Tag Archives: Web Series

The ‘Carmilla’ Movie Trailer Is Out

The web series Carmilla has attracted millions of fans around the world over the last few years. So it’s only right that the show should be made into a feature film.

Inspired by the infamous novella by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla is all about a girl called Laura (Elise Bauman), who has left her home town for the first time to attend Silas University, which boasts its own Gnostic Mathematics department, many clubs for the students to enjoy like the Alchemy Club, and an extensive library where the books will search for you.

It’s kind of like a queer-er Buffy, blended with Scooby-Doo, and little bit Veronica Mars style action.

The new movie will feature the stars of the web series, Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis, who return for the supernatural spinoff film.

Watch the trailer below:

‘Two Sentence Horror Stories’ Web Series Is Creepy, Queer and Wonderful

If the queer San Junipero episode of Black Mirror were expanded into its own series, the results would be Two Sentence Horror Stories.

Two Sentence Horror Stories, a new queer horror web series, has everything – lesbian love, possession, genderqueer identities, supernatural creepiness, racism and evil.

The Creator, Vera Miao, says;

Future episodes grapple with racism more explicitly, the impact of new technologies when taken too far, trolling and online bullying, changing beauty standards and how far it goes, objectification of women (particularly women of color) and the horror of that when taken very far,”

Miao is a young, queer Asian-American filmmaker who has always loved ghost stories – how they’re constructed, how they tap into people’s primordial senses, how they reveal the darker layers of the world. She is especially interested in what happens when classic horror stories meet a high-tech, Internet-driven environment.

She based Two Sentence Horror Stories on the massively popular short fiction section of Reddit. The first sentence sets up a horrifying premise, and the second sentence builds on it but rarely resolves it, leaving the reader with a sick, tingly feeling.

For example, one of the most popular posts says:

I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, “Daddy check for monsters under my bed.” I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, “Daddy there’s somebody on my bed.”

(Check out other posts like that here.)

Miao was inspired by the creepy, open-ended nature of the stories. The first episode, MA, focuses on a mother-daughter relationship turned dangerous:

Like many traditional Chinese families, Mona still lives at home with her stern but loving Ma. When she meets cute Erica, their instant chemistry awakens something dormant inside. But Ma is not going to let her daughter go easily. Because nothing is allowed to come between a mother and daughter.”

Miao masterfully takes a two-sentence story and builds it out into a fifteen-minute episode, the first of many.

One of the most refreshing aspects of Miao’s show is that she doesn’t shy away from diverse representation. In fact, diverse representation forms the backbone for the series. The first episode follows queer women of color, framed within a particular immigrant experience; 60% of the episode is in Mandarin Chinese, because Miao wanted to accurately portray what it would be like for Mona to live with her mother. She feels no desire to water down the experience to make it more palatable to an audience and, conversely, the extreme specificity contributes to the universality of the story.

Watch the trailer, and stay updated on the show at the official website.

‘True Love’ Web Series Shows What It’s Like to Be Queer in Homophobic South

It’s hard being gay in the American South. Unless you live in Charlotte or Atlanta, walking down the street holding hands with a same-sex partner could get you shot. Then again, people in big cities are not always safe, as illustrated by the devastating Pulse nightclub attack on the liberal southern city of Orlando, Florida in 2016.

Being gay in the South is hard enough. Being gay in working-class pockets of the rural south is a death wish. The vast majority of the working-class South voted for Trump, and the entire blue-collar region isn’t known for its liberalism as much as it’s known for its KKK rallies.

Dazed Digital‘s True Love web series follows stories of unlikely, sometimes unlucky, queer lovers around the country. The series debuts with the story of Sarah and Bri, a “young lesbian couple from Nashville, Tennessee, who are at odds not just with lingering family disapproval, but wider society.”

The series follows Sarah and Bri’s first meeting, discusses their burgeoning sexuality and documents the mixed reactions from their conservative community. Sarah’s family was relatively accepting; she came out to her father via letter at fifteen. Bri’s family was much more upset.

In order to be together, Sarah and Bri contacted each other via secret phones, watched each other through binoculars when physically separated, snuck around behind Bri’s parents’ backs, and stood up to their homophobic community.

When Bri’s family caught Sarah and Bri in the middle of a romantic encounter, they called the police and demanded that Sarah be arrested for statutory rape. Her parents claimed that the age difference between the two girls meant that Sarah raped her. Luckily, Sarah got off safely – barely.

She says,

We beat the law by ten days. If would have went to jail if I had been any older the day her mother called the police on me.”

The show’s producer, Elise Tyler, says that the show goes beyond pointing the finger at poor communities and calling them homophobic. The show aims to show that poor American communities are a victim of larger American society.

She says,

There is a war on poor people in this country, and it is frightening. It is not something we addressed directly, but I think the air of each episode alludes to the struggles so many Americans currently face.”

Watch the first episode here.

‘Brown Girls’ – Hilarious Web Series With Beautiful Lesbians

Broad City made headlines for putting Jewish girls at the forefront.

Girls made headlines for being painfully homogenous.

Now Brown Girls, which is the best of both shows, is making headlines for centering around queer women of color.

This isn’t just another show about 20-somethings in New York City (for one, Brown Girls is set in Chicago). Leila is a young South Asian woman who’s finally allowing herself to explore queerness. Her best friend is a black musician struggling to hold down a relationship.

The show was born out of Fatimah Asghar’s desire to see more people like her on television – not just brown girls, but queer brown girls. A 2016 study proved that only 1/3 of speaking roles go to non-white actors of any minority. Only 1/4 of speaking roles go to women, so the chances of seeing a woman of color in a role are only 8.3%. On top of that, queer characters only appear in TV 2% of the time, so your chances of seeing a queer woman of color are 602 to 1.

Not anymore, thanks to Fatima Asghar and her co-creator Sam Q. Bailey.

Asghar doesn’t make art in order to fill a quota but to create the roles that she would want to play.

I really believe in working towards solidarity between different woman of color. Whenever I am around women of color I feel at home, there’s a certain kind of ease that happens. I want to see woman of color in more complicated roles, exploring our friendships with each other across races, the way that we show up and take care of each other. I want to see a world that looks like mine, and the people who let me know it was okay to be my fullest self.”

The audience for this show definitely exists, so the two creators probably could have taken this idea to high-paying producers. So why the web series format? Why give this art away for free?

Asghar recognizes that although shows like Insecure are bringing women of color to the screen, TV channels remain out of reach for anyone who doesn’t have Cable, own a TV or hold Netflix, Hulu and HBO subscriptions.

She wanted to create a show that could be accessed by anyone with an internet connection. Her art is for everyone.”

The show comes out in early February. Keep up with it at the official website.

Watch ‘195 Lewis’, A Queer Polyamorous Web Series

If relationships aren’t easy, then open relationships can be disasters. The new web series 195 Lewis explores the complications of a lesbian couple who decides to try an open relationship. Whether you’re considering polyamory or just enjoy character-driven dramas, give it a try.

The series follows Yuri and Camille as they test the boundaries of their open relationship. Yuri’s growing infatuation with a new lover leaves Camille distressed, which is only amplified by the unexpected arrival of Yuri’s old college friend Kris, who shows up with nowhere else to stay.”

One look at the trailer reveals that this is not your typical melodramatic love triangle or handicam web series. The almost dreamlike storyline is saturated in deep royal purples, making the characters seem larger than life even as they make devastating choices.

