Archives for posts with tag: outfest

the big butch elephant

August 17, 2012 //
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The first weekend of Outfest, I decided to spend Saturday afternoon at a TV panel where the writers of some of the shows with gay characters (and most of them gay themselves) would talk about how TV comedy writing has changed to embrace gay characters over the past 25 years.

The panel included six writers with some extensive credits (Modern Family, Glee, Will & Grace, Family Guy, Frasier, Nurse Jackie, Roseanne, Gilmore Girls, etc), two women and four men. They actually represented a pretty good cross-section of experience – the women spoke about how most television is written by men, one male panelist spoke about his contract on one show requiring that he and his writing partner stay in the closet, while the others exclaimed that they couldn’t believe that! etc etc.  They got into the nuances of writing gay characters and trying to write for the overall show while paying attention to being honest for the gay audience. It was pretty insightful.

There is always an elephant in the room for me, at these events. Where are the butch/less than femme/other queer gals?  Why is no one writing them? The panel started with a great montage of queer moments in TV comedy: Billy Crystal on Soap, Roseanne‘s lesbian kiss, and a clip from the upcoming The New Normal (from Glee’s Ryan Murphy), to name just a few. I was excited that in The New Normal, the scene they showed had a lesbian couple cuddling their baby while walking down the street.  One of the lesbians was butch (!!! Julie Goldman, of course) and the other was kind of heavy. Both were in plaid shirts. (see them in the trailer here at 50sec) Great, right? I go in search of alternative lesbians, and I find them, right? Sort of.

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Categories acting

Outfest 2012 part 1

July 24, 2012 //
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Wow, where do I start?

Outfest was fantastic. I remember last year when I went to the Girls Shorts event on All-Girl Friday I was like, whoa! Here they all are!! OMG!!  This year was basically the same, times ten, because this year I was actually a part of it all, albeit in a small way.

Over the course of 11 days my gf and I went to maybe 20 different events – before and after parties, screenings, panels, the whole gamut. I have much more to write about it, but let’s just leave it at how grateful I am that the universe provides. Because it is SO difficult to trust that, and to believe that just asking for what you want is enough, and then listening for the answer. But it happens.

And of course, Outfest reminds me that no, I am actually not the only butch in LA, even though I am one of the only butch actors. (But for now I will keep my catchy tagline. 🙂  )

With the cast and director of ‘Somewhere Along The Way’ – not the only butch actor, but certainly the tallest.

Highlights included, of course, performing in Erin Greenwell’s new screenplay Somewhere Along The Way with director Guinevere Turner, and the talented Jo Armeniox, Naserin Bogado, and the inimitable Patricia Villetto.  I’ll mention here that I also had the pleasure of meeting Christa Faust, of Butch Fatale fame, Campbell X, the fantastic director of Stud Life, and I connected with a friend from my past, the reigning drag king of S.F., otherwise known as Delicio Del Toro.

I was pleasantly surprised that some folks I met knew me from my writing here. So – hello! Thank you! It was fantastic to meet you! It is a bit overwhelming to talk in person with those who have read my every insecurity on this screen, but I remain committed to write my warts and all here – because being visible isn’t also about being airbrushed, if you know what I mean.

 

 

 

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Categories acting