A sexy and provocative new Dekkoo Original Series from creator Matthew Lynn, The Third follows the story of Jason Height (Sean McBride), a young man recently displaced on the West Coast. During his conquests and adventures as a twenty-nine-year-old gay man in Palm Springs, he stumbles into a triad relationship with Carl and David (Corey Page and Ryland Shelton), an attractive, gay couple who are on the outs after thirteen years of marriage.
Thinking that a third person might spice up their relationship, Carl and David agree to move forward with Jason. What starts as a fling soon turns pretty series. The trip soon learn, however, that relationship issues only become more apparent once someone steps in to fill the gaps. What ensues is a tumultuous experience as everyone tries to figure the true definition of love… and whether or not it can be maintained in a three-person relationship.
Watch the full trailer for The Third below. Don’t miss this addictive new series when it debuts on October 24th – exclusively on Dekkoo!
In the cloistered world of competitive surf-lifesaving, an Australian hero is de-throned as the reigning champion by a younger, gay competitor. He embarks on a campaign of intimidation and bullying against the newcomer but is forced to confront his own repressed homoerotic desire. ‘Drown’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo.
Scott, a mild-mannered gay writer in Los Angeles, gets wrapped up into a world of bad boys and their crime-filled past after being adopted as their “Daddy Scott”, whether he likes it or not.
Written and directed by John Ira Palmer, the six-minute short film Pitbull follows Javi (Josué Jiménez), a young man from East Los Angeles who is being harassed by his deeply homophobic neighbor. As tensions escalate, he must decide whether to finally confront his tormentor or turn the other cheek.
A writer, director and producer, Palmer created the short film Elwood Takes a Lover, which screened at festivals around the world and was an official selection of The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. He was named a quarter-finalist for the 2019 Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, and is also a co-writer of Samir, the Warner Bros-funded USC feature film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Palmer also produced the documentary Al Imam, which became a Vimeo Staff Pick, aired on National Geographic, and earned KCET Fine Cut’s top prize. He also co-produced The Dare Project, directed by Adam Salky and written by David Brind, which screened at Outfest and Frameline in 2018.
In 2016, Palmer was invited to the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Artist Academy for emerging filmmakers at the New York Film Festival. John’s experimental 16mm and super-8 short films have screened at venues such as REDCAT, Blum & Poe, and Pacific Film Archive. He has been selected for artist residencies at Echo Park Film Center and AICAD’s New York Studio Program, and awards including the ARRI Emerging Filmmaker Grant, the James Broughton Film Award, and a Princess Grace Foundation Film Honorarium. John earned his MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and his BFA at San Francisco Art Institute.
Watch the trailer for Pitbull below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.
Len (Matt Levett) is a Surf Lifesaving champion, a legend in the cloistered surf club just like his father. But when the younger, faster, fitter Phil (Jack Matthews) arrives at the club, Len’s legendary status starts to crumble. Then Len sees Phil arriving in the company of another man; a man Phil gives a farewell kiss too. Phil is gay.
Over the summer season, Len starts to form unexpected, confusing feelings for Phil. It’s something Len cannot accept and after the annual awards dinner, Len explodes. He finds Phil in the Club House locker room and violently attacks him.
But to Len’s surprise, Phil remains loyal to the pack and refuses to rat on Len about the beating in the Club House locker Room. Len stays in the Club and is free to compete in the annual Surf Lifesaving completion; a competition Len has won five times but Phil wins and Len’s defeat is final.
Broken, Len refuses to die and with his best mate Meat he takes Phil on a victory bender through the seedy city in an attempt to secure an intoxicated oblivion.
Arriving back at the beach where Phil won his victory the day before, Len sets upon Phil. And in a series of humiliating acts, Len finally comes face to face with a fundamental question, can he accept the truth about his sexuality and identity or will he succumb to complete oblivion.
A shocking and powerful tale of toxic masculinity, repressed desire and violence, Drown is now available on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.
A timid 18-year-old living with his financially-struggling immigrant parents, chances upon a secret cruising spot when he takes a job at an all-male spa. There he begins to realize hidden desires that threaten his life as a dutiful son and student. ‘Spa Night’ is available to stream on Dekkoo!
‘But She’s My Best Friend’ is a gay comedy series about two gay best friends, Christian and Joey, and their lives in West Hollywood as they try to find a happy medium between being an adult and being a mess. Season 2 of this hilarious series is available now on Dekkoo!
It is the year 2040, Earth has been abandoned by the wealthy, who have migrated to space colonies. Bored, a rich young man decides to return home. Gradually, he perceives strange signs in the streets and discovers the existence of a secret cult. Stream ‘The Cult’ now on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week: Violence, jealousy, desire and what it takes to hide what you are.
Writer-director Andrew Ahn’s remarkably assured feature-length debut is a portrait of forbidden sexual awakening set in the nocturnal world of spas and karaoke bars in Los Angeles’ Koreatown.
David Cho (Joe Seo, who won the Special Jury Award at Sundance for his breakthrough performance), a timid 18-year-old living with his financially-struggling immigrant parents, chances upon a secret spot for cruising when he takes a part-time job at an allmale spa, and begins to realize hidden inner desires that threaten his life as a dutiful son and student.
Effervescent and atmospheric, this one-of-a-kind coming-of-age story makes the steamy spa a liminal place between dream and reality, and desire and disillusionment.
