BEGINNING AND WATCH THEM ALL. SEVERAL TIMES.

I’m just sayin.’

I’ve been riffing lately on the emerging importance of the Web in storytelling on scales both large and small. We are just at the beginning of trying to figure out how to do it, how to sustain it, how to fund it, and how to build an audience. The Outs and creators Adam Goldman and Sasha Winters have, perhaps inadvertently, become one of the standards in this new world that we can look to and learn from. O, pioneers!

Take it good one.

P.S. — I’m on the road this week and no time to sit down and watch the final episode, “Over It,” so, don’t ruin it for me!

More:
The Outs homepage, Facebook
Me on The Outs here and here and here

Take It Good One — One Last Time

Posted on by

Last episode of one of my favorite Web series, The Outs, will be released on April 1. The trailer is below. You should watch all of the episodes. No, seriously, watch The Outs!

H/T The Outs Facebook

Mark’s picks for other Web series worth watching:

A+ storytelling and fine acting. Proud to have contributed to their Kickstarter.

husbands

Frothy fabulousness. Super guest stars and production values.

grey

Learn fun things with Grey. Terrific fun.

chalk

I love this series of grammar videos. Great marketing idea, this. Addictive.

Gay Web Dramas Flourish

Posted on by

Gay web dramas flourish as TV networks cling to the status quo | Television & radio | guardian.co.uk.

Good article in The Guardian about the proliferation of gay-themed content in web series and how this might be the next new content delivery method for this type of entertainment. (Duh.) As Husbands co-creator Jane Espenson says, “We consider Husbands television. It’s just television that arrives in a different box.”

Some us have been ahead of The Guardian in reporting this. Ahem. See many links below. H/T Tommy Heleringer’s Facebook.

img-the-outs_144428604539

(l-r) Hunter Canning, Sasha Winters and Adam Goldman star in the exceptional Web series, The Outs. Photo: Interview/Unusually Fine Photography

More HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE to get you started.

In with The Outs

Posted on by

It’s no wonder, then, that the most accurate and essentially human portrayal of young gay men today can be found on the Net, not the networks. Since premiering in spring 2012, a web series called The Outs has taken the gay community by storm. It’s been praised by The Huffington Post, Out, Paper, and more for its heartfelt and realistic portrayals of a group of 20somethings as they struggle with life and love in the city.

via Adam Goldman, on The Outs – Page – Interview Magazine.

Good interview with Adam Goldman by Benjamin Lindsay in Interview, which, I suppose, is a bit redundant. I mean, you don’t expect bad interviews from a publication called Interview, now do you.

Anyhow, I’m not a Brooklyn hipster, I’m definitely not a 20-something, so I’m not sure I’m remotely in The Outs‘ demographic, but I really do LOVE this web series. It’s witty, it’s well-crafted, well-produced and well acted. Smart, sparkling dialogue that exudes a fantastic reality. Refreshing, really. What’s not to love. The exceptional eye candy as witnessed below (along with the adorable Tommy Heleringer, who deserves a shout-out) make it a treat to watch.

img-the-outs_144428604539

(l-r) Hunter Canning, Sasha Winters and Adam Goldman star in the exceptional Web series, The Outs. Photo: Interview/Unusually Fine Photography

Along with The Outs, I’ve been captivated by additional Web series, such as Husbands and recently L.A.-based Eastsiders, which I’ve written about here as well as on my Marketing blog. I’ve watched a lot of others, but these are the best of the lot — well at least in the “I’m hunting for high quality content with a gay bent” aisle that I’m shopping in. And that aisle is damn near bare in the network big box supermarkets.

(Aren’t you impressed that I segued so easily from Marketing into marketing? It’s okay, often I’m the only one who thinks I’m funny.)

The Outs – Very In

Posted on by

The Outs.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with this web series, but if you haven’t seen it, I do urge you to give it a look.

Tommy Heleringer as Scruffy and Hunter Canning as Jack, two of the adorable stars of the web series The Outs.

The Outs is the brainchild of Adam Goldman who wrote the six-episode series with Sasha Winters. Both of them act in it as well. The show features nuanced acting, creative camera work, and something that you find too little of — especially in made-for-the-Web-stuff — excellent lighting. (I know, I know. That’s always the dead giveaway in theatre reviews — talk about the lighting instead of giving a bad review.)

But I’m telling ya, it’s lit great and it highlights these performers.

The writing is smart, edgy sometimes, gritty, unflinching, real. These characters speak as real people speak. So refreshing to see.

I love the web series Husbands, too, but for entirely different reasons. Husbands is the parfait of a sitcom I wish was on television in prime time. The Brooklyn-centric The Outs is the great indie project that only you and a few savvy friends have found and it makes you feel good for having some knowledge that the rest of the hoi polloi don’t deserve to care about.

Well, watch The Outs. And tell somebody smart to watch it. These talented folks deserve our support.