Filmmaker Chanelle Aponte Pearson heads up the series. In 2015, she won the prestigious Calvin Klein-sponsored “Live the Dream” grant. A clip from 195 Lewis premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam to roaring praise.

alexis-3-1

Pearson sat down with Filmmaker Magazine to talk about the creative process. When discussing why the show was set in Brooklyn, she said, “Brooklyn is constantly changing, and it continues to welcome a host of people from all walks of life. With 195 Lewis, I’m more interested in representing a part of Brooklyn that is specifically Bed-Stuy, Black, queer, and saturated with activists, artists, and other cultural producers that make the borough so inviting in the first place.” She aimed to create an immersive world.

195-lewis

She originally planned 2-5 minute comedic episodes in the same vein as successful series such as The Couple and Awkward Black Girl. However, she focused on the story and the characters; when she was done telling the characters’ stories, she found herself with an eight-part comedy drama longer than a feature film. Although this format is unprecedented for a comedic web series, she believes it will be successful.

She said,

Our core audience (queer women of color) are hungry for a show like 195 Lewis and we’re committed to delivering.”

When not creating web shows, she directs and produces documentaries, manages the Brooklyn-based production company MVMT, and is in post-production on her first feature-length film Elijah.

Trailer link: 195 Lewis – trailer

Hilarious Web Series “Advocates” Skewers LGBTQ Organizations

IRIS: Your paisley shirt looks like bacterial sperm.

STRAIGHT JANET: This is offensive.

IRIS: Shut up, straight Janet! It's your turn to be silent!

If you’ve ever looked at an organization like GLAAD or Human Rights Campaign and thought, “Working there must be awful,” then you’re right.

Advocates takes you inside the dark, messy world that is LGBTQ public relations. The series is set in a GLAAD-style organization, GULPTAB*, the “most powerful dysfunctional gay nonprofit in America.”

If you’ve watched The L Word or Looking… Then this show is nothing like that. And that’s a good thing. The world needs fluffy gay melodramas, but it also needs a new type of LGBT entertainment, and Advocates offers just that.

juniperdianestill

You won’t know whether to love or hate the anti-hero protagonists as they fake celebrity coming-outs (“I’m a hard 1 on the Kinsey scale,” the celebrity sobs, and is commended for her bravery), face off against more successful nonprofits, skewer The 600 fandom and, of course, make fun of Straight Janet, the only heterosexual in the office.

The only problem with the show is that it seems to offer a very privileged, very Caucasian view of LGBTQ life.

The token Asian character is ridiculed for addressing the lack of inclusion at GULPTAB* – “The asterisk in GULPTAB* is for special snowflakes,” says one of the organization’s directors.

Then again, that may be the point; organizations such as GLAAD and HRC are notoriously monochromatic, so it makes sense that GULPTAB* would be the same.

iris-casey1

The writing is witty, the satire is sharp and the trailer alone will leave you in stitches. Even better, the writer and the cast are LGBTQ.

Having queer content by queer creators is always a cause for celebration.

Unfortunately, you can’t binge-watch season one just yet. The series isn’t set to release until January, and it needs your help.

Check out the IndieGoGo page to donate and to get updates on the series’ release.

Indian-Made Lesbian Web Series Gets Highest Nominations at NYC Web Fest

Filmmaker Roopa Rao’s debut web series The Other Love Story is an innocent love story between two girls set in the 90’s era in India.

After facing rejection from several producers, Roopa turned to crowdfunding to help bring this original and realistic story to the society, now the web series is leading nominations at the NYC Web Fest, with six nominations.

index2-4

Roopa says,

When I made this series, I had no expectations about what I wanted from it or where it would go. I just wanted it to release and share the story, and hoped that people were engaged and entertained with each episode. I am thrilled that we have been noticed by a platform like this and that we are competing on a global level for some of the top awards at the festival.”

dc-cover-baro204g0i64elupuija3mm774-20160727233154-medi

Roopa says that though her project deals with a sensitive topic and the medium she chose to narrate it on wasn’t conventional, she was glad she did it.

This project happened organically. I have been a writer and like to tell stories. I must have written this story when I was in college. But I was waiting for someone else to make it because I didn’t know how to. Since then, I kept thinking of a web series because video-sharing channels started monetizing it. This was a great platform for storytellers like us who want to tell something as it is and with freedom of expression. It took me some time to research the medium, and given that it doesn’t require big budgets and there is no distributor in between who you have to satisfy, I found the medium encouraging. Also, when I approached producers, they were apprehensive due to the subject and the medium. In that way, it has been a long journey and fight, but here we are today, with nominations at a festival like this and it has been worth it.”

How to Start Your Own Lesbian Web Series

Why start a series?

The importance: Representation is important, and the best way to get LGBT women on the screen is to put them there ourselves – we are the only ones who can tell our stories.

The friends: Starting a web series requires a lot of collaboration, from writers to editors to actors, so you’ll meet a lot of amazing people. Even if you never achieve fame, you’ll start countless friendships.

The fun: Plus, if you’re an artist, making LGBT art with other people is just plain fun. You’ll get to dream up crazy storylines. You’ll get to map out crazy promotions. You can direct or act in order to create an imaginary world. And your stories may touch people in ways you never anticipated.


What story should you tell?

You have 1,001 stories to choose from. You could tell the story of a lesbian space detective. You could narrate a polyamorous love story. You could design a cartoon about polysexual space aliens. The options are endless.

But what show do you wish you could watch, right now? That’s the show that you need to make. Don’t write what you think will be popular, write what you want to watch, because if you want to watch it, others will too.


How should you tell your story?

Every story needs to be told differently. For example, we all know some books that should not have been turned into movies, and we know some TV shows that fell flat when they became films. (Maybe people should stop turning things into movies…) Grab a piece of paper and brainstorm the best way to tell your story.

Gone are the days when YouTube videos were your only option. Now you can make tiny vines, minute-long Instagram videos, thirty minute Vimeo epics, or avant-garde Snapchat videos. You can shoot on your iPhone or on an expensive professional camera.

Utilize your network. If a friend of a friend is an experienced director, then you have more options. If all of your friends take improv classes, then you’ll be able to tell dynamic stories. Don’t be afraid to tell your story in a creative, unorthodox way.


Who’s your writing team?

Sure, you could write by yourself. But that didn’t work for Season Two of True Detective, and it might not work for you. Besides, a writing partner can challenge you, come at the story from a fresh angle, and spin jokes and subplots.

You may be awake tweaking lines until 3 a.m. the night before a shoot. It will be more fun to have a writing buddy struggling with you.


How will you fund it?

Unless you’re shooting Vines with an iPhone, filming a web series will be expensive, so do whatever it takes to find the funds. Enter contests, start a GoFundMe, max out your credit card, secure a private investor, or get a sugar mama. Just remember that your show probably won’t get picked up by a major network and you almost definitely won’t make your money back. The chances of being Issa Rae (Awkward Black Girl) or Ilana Glazer (Broad City) are slim.


Who’s your crew?

Your crew could be you with a camera on selfie mode, or it could be ten people and craft service. If you want your series to be shot professionally, you’ll need actors, make-up artists, a lighting crew, a sound crew, a camera crew, a director, an editor… Start making phone calls.


Practice makes perfect!

