From bodyguards on set Geia to li about the script Pe, how do filmmakers reprsive regim get round the hostily to gay movi?
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- ANDREW AHN / WRER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER SCE GRADUATG OM CALARTS 2011, ANDREW AHN HAS MA AN IMPACT EXPLORG LIFE FOR QUEER, ASIAN AMERIN AND QUEER ASIAN AMERIN CHARACTERS. THE L.A.-BASED DIRECTOR MA HIS BUT WH 2016'S SPA NIGHT, ABOUT A CLOSETED KOREAN AMERIN TEENAGER WHO EXPLOR THE UNRGROUND WORLD OF GAY SEX AT A KOREAN SPA. IN 2019, HE HELMED DRIVEWAYS, AN TIMATE FAY DRAMA ABOUT A BOY WHO STRIK UP A IENDSHIP WH A LONELY WAR VETERAN. AHN'S LATT IS THE HULU ROMANTIC EDY, FIRE ISLAND, A PRI AND PREJUDICE RETELLG STARRG JOEL KIM BOOSTER AND BOWEN YANG. "I REMEMBER PCHG THE SCRIPT TO SEARCHLIGHT AND TO JOEL AND OUR PRODUCERS AND I CREATED A PCH CK THAT CLUD PHOTOS OF MY IENDS GROUP. AND I SAID, 'I WANT TO MAKE THIS FOR THEM,'" AHN TELLS "THEY BRG ME JOY, AND THEY'VE SUPPORTED ME WAYS THAT I ULD NOT HAVE IMAGED. I HOPE THIS FILM SPIR OTHER GROUPS OF IENDS TO JT CELEBRATE AND CHERISH EACH OTHER."READ: ANDREW AHN ON FDG MAGIC AND CHOSEN FAY ON 'FIRE ISLAND' (EXCLIVE) WHAT TO WATCH: ANDREW AHN: 5 MOVI THAT TGHT ME TO LOVE CEMA LEVAN AK / WRER, DIRECTORTHE SWEDISH FILMMAKER, WHO HAS GEIAN ROOTS, BROKE OUT WH HIS CRILLY ACCLAIMED DRAMA, AND THEN WE DANCED, WHICH PREMIERED AT THE 2019 CANN FILM FTIVAL. THE FILM FOLLOWS A GAY GEIAN DANCER MORN-DAY, NSERVATIVE TBILISI, AS HE FD HIMSELF UP AGAST TOUGH PETN FOR THE OPPORTUNY OF A LIFETIME.IN ALL OF HIS FILMS, AK AIMS FOR THENTICY, PECIALLY WHEN TO LGBTQ+ LOVE STORI. "I JT WANTED TO FEEL REALLY, REALLY THENTIC, AND FOR THOSE MOMENTS OF FIRST LOVE TO BE SO REAL," HE RECENTLY SAID. "I'VE NEVER SEEN THOSE A GAY MOVIE... I REALLY WANTED TO TCH THOSE MICRO-MOMENTS, BEE I THK A LOT OF GAY PEOPLE N INTIFY WH THOSE SUATNS."NEXT UP, AK IS DIRECTG PASSAGE, A GAY LOVE STORY SET TURKEY, TO BE RELEASED NEXT YEAR.JONATHAN BAILEY / ACTORWHILE BT KNOWN AS THE SWOON-WORTHY VISUNT ANTHONY BRIDGERTON ON NETFLIX'S REGENCY ERA BODICE-RIPPER, THE ENGLISH THPIAN IS A VETERAN OF THE STAGE AND BIG SCREEN. (BAILEY IS A LRENCE OLIVIER AWARD FOR THE FORMER; HIS LATTER CREDS CLU 2016'S THE YOUNG MSIAH AND 2017'S THE MERCY.) THROUGHOUT HIS REER, BAILEY HAS MA A POT OF PLAYG BOTH GAY AND STRAIGHT ROL ON-SCREEN. AS HE'S EXPLAED, "IF I N FILL SPAC THAT I DIDN'T HAVE GROWG UP, THEN I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A REALLY BRILLIANT THG."BAILEY IS NEXT SLATED TO BEG SHOOTG THE EDY MARIA ALONGSI FELICY JON.JOEL KIM BOOSTER / ACTOR, WRER, PRODUCERTHE EDIAN AND BONA FI MULTI-HYPHENATE IS ONE OF THE STARS OF FIRE ISLAND, A ROM- THAT HE ALSO WROTE AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCED. BORN SOUTH KOREA AND RAISED THE SUBURBS OF ILLOIS, BOOSTER STARTED OUT DOG STAND-UP EDY CHIGO BEFORE TRYG HIS HAND AT ACTG. HE'S STARRED SERI LIKE NBC'S SUNNYSI AND HULU'S SHRILL, AS WELL AS LENDG HIS VOICE TO THE ANIMATED NETFLIX EDY, BIG MOUTH.BOOSTER RECENTLY SAID OF FIRE ISLAND THAT "SOME OF THE HAPPIT MOMENTS OF MY LIFE HAVE BEEN ON THAT ISLAND. THAT WAS THE DRIVG FORCE BEHD THE PROJECT. I JT WANTED TO SHOW — AND THIS IS SO RNY — GAY JOY."ELEGANCE BRATTON (LEFT) WH 'BUCK' -DIRECTOR JOVAN JAM.ELEGANCE BRATTON / WRER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERTHE JERSEY CY-BORN FILMMAKER AND PHOTOGRAPHER IS KNOWN FOR HIS PBS DOCUMENTARY PIER KIDS: THE LIFE, WHICH FOLLOWS HOMELS QUEER AND TRANS YOUTH OF LOR AS THEY CREATE LIV FOR THEMSELV ON CHRISTOPHER STREET PIER NEW YORK CY. BRATTON -DIRECTED THE 2020 SHORT FILM, BUCK, ABOUT A YOUNG BLACK GAY MAN'S STGGL WH PRSN, WHICH PREMIERED AT THE SUNDANCE FILM FTIVAL.NEXT UP, HE'S DIRECTG THE SEMI-TOBGRAPHIL FEATURE, THE INSPECTN, STARRG JEREMY POPE AND GABRIELLE UNN, WHICH BRATTON LLS "VERY MUCH ABOUT MY OWN LIFE — A HOMELS GUY JOS THE MARE CORPS TO W BACK HIS MOTHER'S LOVE, BUT THEN MT NCEAL HIS ATTRACTN TO HIS DRILL STCTOR." HE IS ALSO SET TO HELM A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT JAM REE EUROPE TLED HELLFIGHTERS.AULI'I CRAVALHO / ACTOR
- 'TWO BOYS SNOGGG WAS REVOLUTNARY': THE GREATT GAY MOMENTS CEMA
- UNR THE RABOW: HOW DIRECTORS MAKE LGBT FILMS UNTRI HOSTILE TO GAY RIGHTS
ANDREW AHN / WRER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER SCE GRADUATG OM CALARTS 2011, ANDREW AHN HAS MA AN IMPACT EXPLORG LIFE FOR QUEER, ASIAN AMERIN AND QUEER ASIAN AMERIN CHARACTERS. THE L.A.-BASED DIRECTOR MA HIS BUT WH 2016'S SPA NIGHT, ABOUT A CLOSETED KOREAN AMERIN TEENAGER WHO EXPLOR THE UNRGROUND WORLD OF GAY SEX AT A KOREAN SPA. IN 2019, HE HELMED DRIVEWAYS, AN TIMATE FAY DRAMA ABOUT A BOY WHO STRIK UP A IENDSHIP WH A LONELY WAR VETERAN. AHN'S LATT IS THE HULU ROMANTIC EDY, FIRE ISLAND, A PRI AND PREJUDICE RETELLG STARRG JOEL KIM BOOSTER AND BOWEN YANG. "I REMEMBER PCHG THE SCRIPT TO SEARCHLIGHT AND TO JOEL AND OUR PRODUCERS AND I CREATED A PCH CK THAT CLUD PHOTOS OF MY IENDS GROUP. AND I SAID, 'I WANT TO MAKE THIS FOR THEM,'" AHN TELLS "THEY BRG ME JOY, AND THEY'VE SUPPORTED ME WAYS THAT I ULD NOT HAVE IMAGED. I HOPE THIS FILM SPIR OTHER GROUPS OF IENDS TO JT CELEBRATE AND CHERISH EACH OTHER."READ: ANDREW AHN ON FDG MAGIC AND CHOSEN FAY ON 'FIRE ISLAND' (EXCLIVE) WHAT TO WATCH: ANDREW AHN: 5 MOVI THAT TGHT ME TO LOVE CEMA LEVAN AK / WRER, DIRECTORTHE SWEDISH FILMMAKER, WHO HAS GEIAN ROOTS, BROKE OUT WH HIS CRILLY ACCLAIMED DRAMA, AND THEN WE DANCED, WHICH PREMIERED AT THE 2019 CANN FILM FTIVAL. THE FILM FOLLOWS A GAY GEIAN DANCER MORN-DAY, NSERVATIVE TBILISI, AS HE FD HIMSELF UP AGAST TOUGH PETN FOR THE OPPORTUNY OF A LIFETIME.IN ALL OF HIS FILMS, AK AIMS FOR THENTICY, PECIALLY WHEN TO LGBTQ+ LOVE STORI. "I JT WANTED TO FEEL REALLY, REALLY THENTIC, AND FOR THOSE MOMENTS OF FIRST LOVE TO BE SO REAL," HE RECENTLY SAID. "I'VE NEVER SEEN THOSE A GAY MOVIE... I REALLY WANTED TO TCH THOSE MICRO-MOMENTS, BEE I THK A LOT OF GAY PEOPLE N INTIFY WH THOSE SUATNS."NEXT UP, AK IS DIRECTG PASSAGE, A GAY LOVE STORY SET TURKEY, TO BE RELEASED NEXT YEAR.JONATHAN BAILEY / ACTORWHILE BT KNOWN AS THE SWOON-WORTHY VISUNT ANTHONY BRIDGERTON