Category Archives: Van Hansis

You’re Out? You’re Off the Air: Networks Swinging the Big Gay Axe

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NBC’s “The New Normal,” a gaycentric series the network chose not to renew.

Although most people associate the month of May with the Kentucky Derby, Memorial Day weekend traffic or beautiful spring bouquets for Mom, television has only one thing on its mind: Out with the old and in with the new. Manhattan is awash with TV folks in town for the upfronts, the annual ritual in which the networks present their fall schedules to advertisers in hopes of wooing big bucks. It is too early to tell which network will be the big winner, but this year there is a clear loser: gay characters.

via Derek Hartley: May-day! TV’s Big Gay Bloodbath. Huffington Post

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Will Horton (Chandler Massey) and Sonny Kiriakis (Freddie Smith) on “Days of our Lives,” one of the few gay couples on American television.

Sadly, Hartley tells it for the truth, but I’m not sure he actually goes far enough in his hue and cry against the broadcast networks.

Last year there was a lot of positive buzz about the numbers of gay characters on the networks. The sum total of gay characters was about 6% of all characters — lame — but it was the highest percentage ever. After wiping us off the map for all intents and purposes in primetime, in daytime it’s not much better. There seems only to be  Sonny and Will’s  front burner storyline on “Days of our Lives,” amongst the sordid lives being lived on the few remaining televised soaps. Other than that, gay characters on traditional American television are few and far between. (Eden Reigel’s Bianca stands alone — as a proud but lonely lesbian in the gay landscape of Pine Valley on the Web reboot of “All My Children.” It will be nice if that changes.)

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Van Hansis, Kit Williamson and John Halbach star in the superlative Web series “EastSiders,” created by Williamson and now available on logotv.com.

Moving away from traditional TV to find entertainment, I would encourage you to check out these great Web series: EastSiders, The Outs, Husbands, and others. If you go to Logo to check out EastSiders (highly recommended), explore some of their other Web only offerings, such as Hunting Season.

This Photo Made Me Smile

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Van Hansis and Matthew McKelligon on the first day of shooting EastSiders after their successful Kickstarter campaign raised more than $10K above their original goal. Photo tweeted by series producer Kristyne Fetsic.

More on EastSiders.

Congratulations to EastSiders

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kickHere’s a screenshot of the EastSiders Kickstarter page. They raised more than $10,000 more than their target. That’s excellent for them — and excellent for those of us who enjoy this type of entertainment. You know, authentic, not co-opted by the studios, thus, well, better.

I’m proud to have been a supporter of this venture. I can’t wait to see the result either.

I tracked and wrote about this Kickstarter campaign HERE. Read it, please. I think it’s an excellent model to use when thinking about funding in this manner.

How to Say Thank You — A Saga and a Case Study in Doing It Right

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Kit Williamson and Van Hansis star as Cal and Thom in the new web series "Eastsiders." Watch at www.eastsiderstv.com

Cross-posting this from my marketing blog so people who only follow this part of the blog can see it as well.

Okay, kiddos, I brought this up at work last week and a few people seemed to understand some of the words, so I thought I would repeat it in more augmented form here. So, here’s a few tips from the land of Savvy-Ass Marketing 101, inspired by watching the Kickstarter campaign of the web series EastSiders unfold.

via Marketing | One Last Word | A Few Considered Opinions.

Kickstart This — “Eastsiders” Needs You

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Kit Williamson and Van Hansis star as Cal and Thom in the new web series "Eastsiders." Watch at www.eastsiderstv.com

Kit Williamson and Van Hansis star as Cal and Thom in the new web series “Eastsiders.” Watch at eastsiderstheseries.com

Here’s the deal: this is a well-written, crisply acted, well-crafted series that needs to be funded. In the Age of the Innerwebs, this is a way that creative people can develop their talents and also increase the importance of technology to cultural shifts. What’s that mean? It means less advertiser control of our entertainment and more original work delivered to a population starving for it. I’m so excited about this. Just in the last year I’ve watched programs produced for the Web explode in number and quality.

I won’t bore you with any more of my treatises on this issue — for now — because I want you to take a couple of minutes and watch an episode and then give these folks a couple of ducats.

I’ve said before that the reason that I was eager to watch this program is because I’d pay to watch Van Hansis order a ham sandwich, but I was equally captivated by Kit Williamson and the rest of the cast.

In a different generation, I did my share of begging, borrowing, bartering and stealing to get my own work produced on a shoestring. (Dear God, when did I get old enough to be telling war stories that no one alive can relate to anymore?? LOL) Anyhow, all these folks want is a credit card number and a few bucks. Just do it.

 

‘EastSiders,’ Web Series Debuts Second Episode

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‘EastSiders,’ Comic Web Series About Gay Life, Debuts Second Episode.

I’m not sure why it’s “comic” in the headline. I wouldn’t call it a comedy. Maybe a deep, dark, black comedy. What it is, really, is just plain good.

I’ve blogged about this before, but here’s episode #2 of a series you should be watching. (The link jumps to a story and video embed on HuffPo.)

Kit Williamson and Van Hansis star as Cal and Thom in the new web series "Eastsiders."

Kit Williamson and Van Hansis star as Cal and Thom in the new web series “Eastsiders.”

EastSiders – New Web Series Worth Watching

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Take a few minutes and watch this new web series from Kit Williamson. Interesting story. Terrific acting.

Look, I’ll be honest with you. I’d happily pay to watch Van Hansis read the damn telephone book. I think he’s a sensational talent — and I was delighted to see him in this. Like so many others, I first encountered him as Luke Snyder on As The World Turns. I watched him in a two-hander with the astonishing Elizabeth Hubbard and he matched her note for note. I just couldn’t believe it. I’d never seen anyone do that before. “Who IS this kid?” I asked. I think that was 2006 or 2007. I’ve been watching him ever since.

Watch this. You won’t regret it.

By the way, more information here.

I’m hoping that they start a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign. I understand they have three episodes in the can. I sure would like to see these performers do some more.