Don’t be discouraged if your series doesn’t turn out the way you want it right away, or if the view count is low. Just keep writing, filming, acting and promoting, and your audience will come! There’s nothing more rewarding than telling your stories to people who need to hear them.

India Finally Portrays A Lesbian Relationship In New Web Series ‘The Other Love Story’

Members of the LGBT community have a very hard time in India because under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, homosexuality is punishable by law and the subject is pretty much taboo.

In that respect alone The Other Love Story is a ground-breaking move. The series is set in Bangalore in the 1990’s and portrays the love story between two young women, Aachal and Aadya.

998396308

During this era lesbian relationships were very much in the closet (even more so than they are now) and the first episode shows them both meeting each other for the first time.

The audience very quickly gets a sense of the ordinariness of the girls lives and they start to grow closer as they interact in person and over the phone. There is an innocence about them both as they explore their feelings for each other.

595911842

Heterosexual relationships are hard enough in India as family, politics and attitudes play a strict part in whether they are deemed suitable by others, which means LGBT relationships are pretty much impossible to carry out. This is why this web series is so desperately needed, not just for lesbian women in India, but to women anywhere that are still in the closet or are dealing with prejudice from others regarding their sexuality.

A few weeks ago a lesbian couple from Mumbai both tried to commit suicide as they had been forbidden to see each other after someone reported them for cuddling. One succeeded and died while the other survived.

This is a tragic example of what can happen to members of the LGBT community in India when others find out about their relationship. Falling in love is not a crime and more recognition is needed in the media.

The Other Love Story is a step in the right direction as it normalizes same sex relationships. Falling in love is not a crime. Prejudice and homophobia is.

The ‘Lesbian Princess’ Web Series Is Here

Have you ever wanted to be a lesbian princess? Looks like Brittany Ashley has beaten you to it.

BuzzFeed has just launched a web series about a lesbian princess who’s on a journey to find true love.

The story goes that young Princess Brittania is single and the king and queen are urging her to find a suitable prince to marry.

princess

But Brittania isn’t interested in men, and hopes to find a girl of her dreams instead.

The series touches on many different aspects of dating and finding love, such as being in a toxic relationship, dealing with bad sex, meeting the wrong people, facing disappointments and more.

Now, time to binge-watch the 5 episodes that are already up:

India’s LGBTQ Community Share Their Coming Out Stories In New Insightful Web Series

The new seven-part web series, Coming Out, features inspiring tales of members of the India’s LGBTQ community, who are coming out to their families, across India and across sections of economic classes.

One frank and honest story features Justine Mellocastro, a hairstylist and fashion entrepreneur in Mumbai, who is bisexual.

In the episode, her mother is shown saying,

First, I went into turmoil, frankly. There were so many things flying through my head. You worry about society, that’s the only thing that comes to mind. And then I said, finally, “I love my kid”.”

Another story features, Chanchal Jain who transitioning from a woman to a man. When Jain works up the courage to broach the subject with his small-town parents, he was in for a larger surprise than they were: his father, quickly recovering, only said, “Well, do you want to get the surgery done?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AibjIG83vw&nohtml5=False

Produced by youth content company 101India, these stories are told in a matter-of-fact, conversational style, and are not overly emotional or depressing.

Discussing the documentaries, Justine says

Usually, all you hear are negative stories. My story is only positive — my family was ultra-supportive, and I’ve been in long-term relationships with women too — including a live-in relationship. We’ve got so many nice comments on the video, most of them congratulating my mum for her attitude. I think it’s mainly the government that has a problem with homosexuality.”

Cyrus Oshidhar, founder of 101India added.

This series isn’t about the Bollywood-isation of the issue. We don’t want to overlay the videos with any message, but show snapshots of real stories. The clear subtext is about parents and acceptance, and that it is possible to have a normal, loving family unit.”

Four episodes are out online.

New Zealand’s First Lesbian Web Series ‘Pot Luck’, Seeks Crowdfunding Support

From the gentrified streets of London to the elevators of Italy and from the movie sets of Brazil to the many apartments/houses/basketball courts/pubs/clubs/just about every other building of the United States, this year web, web series about women who love women (WLW) have taken us all over the globe.

But one place that has yet to to show off its (fictional) queer female scene is New Zealand. Until now, that is, as the Oceanic country has gotten its very first lesbian web series in Pot Luck.

76b9ed7bb2d8987bff095702a4e7e30b

Pot Luck, says its creators, “serves up contemporary lesbian life in three great flavours”. Set in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, the series is all about three women: Mel (Nikki Si’ulepa), who is about as charming as they get, Debs (Anji Kreft), a shy butch, and Mel’s ex-girlfriend Beth (Tess Jamieson-Karaha).

potluck-ecaff5a4

The show gets its name from the ‘potluck’ dinners (a meal where each guest contributes a dish) that the three women have every week.

But, instead of just laughing, drinking and sharing some really good food (which sounds like a good time to me), they decide to turn the weekly meeting into a search for love and the “fun, sexy, and occasionally ridiculous” show follows them on this journey and as they ‘negotiate’ family life and friendship too.

Written and directed by NZ Film School and Whitirea’s Creative Writing Programme graduate Ness Simons, Pot Luck was actually inspired by Simons’ own pot luck dinners and speaking to Big Gay Picture Show she says that “there’s so much scope for story when you bring a group of women together, so it seemed like a good idea to build a series around friendship and food and the different dynamics around the table”.

1449699948988

Everyone can certainly agree with that and we all want more shows about more groups of women but while the first episode of Pot Luck is available now and was funded by the Emerging Artists Trust, it does need a bit of help to finish the first season.

Pot Luck is currently on the crowdfunding site Boosted where it’s seeking $22,500 to complete the remaining five episodes of the season; at the time of writing Pot Luck needs just over $4,000 to hit that goal, with 60 hours left on the clock so chip in if you want to see more of the show in future.

 

Groundbreaking Lesbian Web Series ’10percento’ Is Being Posted On Instagram

This year has blessed us with a variety of online LGBTQ content as we’ve had an embarrassment of riches when it comes to must-watch web series.

Each of these shows have episodes of around 10 or 5 minutes; bite size chunks just long enough to ramp up the drama but short enough to keep up with our frazzled attention spans.

Hoping to join the hallowed halls of web series greats is 10percento. However, Badhole, the group of Italian women filmmakers behind the series has chosen to forego the usual video platforms and is instead posting the entire thing on Instagram.

Not only does that name nod its head to the (slightly out-dated) statistic that 10% of the population is gay, but each ‘episode’ of 10percento is just 10 seconds long as well. Badhole is posting the series’ 100 episodes in batches of 25 each week (we’re now up to 75 episodes).

10percento

Across those 10 second snippets (which makes for about 16 and a half minutes of viewing altogether), viewers will follow two women as they are unfortunately and rather uncomfortably stuck in a lift.

The ‘stuck in a lift trope’ is a common one as anything can happen when you’re stuck in a tiny metal box for what feels like forever, forced to interact with this person who is stuck beside you and naturally, you’ll spend the full 100 episodes hoping that the women will get together.

But familiar love story plot aside, does the actual formatting work? Yes and no.

While each subtitled episode is easy to watch (it’s in Italian with English subs), 10 seconds or even 16 and a half minutes isn’t a crazy amount of time to tease a will they/won’t they plot and even those who struggle to keep up with traditional web series will may find the medium a little lacking.

