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Exclusive: OUTtv Media Group (Omg) is partnering with Producer Entertainment Group (Peg), to launch OUTtv USA, an SVOD service dedicated to premium LGBTQ+ content. OUTtv marks the first LGBTQ+ Apple TV channel and is now available on the Apple TV app.

OUTtv debuts today and is available for a seven-day trial on the Apple TV app. Subscriptions will be $2.99 per month. OUTtv is expected to launch across other marquee SVOD platforms later this year.

“We are delighted to deepen and evolve our relationship with Peg further by bringing OUTtv to America”, said Brad Danks, CEO, OUTtv Media Group. The real potential and impact will come from the groundbreaking LGBTQ+ content that we will develop, produce and distribute together.”

“Demand for premium, authentic queer content is at an all time high, said Jacob Slane, Partner, Producer Entertainment Group. “We’re proud to join Omg to bring their long standing history of...

It’s still very early, but it’s impossible not to take notice of what Chloe Zhao’s film Nomadland is doing right now. The fall film festival season has launched other movies, like Regina King’s One Night in Miami…, but none like Nomadland. Today, the flick added a pretty big feather in its cap, taking the prestigious Audience Award from the Toronto International Film Festival (with the aforementioned One Night in Miami… as runner up). Taking this prize from TIFF is a huge deal, even in an unusual awards season like this one. What does it mean for its Oscar aspirations? Read on to find out… So, what exactly does this mean for Nomadland? Looking specifically at the Audience Award and thinking in terms of its history, this is a somewhat reliable indicator of prestige, especially with the Academy. Nomadland now joins a group that has seen a...

The late Richard Benner’s 1977 “Outrageous!” blazed trails as both a hit Canadian export and positive screen depiction of gay life, two relative rarities at the time. Even then, some gay viewers found the funny-sad friendship between a hairdresser/professional drag queen and a young schizophrenic woman a bit old-fashioned. But everybody was won over by Craig Russell’s stage impersonations of Hollywood stars — schmaltz and camp being a reliable combination for gay cinema with crossover ambitions.

That formula has scarcely altered 43 years later for “Stage Mother.” It’s the latest from Thom Fitzgerald, whose 1997 “The Hanging Garden” was also shot in Nova Scotia, and helped herald a new, perhaps more politically bold and artistically adventuresome generation of gay Canadian filmmakers. His more recent work has fitted into a time-tested mould of sentimental seriocomedy, however. This tale of a small-town Texas matron who inherits her estranged son’s San Francisco drag bar offers up smiles,...

Peter Farrelly’s Green Book is the winner of this year’s sometimes Oscar-predictive Grolsch People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Last year’s winner Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri went on to be nominated for Best Picture and won two acting awards, but the ultimate Oscar winner for Best Picture, The Shape Of Water did not even make Tiff’s list of the top three audience favorites.

This year’s first runner up is Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk which Annapurna will release on November 30 and was warmly received at its Tiff World Premiere last Sunday. Second runner up is Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma which Netflix will debut in December and which recently won the Golden Lion top prize at Venice and is expected to be a major awards player this season.

The trophy is considered a bellwether of sorts for the awards...

Jacki Weaver, Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu have signed on to star in Stage Mother, the new feature from Canadian director Thom Fitzgerald (The Hanging Garden).

Weaver (The Silver Linings Playbook) will star as Maybelline, a conservative Texas church choir director who inherits her recently deceased son’s San Francisco drag club. Surprising everyone, she moves to San Francisco to try and save the club from bankruptcy.

San Francisco screenwriter Brad Hennig (The Hot Flashes) penned the screenplay.

Currently in preproduction, Stage Mother is set to begin shooting in Canada later this year.

Branded Pictures Entertainment's J. Todd Harris is producing...

Jacki Weaver, Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu have signed on to star in <em>Stage Mother</em>, the new feature from Canadian director Thom Fitzgerald (<em>The Hanging Garden</em>).