ON NETFLIX'S REGENCY ERA BODICE-RIPPER, THE ENGLISH THPIAN IS A VETERAN OF THE STAGE AND BIG SCREEN. (BAILEY IS A LRENCE OLIVIER AWARD FOR THE FORMER; HIS LATTER CREDS CLU 2016'S THE YOUNG MSIAH AND 2017'S THE MERCY.) THROUGHOUT HIS REER, BAILEY HAS MA A POT OF PLAYG BOTH GAY AND STRAIGHT ROL ON-SCREEN. AS HE'S EXPLAED, "IF I N FILL SPAC THAT I DIDN'T HAVE GROWG UP, THEN I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A REALLY BRILLIANT THG."BAILEY IS NEXT SLATED TO BEG SHOOTG THE EDY MARIA ALONGSI FELICY JON.JOEL KIM BOOSTER / ACTOR, WRER, PRODUCERTHE EDIAN AND BONA FI MULTI-HYPHENATE IS ONE OF THE STARS OF FIRE ISLAND, A ROM- THAT HE ALSO WROTE AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCED. BORN SOUTH KOREA AND RAISED THE SUBURBS OF ILLOIS, BOOSTER STARTED OUT DOG STAND-UP EDY CHIGO BEFORE TRYG HIS HAND AT ACTG. HE'S STARRED SERI LIKE NBC'S SUNNYSI AND HULU'S SHRILL, AS WELL AS LENDG HIS VOICE TO THE ANIMATED NETFLIX EDY, BIG MOUTH.BOOSTER RECENTLY SAID OF FIRE ISLAND THAT "SOME OF THE HAPPIT MOMENTS OF MY LIFE HAVE BEEN ON THAT ISLAND. THAT WAS THE DRIVG FORCE BEHD THE PROJECT. I JT WANTED TO SHOW — AND THIS IS SO RNY — GAY JOY."ELEGANCE BRATTON (LEFT) WH 'BUCK' -DIRECTOR JOVAN JAM.ELEGANCE BRATTON / WRER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERTHE JERSEY CY-BORN FILMMAKER AND PHOTOGRAPHER IS KNOWN FOR HIS PBS DOCUMENTARY PIER KIDS: THE LIFE, WHICH FOLLOWS HOMELS QUEER AND TRANS YOUTH OF LOR AS THEY CREATE LIV FOR THEMSELV ON CHRISTOPHER STREET PIER NEW YORK CY. BRATTON -DIRECTED THE 2020 SHORT FILM, BUCK, ABOUT A YOUNG BLACK GAY MAN'S STGGL WH PRSN, WHICH PREMIERED AT THE SUNDANCE FILM FTIVAL.NEXT UP, HE'S DIRECTG THE SEMI-TOBGRAPHIL FEATURE, THE INSPECTN, STARRG JEREMY POPE AND GABRIELLE UNN, WHICH BRATTON LLS "VERY MUCH ABOUT MY OWN LIFE — A HOMELS GUY JOS THE MARE CORPS TO W BACK HIS MOTHER'S LOVE, BUT THEN MT NCEAL HIS ATTRACTN TO HIS DRILL STCTOR." HE IS ALSO SET TO HELM A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT JAM REE EUROPE TLED HELLFIGHTERS.AULI'I CRAVALHO / ACTOR
In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out. In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that.
“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. Gay Water, however, is out and proud. The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny.
'TWO BOYS SNOGGG WAS REVOLUTNARY': THE GREATT GAY MOMENTS CEMA
“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.
The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail. Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”.
For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.
UNR THE RABOW: HOW DIRECTORS MAKE LGBT FILMS UNTRI HOSTILE TO GAY RIGHTS
Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. ) And Kate McKnon, playg a so-lled Weird Barbie who experienced an extreme haircut and makeover at the hands of an experimental child, never actually answers the qutn anybody would have upon seeg her gay-ass haircut and knowg the actor’s sexualy. Yet even if no one says , Weird Barbie is clearly Gay Barbie.