On the bright side, though, Badhole will be posting a ‘director’s cut’ on YouTube at some point in the future so you may want to wait for that instead.

Introducing, ‘The Flannel Channel’, A Web Series About Falling For Your BFF

If you ask a queer woman about whether or not she’s ever fallen for her best friend, there’s a strong likelihood that she’ll say yes. When your best gal pal is constantly by your side, being cute as a button, laugh out loud hilarious and oh so endearing, it’s bound to happen, especially when you’re a young adult not yet old (or wise) enough to explore the wider dating scene.

One of the most current examples of the trope recently is Faking It, but with the MTV show (which is all about a high school lesbian who discovers her sexuality and falls in love with her best friend) proving to be incredibly offensive and being filled to the brim with unlikeable characters, it’s not particularly helpful to viewers who are going through a similar thing and are in desperate need of some advice or just something to make them laugh.

So, a god alternative is the new Tello Films web series The Flannel Channel which describes itself as being like “Faking It but without the straight people” and it was also created with “combined forces of a lesbian and a gay man who were tired of seeing LGBTQ+ characters portrayed in the same predictable ways!”, says co-creator Jessica Nicholas.

The show is all about a girl named Jordan (played by Kaytra Parkman) who sets up an online video channel as she is in desperate need of advice – she’s fallen in love with her BFF Ashley (played by Megan DeHart) and doesn’t know what to do about it.

Flannel 02

Turning the trope on its head though, The Flannel Channel stays true to its word as Ashley isn’t a straight girl and there will be no lucky horseshoe kissing or praying to four leaf clovers in the hope that Ashley will suddenly be attracted to women – Jordan being that woman in particular. No, Ashley is actually bisexual.

Viewers, along with Jordan (who is aided by her gay guy friend Joe in some of the videos) will agonise over whether or not the two girls (Jashley? Ashdan?) are meant to be together or whether they’re just destined to be a couple of non-het gal pals who stay friends until the end.

The Flannel Channel has five episodes and you can watch them all now over at Tello.

9 Lesbian Web Series You Absolutely Have to Watch This Year

Late last year we posted our roundup of ‘9 Lesbian Web Series You Should Have Watched by Now’.

It was a fantastic list but an entire year has passed and so many more shows have cropped up on the web since, gracing our lives with their presences and frankly, there were plenty of shows that last year’s list could have been included but, for whatever reason, didn’t make it (e.g Carmilla).

So, to bring you all up to speed on which lesbian web series you should snuggle up with as the weather gets that bit cooler, we’ve put together a brand new list with even more great picks.

Let us know what you think of the shows on the list and as always, we’d love to hear your suggestions for any other web series so leave a comment and maybe we’ll feature it on the next one!


1. Carmilla

When the last list was published, many of you asked ‘where the heck is Carmilla on this thing?’ and rightfully so. Doing away with all of the gross heteronormative junk that was the Twilight series, Carmilla is all about a vampire (named Carmilla) and a woman (named Laura) who fall in love. But, although you’ll start watching for the complicated romance for the two, you’ll stay for the antics that the two girls and their ragtag bunch of pals get up to.

In the first season, they went on a quest to discover why girls were going missing at their college campus, after Laura’s first roommate (the one before Carmilla moved in) went missing. With that mystery solved, season two follows the friends as they keep the college from falling into bad guys’ control.

The second season has just ended, though it’s worth noting that something called ‘season 0’ is also set to air later this month.

Carmilla Season2 06


2. Plus One

Plus One is easily one of the funniest web series that you’ll see all year, and we said as much in our review of it. Plus One follows stereotypical lesbian Alex who trips and falls in love with a woman named Holly. The Big Problem is that Holly is dating Alex’s best friend, Ben. Indeed, although Holly falls head over heels right back, how Alex and Holly deal with The Ben Issue becomes a key issue for them.

Despite this, though, Plus One is a barrel of laughs thanks to both the comedic performances of the entire cast (they all have their moments) and the fab writing of Mo Welch (who plays Alex) and Everyone Is Gay’s Dannielle-Owens Reid (who plays Kate, who is Alex’s wingwoman and BFF).

Plus One 01


3. Anyone But Me / The Lost Scenes

Right up there with The L Word, Anyone But Me is considered key viewing for anyone who is just coming out, especially if they’re young and are still in high school. That’s as Anyone But Me – which aired three seasons between 2008 and 2012 – follows the story of two high school girlfriends, Vivian and Aster as they handle Vivian’s big move away from New York City and how their relationship will (or won’t) survive the distance.

Massively popular and highly praised, Anyone But Me was briefly revived in September with The Lost Scenes. Rather than being a direct continuation of Vivian and Aster’s story, The Lost Scenes was designed to fit in with the original three seasons, so, whether you watched through all three as soon as they came out or are only finding ABM now, The Lost Scenes should appeal to you.

Anyone But Me


4. Last Life

Sadly, J.K Rowling never threw queer women a bone with Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer has long been off air, it looks like it’s up to web series Last Life to pick up the slack.

Complexly, Last Life features a woman called Sloan who has been possessed by the spirit of a man named Rick, who died three years ago. Sloan is on a mission to find Taylor, with Taylor having been Rick’s girlfriend before he kicked the bucket.

Taylor’s in some serious danger from Sloan’s clan and from her own psychiatrist so don’t expect this one to be all sitting around donning witches hats and making moonshine in cauldrons. (Also, the show’s creator has note that despite the supernatural antics of Rick possessing Sloan, “it’s about the connection two souls have” and this is still a girl meets girl story!)

last-life-01


5. Easy Abby

Described by one critic as the “anti-rom-com rom-com”, Easy Abby touches on one subject that affects lesbian and bi women disproportionately more than it affects heterosexual people: mental health.

One of Abby’s biggest struggles in this web series is that she has anxiety and the show follows Abby as she navigates that along with the rest of the troubles in her life (e.g family and money issues).

As for the things going right in Abby’s life, the show creators explain that “finding [women] to sleep with” is the only thing that comes easy to our protagonist. Plus, her friends also have her back, pushing her to “expand her idea of freedom”.

It’s the relatively honest portrayal of a queer woman’s life that has led Easy Abby to be viewed by millions of people online so you can’t really go wrong here.

easy-abby-2


6. Be Here Nowish

Comedy Central show Broad City is already pretty queer as it is, with one of the show’s lead characters, Ilana having slept with a woman and having a big gay crush on her BFF.

But despite this, we very often find ourselves wondering ‘what if it was gayer?’ If it was gayer then it would probably be called Be Here Nowish, as the web series aims to depict the lives of “two sexually progressive New York gals who ditch their down-and-out lives for LA in search of a spiritual awakening.”

They do ditch NYC for LA, mind you, but the way that they try and acclimatise to the West Coast is one of the best (and the funniest) things about it.

As for the gay side of things, Nina makes her living as a drug dealer but in her personal life she’s pretty atrocious at committing to girlfriends. Though, in general, Be Here Nowish is pretty queer(-ish) as it aims to show a real world where “people choose their personal pronouns, girls look like boys, boys look like girls, sexuality is fluid, sex is complicated” and, of course, where “laughter is abundant”.

Be-Here-Nowish


7. Red

Hailing from Brazil, Red is the South American country’s very first lesbian-themed web series and the show was originally created in order to address the fact that Brazil has an incredibly low amount of LGBT representation in its media in comparison to other major countries.