Weaver (<em>The Silver Linings Playbook</em>) will star as Maybelline, a conservative Texas church choir director who inherits her recently deceased son’s San Francisco drag club. Surprising everyone, she moves to San Francisco to try and save the club from bankruptcy.

San Francisco screenwriter Brad Hennig (<em>The Hot Flashes</em>) penned the screenplay.

Currently in preproduction, <em>Stage Mother </em>is set to begin shooting in Canada later this year.

Branded Pictures Entertainment's J. Todd Harris is ...

Yesterday afternoon, the Toronto International Film Festival announced their award winners. Notably, the Audience Award, which is the top prize at Tiff, went to Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The runner ups were, perhaps surprisingly, Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya, as well as Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name. The win for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was slightly surprising, though the word out of Toronto has been incredibly positive. After taking a prize recently at the Venice Film Festival for Screenplay, it’s currently the most awarded contender of the year so far. If nothing else, that’s a nice head start for a movie such as this one. Looking specifically at the Audience Award and thinking in terms of its history, this is a somewhat reliable indicator of prestige. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri now joins a group that has five prior Best Picture winners,...

Yesterday, the Toronto International Film Festival gave out its awards for 2016, with Damien Chazelle’s La La Land taking the top prize. That distinction, the People’s Choice prize, also known as the Audience Award, puts it into some very strong company (for those wondering, the first runner up was Lion, while the second runner up was Queen Of Katwe). The original musical, which stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, has been winning over viewers for a few weeks now, starting out at the Venice Film Festival, continuing at the Telluride Film Festival, and now charming everyone at Toronto. At this point, it was already considered the frontrunner in Best Picture, but now, one can say it with more distinction. Frankly, it’s hard not to consider this the one to beat right now. In terms of this particular award and its history, this is a somewhat reliable indicator of prestige.

The Whistler Film Festival and the Vancouver-based Praxis Centre for Screenwriters have announced the six Canadian screenwriters selected to participate in the Wff Praxis Screenwriters Lab, a joint feature script development program to be held from December 1 to 5 during the Whistler Film Festival + Summit. In addition, the parties have confirmed that the management of the program will move to Whistler.

Focused on advancing feature-length projects at the script stage into production by facilitating feedback and mentorship from industry experts across the business spectrum, the Wff Praxis Screenwriters Lab is designed to analyze the writer's intentions, rethink script-to-screen strategies, and chart a course for eventual production. Participants will engage in business tailored group discussions, one-on-one industry meetings, a boot camp pitch session, and a master class, as well as receive the opportunity to attend festival screenings and industry events. Advisors will include highly accomplished producers and other industry executives with extensive market knowledge.

The six screenwriters and projects selected for Wff Praxis Screenwriter Lab 2015 include:

Andrew McEvoy (BC) with suspenseful family drama "The Sounding Line"

Jesse Heffring (QC) with thought-provoking sci-fi thriller "Everything is Supernova"

Joadie Jurgova (Ns) with psychological drama "Trespassers Will Be Executed"

Katherine Wagner (BC) with character-driven sports thriller "Omertà"

Sara Beth Edwards (BC) with action/thriller "The Waitress"

Steven Owad (Ab) with small town drama of race and violence "Love in the Age of Terror"

After 28 years as an exclusive program of the School of Contemporary Arts at Sfu, the Praxis Centre for Screenwriters is moving into an expanded partnership with the Whistler Film Festival. Praxis founder and longtime Director, Sfu Professor Patricia Gruben, will continue as Director of the Wff Praxis Screenwriters Lab, but management of the workshop will move to Whistler. The parties are taking a break from the annual competition in order to shift the program to a June to December schedule in 2016. This year, instead of a new intake of scripts, six projects from previous workshops will be invited to return for a four-day business immersion experience during the Whistler Film Festival + Summit.

