We are moving stories

“Treading Yesterday was originally written for my friends Matt and Ivan, both Millennials who have read every episode and who are members of a generation that has little frame of reference as to the struggle that achieved today’s broader acceptance of LGBT civil rights. Even today as we celebrate the reality of same sex couples being able to marry throughout the United States the tremendous backlash from those in opposition is reaching warp speed velocity. ”

“The most important thing to me was to be honest and real. Some of the scenes in the series actually happened to me when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The best medicine, for me, was to turn shocking and potentially devastating situations into something worthy of a bit of laughter.”

“In Season 1, my character tells his quirky friends and family that he has cancer and tries to comfort them by saying he’ll be okay. In Season 2, he finds out that even though the cancerous tumor testicle is removed, there’s still the chance it could come back. So he’s struggling to cope with the reality he’s not really cured (at least not right away—testicular cancer, however, is one of the cancers with the best treatment success rates). His lump of cancer, played by brilliant actor Drew Droege, follows him around and threatens his peace of mind.”

“I wasn’t seeing any content that represented me and my friends, so I said, “screw it. I’ll write it myself.” ... I think the show is entertaining, light-hearted, and totally bingeable – which seems to be popular nowadays.”

“Our murder victim, Troy McLeavey, is a young gay teen – did his sexuality play into his murder? During the series, his ex-boyfriend, Nathan, is sent to gay conversion camp. So many people loved this story because it seems like the dirty shame in both the US and Australia. It is reprehensible that young people are put through this, and I wanted people to talk about it.”

“The heart of the film really lies in the complicated relationship I have with masculinity. As a gay man and as a person who identifies as queer, I have conflicting thoughts and feelings on that topic. The film is a reflection of maleness, both the aggression and competition that men are conditioned to engage in based on societal expectations and norms, but also the beauty and tenderness that masculinity can have. I feel caught between those opposing forces and I think a lot of other people feel the same way, so I hope the film can open up communication on that topic.”

“This film was made out of the need for more representation in both the Muslim and LGBTQ+ archetypes. It was important for me to show a version of the world that was real to me and my friends. These two identities tend to not live in harmony, and it was important to show a world where the intersectionality between the two wasn’t in conflict.”

“We hope viewers will laugh along with the characters as they find love and family in unexpected places, and also be touched and entertained by the choices they face. I’m extremely proud of the cast we found for the film, and I think audience members will also be impressed with their performances. The fact that two of the characters are nudists – and are naked throughout the film – should also please a lot of audience members”

“I would love for it to start a conversation about what it means to be a man, a father, a son, a brother. I hope people walk away with a sense of nostalgia and reflection. I love when a film can make me think about my life and my experiences. I hope especially for men it can bring up their experiences.

There’s a stereotype that men really have tough time expressing their feelings. I think that we just need that right setting and time to open up and I hope in some way the experience of watching this film can do that.... Start a dialogue between men.”

“My films often tell stories about gay people and though this isn’t a ‘gay film’ per se I managed to include a gay storyline and included some personal experiences. One character is saying he always thought of himself as straight with gay tendencies. That is something I once thought of myself as well. In terms of universal themes I think the film has a lot to say about following your heart and dreams but also about doing the right thing.”

“Writer and director of Homosaywhat and Treading Yesterday, CRAIG BETTENDORF, no novice to LGBT subject matter spent the better part of the 1990s organizing, promoting and finding common ground and understanding necessary to form acceptance and inclusivity for members of the LGBT community.”

“As a gay Asian man who has struggled with discrimination from society at large and from within the gay community due to my sexual orientation and race, it has led me to an experience that was deeply conflicted with self-acceptance for a long time.

I also often wondered about the downward spiral of my brother’s life as a gay man and his recent denouncement of his sexual identity, and how much of that has got to do with his traumatic coming out experience that was caused by me.”

“With time, my relationship with the participants became deeper and deeper. I shared their feelings and understood their difficulties. Rather than an outsider, I felt we were having the same anxiety that many Chinese people have, trying to escape from an ideological atmosphere through different ways but always ending up in the same initial position, as part of the deeply rooted Chinese culture. Like many young Chinese growing up in unhappy one-child families, the participants bear strong family responsibilities to make their parents happy, although they also need to sacrifice themselves sometimes. Specifically, the sacrifice made by my subjects is to hide their identities in order to achieve fake heterosexual marriages.”

“Independent features, and especially short films, often work hard to broadcast a message studio films do not; simply because they are not beholden to having to recoup the large budgets spent on studio pictures. Therefore, what could possibly be wrong with an independent short, broad comedy, that stars an actor with disabilities and questions whether or not Jesus could possibly be homosexual? ”

“Though it takes place in New York City, “Sunset” speaks a lot to my experience growing up in Austin, TX. Austin is a funny place — it’s this progressive, liberal city in the middle of a conservative state. Katie and Skylar have also spent much of their lives straddling cultural divides. We grew up with both Americas, side by side.

“Sunset” balances core values from each. Peter is deeply patriotic; he wants to serve in this war, this good war. Arnie, who is older and has seen a darker side of America, does not. He’s not willing to serve a country that has no place for him as a gay man. ”

“At the end of the film, I chose to post a fact that says “As of the making of this film homosexuality is illegal in 71 countries and punishable by death in eight.” That is a reality and that truth is what makes this film work. People who view it regardless of their feelings about the LGBTQ community cannot argue with facts. It’s a horrible persecution of the community that is occurring in many countries and it is my hope that the film will evoke an uncomfortable truth and warning of what happens when people are complacent.”

“It takes a smart and sexy look at the challenges of dating in the age of TINDER and GRINDR while flipping the expectations of a traditional “coming of age” story.”

“Its an LGBT film that spans three decades, with Aydin represented as an older man (2030’s), Teen (1980’s) and a young boy (1970’s) so we watch Aydin shift in his own ideology; wanting to be like his father, then his lover, and as an older man being able to reflect, poetically, that he has always been more like his mother. So there’s this exploration of masculinity and what it means to be strong, in body and in relationships.”

““A Doll’s Eyes” began as an exploration of the fear I had after watching Spielberg’s “Jaws” as a child. It evolved into a very personal documentary that was much bigger than Bruce the shark.”

“I was so tremendously fortunate to collaborate with my dear friend, acclaimed playwright Daniel Talbott, on this very personal project. Suicide and loneliness amongst LGBT youth is an important issue. As a gay man who greatly wrestled with suicide and depression in my teenage years, I was so inspired when Daniel brought this project to me to direct. It’s a story of resilience and growth, and I think that our shooting location aligned with the message of this project beautifully.”

“I created my short film “Hanging” with the hopes of turning my negatives moments into a positive. Unknown to many in my first two years of college I had a really rough start. I dealt with bullying, harassment, relationship issues, cheating, accepting myself as gay, and sexual trauma. I eventually hit a breaking point during my sophomore year in November of 2014 and almost hung myself in my dorm room closet. A memory of my mom and the guilt of what it would do to her and my family made me stop and I ended up dropping out of college to get away from my problems.”

“A: I started to write Sonnet in July with the intent of telling an important story that so many gay men and LGBT friends share, which is how hard it is to love yourself when your own family and society have a homophobic view of the world, and how rejection and homophobia can lead to suicide.”