The show, which has aired two seasons and is about to release its third, features two women named Mel and Liz who are co-stars on a film. Mel is a starlet on the rise and she has a pretty good thing going with her husband, Henrique, but when she and Liz, a woman who is rarely without female suitors, grow closer, all of the “stability” in Mel’s life starts to slip out of her grasp.

The creators hope that Red portrays the relationship between the two in a “frank and genuine” way and the majority of viewers agree that it does exactly that, so you can watch its first two seasons (for free) on Vimeo, with Spanish or English subtitles available.

RED-01


8. Out With Dad

Like Anyone But Me, Out With Dad is one that’s ideal for teens who are coming to terms with (or have just come out) and are looking for a way to reconcile their feelings about their identity and how their families will accept it (though arguably it’s cute and soppy enough for all ages). It features a girl named Rose who, coming to terms with her sexuality and navigates those first few steps of realising that she’s gay.

Across four seasons, Out With Dad has tackled things like homophobia, Rose’s first girlfriend, Rose’s first heartbreak and, of course, how she learns to handle it all. First debuting in 2010, Out With Dad has gained plenty of awards from all sorts of institutions, including Best Web Series, Best Actress and even Outstanding Use of Music so you’ll quickly fall in love with this one.

Out With Dad


9. The Chanticleer

While all of the shows on this list are fairly modern (even Carmilla – despite that featuring a centuries old vampire), The Chanticleer is set all the way back in 1955.

It stars a woman named Edie Chaucer as she hotfoots it back to upstate New York in order to start running the bar that previously belonged to her (now-dead) father.

Edie’s bar, in addition to being staffed by queer folk (including Val, who dresses in both men’s and women’s clothing) it’s also frequented by many too, becoming somewhat of the go-to hotspot. It’s that that sees Edie, Val and co. having to defend the place from corrupt cops who want the place closed down and across The Chanticleer‘s episodes six episodes, you see the characters navigate that, love, friendship and more.

TheChanticleer-06

‘She’s In London’ is the UK’s First LBQ Web Series

In the past few years, we’ve enjoyed binge watching our way through several fabulous LGBTQ web series.

There’s the likes of Carmilla, the vampire/human love story, the hilarious Plus One which has got plenty of friendship drama, and there’s Rent Controlled about a difficult living situation and a difficult personal life.

What these three web series (as well as so many others) have in common,though, is that they’re all set in North America, with there being no web series that represent queer life on this side of the pond. But that’s what Tello Films’ new series She’s In London aims to fix.

As the title denotes, this one’s set in the English capital and it “follows the fight to save a lesbian bar from closure by the Soho gentrification brigade”.

Gentrification is a serious issue for the LGBTQ community in the capital right now, with many queer establishments being either bought out or squeezed out of the city/out of existence as pricier developments pop up all around them, so She’s In London’s plot line is true to the city it’s set in.

She’s In London isn’t just about lesbian and bi women protesting, handing out some leaflets and starting a Twitter hashtag or two, though, as there’s plenty of drama within the group that’s trying to save the bar.

For example, Theo, who works at the bar, gets involved with Mel. Mel, as well as being the ex of Theo’s best friend, Sam, also happens to be the developer who’s trying to get the bar shut down, so you can understand that that throws a spanner, if not the entire flippin’ tool box into the works.

Shes In London 05

Those who’ve seen She’s In London‘s six episodes mostly have positive things to say – it’s the first globally distributed LBQ series, it’s made by London’s LGBT community and there are several UK LBQ artists on the soundtrack too.

Shes In London 06

They also say that it does a good job of representing a real struggle that London’s LGBTQ community is facing, even if it doesn’t do a great job of representing London’s LGBTQ community itself.

Indeed, one of the biggest criticisms of She’s In London is that the cast is overwhelmingly white, with just one person of colour (a black woman) on the cast, and she plays a supporting role.

That’s not particularly indicative of how multicultural London is at all, which is a shame, but hopefully the show’s producers will consider this should She’s In London get a second season.

She’s In London premiered on Tello Films on Sunday, September 27. Episodes will be released weekly and you can access them with a Tello Films subscription (around £3 a month).

 

Why Web Series ‘Plus One’ Is The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

First of all she’s straight, and I’m not doing that again”

This line, said by Alex in episode three of Plus One, is certainly a familiar statement.

As queer folk, we know that straight women are a no-go zone. We tell each other that they’ll break our hearts, that they’ll leave us lonely and we should avoid them at all costs. We should doubly avoid them if they’re dating our male best friends too.

Sadly for Alex, being the lead character in a web series means that some drama is always set to go down and in Plus One, drama’s name is Holly.

She’s beautiful, funny, talks about being ‘fluid’ and she’s looking at Alex like she wants to shack up with her, adopt five cats (named after the core L Word cast, natch), and get matching plaid shirts with ‘Hers’ and ‘Hers’ embroidered on the lapel.

Screen Shot 2015-07-30 at 12.46.09

The problem is, Holly is dating Ben and Ben’s head over heels for her. So what’s a lovestruck lesbian to do?

The answer, you’ll see, is to go for it anyway. The morals are murky but the hearts-in-eyes are apparent and so just like Kate, Alex’s sidekick and bestie, you’ll be encouraging her to go for it, giving in to what her heart wants even if it’ll lead to hurt feelings, frosty silences and repeated ‘what the f—ks!’ in raised voices.

Plus One 02

Screen Shot 2015-07-30 at 12.43.40

From that description, you’ll understand that Plus One is a little tropey and its story is familiar to anyone who has watched any popular media featuring gay people in the past decade (e.g The L Word season one) but that’s not a bad thing.

Plus One is a real shippers’ delight; as Holly and Alex fall for each other, you fall for their relationship too, despite its position in the grey area.

There will be cheers and whoops and maybe even a few happy tears watching these two get together and it’s also why Plus One’s five episodes (which are about 10 minutes apiece) are perfect binge watch material.

Plus One 01

And even when Plus One isn’t kicking your heart to Mars and validating all of your straight crushes (because yes we’ve all had them), it’s laugh out loud funny too.

Call me cold, or missing a funny bone, but there aren’t a lot of shows that can make me laugh, but this one did that several times, even when I re-watched and knew that the jokes were coming.

Dannielle Owens-Reid and Mo Welch’s writing is truly on point and Barb (Kate’s girlfriend – although Kate is reluctant to admit it) is one of the single funniest characters I’ve ever witnessed on screen.

Plus One comes highly recommended then, though I do have a few criticisms. For example, the audio in some of the kitchen scenes (along with the aforementioned “first of all she’s straight” scene) is a little off and in a very small amount of scenes, the camera is also a little shaky.

Also, I definitely would have liked more episodes of Holly and Alex’s will they/won’t they dynamic, since half of the fun is watching your favourite characters free fall in like with each other, but hopefully Plus One will get a season two that delivers more sappy moments between them.

Plus One can be seen exclusively on One More Lesbian/Tello. Subscriptions are only $4.99 a month, which isn’t a lot to support queer made and produced content.

LGBT Vampire Web Series ‘Carmilla’ starts its Second Season TODAY (Video)

One thing we were all grateful for last year was the YouTube hit Carmilla, the vampire web series that not only had a strong story, but a whole lot of queerness too.

Usually queer vampires don’t get happy endings. They get staked into goo or ashed or abandoned for someone more alive and straight, but this show is different.

