Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBTQ-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) Frameline, the organizers of one of the world`s largest LGBTQ film festivals, is launching an initiative to make LGBTQ-inclusive movies available all around the world for free on YouTube. A new film is uploaded every month, with a focus on underrepresented members of the community. The initiative also contains an archive of over 50 films that highlight the LGBTQ community, available now on YouTube.
2) The 2017 Sundance Film Festival wrapped up last week, and notable bids include Netflix`s purchase of Mudbound, from out director Dee Rees, whose film Pariah received the GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Film - Limited Release category at the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Beach Rats, a drama about a gay teenager’s encounters, landed a deal with Neon at the festival. Likewise, Sony Pictures Classics picked up the much-buzzed about Call Me by Your Name, from director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, A Bigger Splash), which is based on the novel of the same name about a teenager who gets involved with an older man.
3) Armistead Maupin, LGBTQ rights pioneer and author of the Tales of the City novels, will be the focus of a new documentary, titled The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin. Directed by Jennifer M. Kroots (To Be Takei), the film will premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March.
4) Akron, a gay Midwest love story about two teens, will be released February 7 on DVD and VOD via Wolfe Video. The film offers a refreshing spin on the gay coming-of-age story, where their sexuality is not the main issue, but their love is tested when their families` pasts become known.
5) The GLAAD Media Award-nominated comedy Please Like Me has announced that the fourth season is the final. The Australian series aired in the U.S. on cable network Pivot for the first three seasons, before moving exclusively to Hulu for the fourth and final. All four seasons are available now on Hulu.
6) Amazon studios has renewed Mozart in the Jungle for a fourth season, set to premiere later this year. The series, starring out actor Saffron Burrows who plays bisexual cellist Cynthia, focuses on the lives and drama of the members of the New York Symphony. ABC has ordered a pilot for Splitting Up Together, a comedy being executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres. Out actor T.R. Knight has been cast in a recurring role on National Geographic’s anthology series Genius, where he will play J. Edgar Hoover who is focused on ruining the reputation of Albert Einstein.
7) Hulu has announced the cast for their pilot of Marvel’s Runaways, a drama based on the comics series of the same name. Virginia Gardner will play lesbian character Karolina Dean. In other comics news, DC Comics is bringing back Snagglepuss as a “gay southern gothic playwright”. An eight-page story on the pink mountain lion is set to arrive in March before continuing in the fall. The comic book world welcomes a new LGBTQ character with the arrival of a new trans female character (yet to be named) in the series
8) The webcomic Magical Boy Basil has launched a Kickstarter campaign to publish the print copy of their first issue. The issue features Basil, a young queer boy, as he moves to a new house, a new school, and a new adventure filled with monsters and a mysterious charming boy. Read the webcomic on their website, and find out more about the Magical Boy Basil crowdfunding campaign on their Kickstarter page.