Since 1986, Praxis’ Fall and Spring workshop series for feature film scripts have brought together independent screenwriters from across the country to work with intensively with key film industry personnel in private and group sessions to develop both creative skills and marketing opportunities for their projects. More than 200 feature film and Mow screenplays by Canadian writers have been selected for an intensive workshop process with an exclusive list of international industry professionals, making Praxis a leader in the development of Canadian screenwriters. Praxis Fellows have come from all ten provinces and the Yukon, and advisors have covered a range from Hollywood producers, writers, and directors such as Christine Vachon and Michael Miner to independent Canadian screenwriters such as Atom Egoyan and Don McKellar. Over thirty-five Praxis scripts have been produced to date, including Mina Shum's "Double Happiness," Thom Fitzgerald's "The Hanging Garden," and Jacob Tierney's "The Trotsky," which opened the Whistler Film Festival in 2009.

“The Wff Praxis Screenwriters Lab aligns Praxis’ leadership in the development of Canadian screenwriters and flagship feature screenplay competition with our robust slate of project development programs, Festival and industry Summit,” says Shauna Hardy Mishaw, Executive Director of the Whistler Film Festival Society. “Our ultimate goal is to have completed projects get developed and premiere in Whistler.”

"With this new program, which is focused on business development for screenplays that we've already worked with creatively, we'll connect with the great opportunities the Festival provides – connecting with directors, producers, marketing executives as well as Variety 10 Screenwriters to Watch," says Praxis Director Patricia Gruben. "Plus, we'll be able to see the latest Praxis-workshopped film, "Numb," which is having its North American premiere at Wff."

From December 2 to 6, 2015, the Whistler Film Festival + Summit (Wff) will celebrate its 15th anniversary with fresh films, special guests, unique industry initiatives, epic events, and time to play in North America’s premiere mountain resort destination.

During the afternoon yesterday, the Toronto International Film Festival gave out its prestigious Audience Award, often considered a harbinger for the Academy Awards. The winner at Tiff this year? Well, in a bit of an upset, it was none other than Room, the Lenny Abrahamson directed film that stars Brie Larson in a role that’s generated some major Oscar buzz. The inside word had big time award player Spotlight as the odds on favorite for the prize, but Room is what wound up taking it. As such, this is now a contender worth paying even more attention to than we were already. It’s a player, no doubt about it… For those who aren’t aware of this one, Room is an adaptation of the beloved novel by Emma Donoghue, who also penned the screenplay. It centers on a mother named Ma (played by Larson) and her young son...

Religious cultists, yakuza hitmen, a lovely bar pickup, and a speeding motorcyclist collide, quite literally, in the genre oddity that is I'm Flash!, the latest from iconoclastic director Toyoda Toshiaki (9 Souls, The Hanging Garden). This time, Toyoda jettisons the moody experimentalism of his previous two features The Blood of Rebirth and Monster's Club to create a film that hearkens back to the wilder style of his earliest work. The title may indeed be a very appropriate one, in the sense that it flashes by us with an excess of visual style at the expense of truly lasting substance, despite the religious and philosophical-sounding talk that is spoken throughout. Nevertheless, I'm Flash! often dazzles with the audaciousness of its go-for-broke mishmash of genre-movie elements and...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Outfest -- the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival -- is kicking off its 30th anniversary celebrations tomorrow night with a screening of Jeffrey Schwarz's "Vito" and a tribute to the one-and-only John Waters. What will follow is 10 days showcasing the best Lgbt cinema of the past year, which -- in something of a rare occasion -- isn't simply one or two great films and then countless filler. It's been a pretty exceptional year for Lgbt films, and if you're in Los Angeles over the next little bit, Outfest is a pretty great opportunity to see why. Indiewire offers 13 best bets below, though there's also quite a bit more where that came from, so check out the festival's full program here. "Cloudburst," written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald “Cloudburst” comes nearly fifteen years after writer-director Thom Fitzgerald made his directorial debut with “The Hanging Garden.” But unlike...