Carmilla Season2 07

Carmilla (inspired by the infamous novella by J. Sheridan Le Fanu) is all about a girl called Laura (Elise Bauman), whose college roommate disappears into thin air. Following a round of other weird disappearances of other girls on campus, she puts together a series of vlogs to document her journey as she attempts to get to the bottom of it.

Well with one roomie vanishing into nothing, leaving just a trail of unidentified goop in her wake, Laura gets a new one in the form of the titular Carmilla (Natasha Negovanlis).

Carmilla Season2 05

Carmilla likes late nights, setting things on fire and flirting unashamedly with Laura. Oh, and she also happens to be a vampire too! The main ship on the show, Carmilla causes trouble for Laura but is also a surprising ally in the race to save the missing roommate and discover what happened to the other girls who’ve been taken.

But, Laura/Carmilla shippers have another roadblock to face (as if the whole, undead vampire thing wasn’t enough) in the form of Danny (Sharon Belle). Danny is a new friend of Laura’s who also appears to have a little crush on her too. It’s sweet! Both Laura-centric ships are adorable and it’s clear there’s something there even if the show doesn’t seem to be interested in sticking labels all up on them.

As if that wasn’t enough, add the adorable mother hens of the show LaFontaine (Kaitlyn Alexander), and ‘Type A’ dorm monitor Perry (Annie Briggs).
Carmilla Season2 03 Carmilla Season2 02 Carmilla Season2 01

Carmilla Season2 04

So in short, Carmilla has a fantastic premise, a mostly female cast of characters to fall in love with and some queer lovelines to follow too.

That’s probably everything we’ve been looking for in a show and episodes are about 4 minutes long on average. So what are you waiting for?

Seriously, trust us on this one. New episodes of Carmilla will air on Tuedays and Thursdays.

Season 2 of Brazilian-based Lesbian Web Series ‘RED’ is on it Way (Video)

The Brazilian-based web series RED focuses on two actresses, Mel and Liz, who meet while filming a movie and find that their mutual attraction throws them both for a loop.

In season one, we saw Liz, who has no trouble attracting women, falling for the very married Mel.

Mel, who has always assumed she was happy in her life and marriage, begins to feel a pull towards Liz that she never expected.

s1e2-red-a-cor-vermelha s1e8-red-in-vino-veritas (1)

Created by Viv Schiller and Germana Bolo, the series is beautiful put together and well acted. Lead actresses Ana Paula Lima (Liz) and Luciana Bollina (Mel) are stunning and completely captivating.

The new season starts Friday 29th May. However, you can see the first full season of RED free at KitschMix TV.

Follow RED on Twitter and Instagram for more updates.

Australia’s Most Watched Lesbian Drama ‘Starting From…Now!’ Seeks Funding

While we may argue about our favourite femslash ships and which TV shows and movies portray queer people in the best light, what we all agree on is that there simply aren’t enough queer women in our media. And when we are lucky enough to queer ladies on our screens, they’re often sidelined or even worse, reduced to just their sexuality or gender identity.

This is a problem that Australian web series Starting From…Now! has aimed to tackle as the four inner-city lesbians at the heart of its story deal with a variety of difficult subjects (including infertility, drug and alcohol abuse and lesbian couples starting families) across the course of its three seasons.

Julie Kalceff, who directs and writes the show explains that:

From the beginning, the intention was to portray complex female characters who happened to be lesbians. The series is about what it means to be human and the diversity of issues we’re confronted with on a daily basis… It just happens to be set in the LGBTI community.”

Unfortunately, while Starting From…Now!’s take on queerness is refreshing and the series has experienced massive success (the show is Australia’s most watched lesbian drama and it has amassed several million views) it needs outside help to make season four. The bar has been set at $35,000 and although it has raised just over $6,000 (with seven days to go), it has flexible funding and so even if it doesn’t reach the full $35,000 goal, it will receive every penny raised via indiegogo.

It’s also worth noting that Starting From…Now! could be a launch point for even more lady led content as the indiegogo explains that they could “potentially transition into funded film and television content” including “2 long form television series and multiple feature films in development; some of which are Starting From… Now! spin offs, all of which are led by women, and feature lesbian characters”.

We all want to see more lesbians in our media, right? Find out more here.

Watch season 1, 2 and 3 of Starting From…Now right now at Kitscmix.tv

Web Series ‘Kittens in a Cage’ Is a Superb Alternative to OITNB

Patiently awaiting for Orange is the New Black‘s return? The third season of Netflix’s hit prison drama/comedy has finished filming but with no release date for it confirmed, we may be waiting a while for Alex, Piper, Nicky, Big Boo and the rest of the inmates to grace our screens once more.

Welcome Kittens in a Cage with open arms then as this new web series will be able to tide you over until Orange is the New Black returns – and this show may be even gayer than the Netflix hit too.

Set in the 1950s, Kittens in a Cage follows the story of June Matilda Butler’s time in the slammer as she’s sentenced to 10-12 years in Marquetta State Prison for robbing a bank. With all that time to ponder the rights and wrongs of her actions, June will also have plenty of time to shack up with other inmates or shake down her enemies.

Sadly, June’s main love interest Vickie (who is also her cellmate, just to complicate things) will have to try her hardest to win June over as another inmate, Jeanine is also vying for her affections.

Vickie tells Jeanine that “Junie ain’t for sale” and Jeanine even tries to steer June away from Vickie but as June is soon saying that her “heart’s all swole up for Vickie” you know which law-breaking couple you’ll be rooting for in the end.

You may also find yourself rooting for the other inmates too as, similar to OITNB, there are flashbacks when you find out just what landed June and her fellow inmates behind bars. Even when the crimes are so, so bad, you can’t help yourself from ignoring your moral compass for a second just to appreciate these flawed yet brilliant characters. Not every show gets that right and shows about criminals have more trouble pulling it off than most, so the fact that Kittens in a Cage is packed with lovable inmates is a real triumph.

You don’t have a great deal of time to fall for them all though as Kittens in a Cage‘s seven episodes only run about 20 minutes long, but with a great premise, a great cast (special guests include Joel McHale and Felicia Day) and enough queer content to set your heart aflutter, it’s absolutely worth it. You can rent all seven episodes of Kitten in a Cage for a week for $10.99 or buy them for $15.99 from TV 4 and Vimeo on Demand.

Visit the Kittens in a Cage website here.

McTucky Fried High – An Animated Web Series Looking to Improve Queer Visibility For LGBTQ Teens

There are a number of LGBT-themed web series out there, but not many of them are animated. But now one has arrived, which is an animated web series exploring the issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens in an unconventional way.

A creative creation from filmmaker, illustrator and activist Robert-Carnilius, McTucky Fried High uses comedy and a host of diverse characters, to tackle subjects absent in mainstream cartoons. While foregrounding LGBTQ characters, it focuses on issues queer teens face.

“The sad truth is that while there is more visibility for the L and G in LGBTQ, our presence in media as a diverse and rich community still demands growth reflective of that diversity. I think a series like this is important not only for visibility of LGBTQ teens, but I also think it could be a fun, light-hearted way for parents and teachers to see issues their teens and students may be facing in order to better understand them, communicate with them and help them rather than forcing them to conform to societal norms.”

Robert-Carnilius

Across five episodes, the web series will hit topics such as coming out, extreme diets, being genderqueer, bullying and sexting – all through the use of animated food as characters.

“Throughout the series, the characters in McTucky Fried High grow, change, and learn — well, most of them do anyway. Additionally, each episode focuses on different characters to diversify the topics and points of view we cover. By having dynamic characters and engaging stories, we hope to re-contextualize these issues in a ways that are funny, thought-provoking and easy to digest.”

Robert-Carnilius

The first episode premiered on Jan. 26 and can be viewed here. Each episode will be released bi-montly.

 

9 Lesbian Web Series You Should Have Watched By Now

We often complain that there is not enough lesbian representation in the media. However, slowly but surely things are changing.

There are now great production teams, artists, and producers around the world creating amazing films, lesbian web shows, documentaries, and TV series that provide true lesbian content, and true entertainment.

There is now an abundance of lesbian web series to choose from, and we have listed out some of our favourite shows from this year below.


1. Kiss Her I’m Famous

From the award-winning filmmaker Rolla Selbak, this lesbian web series is based on two hilarious and clueless characters, played by The Real L-Word’s Tracy Ryerson and Ilea Matthews, who aim to create a celebrity sex tape to launch them into fame.

With 2 seasons now out, the series is fantastic and we can’t wait for a next season.


2. Rods and Cones

Rods & Cones’ is a comedy series about high-power, low-profit comics Carole and Mitzi, as they take on their rivals, The MILFies.

The comedy is the first original web series to premiere on Wifey.tv, a video network by and for women. Watch the first season of ‘Rods and Cones’ on KitschMix.TV


3. Red

The new Brazilian web show RED, is a lesbian-themed web series, independently produced and financed by its creators, Viv Schiller and Germana Belo. Based in Rio de Janeiro, the show tells the story of two actresses, Mel Béart and Liz Malmo, that meet on the set of a short film called RED. The two women soon take their developing romance from the set, to real life.

We highly recommend you all start watching this slick new series that already has our pulses racing – addictive viewing.


4. Be Here Nowish

‘Be Here Nowish’ is a new comedy by Natalia Leite and Alexandra Roxo about two sexually progressive New York gals who ditch their down-and-out lives for LA in search of a spiritual awakening. The creators say they made the show to reflect a world in which ‘people choose their personal pronouns, girls look like boys, boys look like girls, sexuality is fluid, sex is complicated, and laughter is abundant’.

If you’re a fan of Broad City, or any other show involving two best friend’s making complete and utter fools of themselves, you’re in for a treat.

Be-Here-Nowish


5. Brown Girl Problems

Fawzia Mirza, creator of the character Kam Kardashian, brings you a new comedic web series, ‘Brown Girl Problems’. It is a sketch-style series showcasing the comedic, awkward and even imaginary situations in the life of South Asian women. The show highlights Mirza’s own minority backgrounds: South Asian, Muslim, queer. Start watching

BrownGirlProblems-sml


6. Girl/Girl Scene

Now on season 3, the high drama, super sexy lesbian web series, ‘Girl/Girl Scene‘, is a must watch. It is a vibrant, vital and honest web series and a true reflection of today.

“Based on the lives and loves of four young friends, this series boldly goes where no other has gone before – between the sheets and into the minds and hearts of unapologetically queer women living in middle America.”

girlgirlscene.com

The shows lead character is Evan, which is actually played by creator/writer of the series Tucky Williams, and what we love about the show is it is refreshingly non-judgmental, while telling funny, provocative and controversial story-lines. Start watching

GirlGirl-Scene-06


8. Starting From Now

Another web series in it 3rd season, but its a cracker. If you haven’t seen the lesbian web series from Australia, then you’re missing out. ‘Starting From Now‘ is a lesbian drama centred around a steamy love triangle. From Common Language Films, the hot internet show stars Sarah de Possesse, Rosie Lourde, Lauren Orrell, Bianca Bradey, and Linda Grasso. Watch all season here at KitschMix.TV


9. K&A

Again, if you like Broad City, then you will love this. Set in the city of Boston, this comedy centres around Karly (straight) and Alex (lesbian), best friends since college, whose dysfunctional, co-dependent, drinking, and drug taking relationship impedes them from ever finding someone special in their lives besides each other.

Created by Katie Shannon and Katie Thompson, and starring Audrey Johnson and Ashley Elmi – this ‘no-holds-bar’ web series is a delight to watch. The first episode premiered back in June, but you can catch the full series here.

K&A

OUTrageous, An Interactive Reality Web-Series About Queer Women

OUTrageous is a planned reality web-series that will start off following the daily lives of 5 dynamic women from the Los Angeles LBGTQ community. Each episode will highlight current community issues, as well as these women’s personal experiences. Furthermore, these women will come together to talk about issues that they encounter in their day-to-day lives and within the community.

[tweet_dis]”We don’t want the Networks to tell us what to do! We want to bring something timely, slightly controversial, social conscious and exciting to our community, our allies, and the world! We need your help to make this happen…let’s do this together!”[/tweet_dis]

OUTrageous Mission

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg1IxgObxs0

Something interesting about the show, and sets it apart from other series is the fact it will be interactive. Audiences are encouraged to can chime in, interact with the cast, and help drive some of the action.

OUTrageous‘s creator Pony Gayle has launched an IndieGogo campaign to help fund the production costs of the series. So if you are a fan of reality shows, and stories about queer women, get supporting.  You can donate to OUTrageous’s fundraising campaign at IndieGogo.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSFS77dpuNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLWNPjPcfVg

 

Vampire Webseries ‘Carmilla’ is the Better, Queerer Alternative to Twilight

If you’ve spent more than 5 minutes in the pop culture side of the Internet then when it comes to vampires you’ve probably heard it all. They glitter (or just burn) in the sun, they also can’t see their reflections in mirrors and they have an aversion to garlic. Jeez, trying to season their meals must be the worst.

More often than not, the vampire love stories on TVs and in cinemas are inane and heterosexual too, essentially being like every other male/female love story but with extra undeadedness.

We’ve seen this 10,000 times before and we’re all bored of it. Thank goodness for Carmilla then, the vampire webseries that not only has a strong story but a whole lot of queerness too.

Based on the 19th century novella by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla is all about a girl (Laura) whose college roommate disappears into thin air. Following a round of other weird disappearances of other girls on campus, she puts together a series of vlogs to document her journey as she attempts to get to the bottom of it.

[tweet_dis]That’s the basic premise then, so where does the queerness come in?[/tweet_dis] Well with one roomie vanishing into nothing, leaving just a trail of unidentified goop in her wake, Laura gets a new one in the form of the titular Carmilla.

Carmilla likes late nights, setting things on fire and flirting unashamedly with Laura. Oh, and she also happens to be a vampire too! The main ship on the show, Carmilla causes trouble for Laura but is also a surprising ally in the race to save the missing roommate and discover what happened to the other girls who’ve been taken.

But, Laura x Carmilla shippers have another roadblock to face (as if the whole, undead vampire thing wasn’t enough) in the form of Danny. Danny is a new friend of Laura’s who also appears to have a little crush on her too. It’s sweet! Both Laura-centric ships are adorable and it’s clear there’s something there even if the show doesn’t seem to be interested in sticking labels all up on them.

These three are backed up in their quest to protect the campus by best friends Perry and LaFontaine (basically the adorable mother hens of the show) and the latter character also seems to be queer.