It seems safe to say now that Japanese auteur Toshiaki Toyoda - director of Nine Souls and Blue Spring - is well and truly back. After a well publicized brush with the law very nearly ended Toyoda's career prior to the release of The Hanging Garden the director opted to keep an extremely low profile, staying out of the public eye entirely for a couple years before making his first step back not as a film director but as a member of the band Twin Tail. And while he has stepped back into the film world since then both of his subsequent projects - The Blood Of Rebirth and Monster's Club - have intentionally arrived with minimal fanfare, with hardly anyone even knowing they...

Earlier today we posted the first stills for Toshiaki Toyoda's Monster's Club, the dark fantasy tinged effort from the director of Blue Spring, The Hanging Garden and Nine Souls just freshly announced to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. And seemingly moments after posting those images Tiff went one better by releasing the film's trailer.Having abandoned modern civilization, Ryoichi lives an isolated, self-sufficient life on a snow-covered mountain and sends mail bombs to the CEOs of corporations and TV networks. One day, he encounters a mysterious creature in the forest. That night, his older brother, who had committed suicide, appears before him at his cabin. The apparition takes Ryoichi beyond a door, where Ryoichi learns the truth about his family.Mail bombs and fantasy...

Toshiaki Toyoda is one of the great under-recognized masters of international cinema. With his early films - Pornostar and Blue Spring - Toyoda captured the raw energy and anger of youth. With Nine Souls the raw angst was still present, as were the wildly stylish flourishes that marked his earlier offerings, but the anger was balanced with something more complex and mature. And with The Hanging Garden Toyoda delivered one of the most gripping portraits of family dysfunction caught on screen in recent years.Legal issues nearly derailed Toyoda after The Hanging Garden, leading to a period where he chose to simply stay out of the public eye, but with his band Twin Tail and 2009 film The Blood Of Rebirth - a meditative fable...

Let the Cure, Korn and Nine Inch Nails give you nightmares this holiday, in Bigger Than the Sound.

By James Montgomery

The Cure's Robert Smith

Photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic

If you're like me, you'll probably be spending Halloween hiding in your closet from pagans (seriously, have you ever seen the Nic Cage version of "The Wicker Man"?!?) and the day after Halloween cleaning up the eggs those pagans decided to throw at your house.

Even without the egg-tossing polytheists, Halloween is totally terrifying. The apples stuffed with razorblades, the candy corn, the sexy Ghostbusters — it's like every childhood trauma rolled into one miserable, macabre holiday. And while, in previous years, I'd spend the night quaking in my Snuggie, this Halloween is gonna be different. Rather than hide from my fears, I've decided to embrace them (my mom says it's Ok).

So to thoroughly up the spooky, I've created a list...

Oh, it does me good to say this: Toshiaki Toyoda is back behind a camera, where he belongs. In September of 2005 the director of Blue Spring and 9 Souls was on the cusp of releasing The Hanging Garden while prepping a planned biker gang film when a drug arrest put his career into exile - partially self imposed, partially governmental. He’s maintained a meticulously low profile since then but word is out that he’s back with a new film scheduled to be released in the fall.

Yomigaeri no Chi was shot in July, an adaptation of a legend about a kabuki singer who travels to a holy land after nearly dying from a poisoning. The casting of drummer Tatsuya Nakamura in the lead makes me think that Toyoda will be putting his own spin on things but - as he proved with The Hanging Garden - Toyoda is also...

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Ask the Monkey! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)

Q: What do you think about this whole “gay face” mini-meme? – Michael

A: The Flying Monkey just heard about it and I’m already tired of it.

While studies show there is no difference in the actual physical facial characteristics of gay versus straight men, other studies suggest some gay men might hold their faces, especially in the mouth area, in such a way that makes other people more likely to identify them as gay.

And this is news why? We all know there are physical and verbal stereotypes – mannerisms and such that are associated with gayness. We also know that sometimes the stereotypes are right – some gay people do conform to them – and sometimes they’re wrong: many gay people don’t conform to them, and some straight people who do.