So in short, Carmilla has a fantastic premise, a mostly female cast of characters to fall in love with and some queer lovelines to follow too. That’s probably everything we’ve been looking for in a show and episodes are about 4 minutes long on average. So what are you waiting for? A link to Carmilla is below.

Click here to watch the first episode of Carmilla.

Lesbian Webseries ‘Kiss Her I’m Famous’ by Rolla Selbak Out for All to Watch

Award-winning out Filmmaker Rolla Selbak is releasing the complete web series ‘Kiss Her I’m Famous’ (KHIF) for free viewing.

As of October 10, 2014, fans will be able to enjoy a binge-watching marathon of “KHIF”, indulging in two full season all at once on www.kissherimfamous.com.

Created and directed by the award-winning filmmaker, the show is based on two hilarious and clueless characters played by The Real L-Word’s Tracy Ryerson and Ilea Matthews, who aim to create a celebrity sex tape to launch them into fame.  The show satirizes the booming business of the sex tape madness, and how celebrity wannabes utilizes their home movies as a ticket to greater stardom and a major payday.

The first season of the show premiered to great success, with the trailer alone reaching 1 MILLION+ combined views on YouTube in less than a week!

In the meantime her new online interview web series – ‘Grrl’s Guide To Filmmaking’, in which she shares her personal Hollywood vlogs as she visits some of the freshest female filmmakers making it happen today, continues to stream new episodes on tellofilms.com.

Grrl’s Guide To Filmmaking offers an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes, showing the magic, behind the magic. Selbak’s first Episode featuring Faith Soloway of the buzz-heavy show ‘Transparent’ has already been receiving a lot of attention. In the epsiode,  Soloway invitesSelbak onto the Paramount lot where she walks us through the genius behind the writing, and sneaks us into a writer’s meeting. Also she breaks out into song. For real!

Not one to rest on her laurels, Selbak is currently independently writing a TV Series entitled ‘Black Perls’, following the lives of a group of female hackers in the 90s, at the dawn of the Internet.

For more information go to:  http://www.rollaselbak.com/

Start Watching of New Lesbian Web Series from Brazil ‘RED’

The new Brazilian web series RED is now out – in Portuguese but with english sub-titles (perfect). We highly recommend you all start watching this slick new series that already has our pulses racing – addictive viewing.

RED is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and tells the story of two actresses, Mel Béart and Liz Malmo, that meet on the set of a short film called RED. The two women soon take their developing romance from the set, as Scarlet and Simone (Mel and Liz, respectively), to real life.

RED will have a total of eight webisodes in its first season, premiering weekly on Vimeo. It’s a lesbian-themed webseries independently produced and financed by its creators, Viv Schiller and Germana Belo, who were inspired by other great content shared within the LGBT community. Coming from a country where sexual diversity is timidly discussed, both writers felt it was time to create awesome content for [the local] people who want to see more stories that focus on same-sex relationships.

Viv and Germana pitched their idea to actor and director Fernando Belo, who decided to embrace the project. The producers started a campaign to raise R$ 7.000 (Brazilian Reais) through crowd funding for season two.

Watch the Teaser for New Brazilian Lesbian Webs Series ‘RED’

RED is the a new web series from Brazil. An 8 episode show, that has been pitched as a cross between a noir film of the 50s, with a modern L Word twist.

http://youtu.be/BZdNy243LmA

The web series tells the story of Mel Béart and Liz Malmo, two actresses who meet while shooting a short film and end up taking their on-screen relation off-scree.

However, the show is not just a visual experience. What is interesting about this web series, is the creators plan to use social media channels to also tell the stories.

“RED also comes up with the proposal to bring its audience a broader way of experiencing the story you want to tell, through a narrative that, in this case, is not restricted to audiovisual and generates content on different platforms, such as social networks like Twitter and Instagram. This means that the viewer knows the story not only through watching, but also information that has access through these different means. Far from being new, is the fact that, today, still offers little in that direction when we consider what is produced nationally… “

RED Production Team

The series will be launched on the Internet in late September.

The LGBT visibility has increasingly been the subject of discussions, and film to large networks of foreign television industry, we see a growing investment stories with this theme. However, when it comes to the national media, this movement is still shy. Gradually television is opening space for these characters and stories, but we’re still taking its first steps in this direction. Projects like ours are very important to show the mainstream media that there is rather a large LGBT audience that wants to see represented in a realistic way, with respect and without lapse into caricature or traditionalist censorship. Enabling the first and second seasons of RED, we hope to contribute to the advancement of this discussion and to open more space for the LGBT audience in novels, TV series, movies, and others.

We hope this is the first of several projects developed by RED team. The success of our first few seasons will be opening doors to develop new series and movies, always addressing issues that we consider important to the society we live in, counted in order to enhance the experience of our viewer.

RED Production Team

10 Questions to Never Ask a Transgender Person by Laura Jane Grace

Laura Jane Grace is an American musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!.

Grace came out as a transgender woman in Rolling Stone, since she has penned her truly heartbreaking (yet, god-this-is-amazing) record Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Now, she has decided to lay it all bare in her new web series, “True Trans With Laura Jane Grace.”

The web series premieres on AOL Originals on October 10, with Grace jumping at the opportunity to reach out to all the people she had admired from afar over the years — other people dealing with gender dysphoria, an issue she had been grappling with for as long as she can remember.

Over the course of touring with Against Me!, Grace spoke with different people every day — sometimes several interviews occurring each day — and learned that she’s not the only one in a constant state of flux and learning.

“I think there’s a lot of momentum behind people beginning to understand gender identity and the differences in the gender spectrum and where people fall. I think that it’s great seeing things like Laverne Cox on the cover of Time magazine or seeing a transgender CEO [Martine Rothblatt] on the cover of [New York magazine]. Maybe the headline that went along with that was a little sensationalist.”

Laura Jane Grace

10 questions to never ask a transgender person by Laura Jane Grace

Transgender Person Transgender Person 09 Transgender Person 08 Transgender Person 07 Transgender Person 06 Transgender Person 05 Transgender Person 04 Transgender Person 03 Transgender Person 02 Transgender Person 01

Out Songwriter Haviland Stillwell Releases Her Latest Video for ‘Muse’

[tweet_dis]Haviland Stillwell has released her latest video for ‘Muse’ off of her album ‘Spark'[/tweet_dis]. The music video was directed by Elliot London and features Ashley Reed.

Stillwell is an out actress, singer, and producer, who feels living your truth in the open, with love and enthusiasm, is the way to true fulfillment.

“As an artist it’s important to be free and not to live in fear. I made a decision early on that I just had to be true to myself and be out. It just meant I’m not going to lie about this part of myself. I don’t want to be ashamed because it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

I’ve actually seen more of a positive benefit of being out than the other way around. We have the benefit now of so many people being out. It’s not like this weird subsection of society anymore. You turn on the TV and there’s Ellen (DeGeneres), there’s Neil Patrick Harris. We have to be role models, we all do. With social media now, you have to teach people by example.

Haviland Stillwell

Growing up in Georgia, she started her career debuting on Broadway in the original cast revival of ‘Fiddler on The Roof’, followed by Les Miserables. She relocated to Los Angeles in 2008, and has since been in films and television shows like Single Ladies, CSI:NY, and Eastwick.

She also created the wickedly funny web series Unicorn Plan-It, with Ashley Reed and Sarah Croce.