“Spa Night is an intensely personal film,” said Ahn. “I knew very early in the screenwriting process that I had to draw from my own life experiences in order to find the honesty I wanted to show on screen. As the son of Korean-American immigrants, I have felt the conflict between my parents’ expectations and my own personal desires. In Spa Night, I wanted to explore what it means to be a part of a Korean-American family. As Spa Night progressed into production, the film became even more personal for me. We shot on location in Koreatown, Los Angeles — at restaurants I have eaten at, spas I have visited, and streets I have walked down. As I directed scenes, I saw my family in this fictional family I had created.”
“My main character David speaks in a mix of Korean and English to his parents, the same mix I use when I speak to my parents. With Spa Night, I want to open up American independent cinema to include stories about immigrant communities told in languages other than English. It is important that our cinema culture reflect the diversity of the American experience. By telling this story, I am attempting to validate the immigrant experience and acknowledge my parents’ sacrifice to leave their home country and start a new life in America. Spa Night is my way of fulfilling my parents’ hopes and dreams.”
Watch the trailer for Spa Night below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.
With the release of I’m Fine’s third and final season, everyone at Dekkoo is feeling a little bittersweet. I’m Fine was Dekkoo’s first foray into the world of original series, and we couldn’t be prouder! But all good things must come to an end, and what a way to go out! We sat down with the creator of the series, Brandon Kirby, to see if he’s really doing fine after the release of the series’ last installment.
Will you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I grew up in Livonia, Michigan, and went to undergrad at Michigan State University. Shortly after graduation, I moved to L.A. in 2012 for an internship at The Hollywood Reporter. Classic L.A. move, I caught the screenwriting bug, and my career went from there. My first project was a web series I co-created with my writing partner at the time and still good friend, Jessie Katz; it was called The Exorcists, and somewhere in the bowels of YouTube, it can be found and watched. I also unfortunately star in it. The lessons learned from that project allowed me to go on and create I’m Fine.
What was your main source of inspiration for the series?
The main source of inspiration was a breakup, so a lot of the first season is based on a bad hookup I had post-breakup. Nate’s neuroses and bad decision making unfortunately mirrors my own. But once Perry Powell began to imbue Nate with his own nuances, the character evolved past any real-life touch points I had tethered the story to. Thankfully, all my actors were able to bring even more to their characters than I had anticipated, so I’m Fine as a series was quickly able to evolve beyond being semi-autobiographical despite many characters, situations, and even dialogue being pulled directly from my real life. These close ties to reality quickly dissipate by season two as the show’s storylines morphed and evolved into something greater.
Can you tell us a little about the inspiration for the title and how you decided on it?
In college, I would say “I’m fine” in a really weird, high-pitched, obviously not-fine tone, and it became a running joke with my friends. As I was writing the first episode, the title sort of came naturally from that.
What was it like bringing other writers onto the show for the last season?
They brought a lot of new perspectives and experiences to the show. For example, in the third episode of season three, we wanted to continue exploring Jeff’s issues of identity, so Clay Pruitt tackled that episode working on a story concept from Lee Doud who plays Jeff. And for the sixth episode—written by Michael Varrati—it’s the story of two older gay men courting younger men at a bar. Varrati wanted to bring that specific perspective to the episode to put a discussion of the gay generational divide into our final season.
What was the casting process like for such a strong ensemble show?
It all started through friends and friends of friends. Perry Powell (Nate) came recommended through our Director of Photography—Andrew Ceperley—and then Lee Doud (Jeff) came through our producer—Albert Payano. From there, Brittney King (Nicole) and Richard Stokes (Andy) were also recommended through Perry, and Ulysses Morazan (Brian) came recommended through another season-one producer—Abram Cerda. As we got into season two, we brought on our amazing casting director, Leslie Wasserman, who stayed with us through the process of casting seasons two and three. She’s been an absolute godsend, and we couldn’t have successfully done our last two seasons without her!
How does it feel to have seen these characters grow from season one to season three?
It’s been a really wild experience seeing how much they’ve grown. I think each character goes on a relatable journey of self discovery, and the direction these characters take is largely owed to the actors bringing them to life. Thanks to them, the characters have gone places I never expected.
Throughout the series, there was an emphasis not only on romantic relationships but on platonic ones and ones where the lines blurred a little as well. Why did you decide to showcase this broad spectrum of relationships?
Since the show’s starting-off point was a breakup, my goal was to not entirely focus on romantic relationships. As the series began, I was much more interested in exploring gay male relationships—namely friendships—that sometimes enter the gray area of more than friends. I think that’s something so specific to gay men where if you’re friends, there’s always the possibility that one person might see the other as something more. And that’s where Nate and Jeff find their friendship headed in season two, and then they have to walk it back, deal with the falling out of one of them having feelings, and then land back in the realm of friendship.
What would 15-year-old Brandon Kirby say about seeing something like I’m Fine on screen?
He would be shocked because 15-year-old me didn’t even have moving to L.A. on his radar. To see that his future self wrote and directed a show, he would be stunned. He probably would’ve gained a lot from it.
What do you think queer viewers will gain from this series?
I want them to see themselves and know that queer stories don’t all have to be tragic. Queer characters can exist in storytelling and media by just being themselves, living their lives, and fucking things up just like any other characters they might see in media.
What’s the main message you’d like your readers to walk away with after seeing I’m Fine?
We’re always growing, and we’re always on a journey. As queer people, we’re always trying to find our tribe, and the journey of self-identity is forever ongoing. We’re constantly redefining ourselves, changing our paths and friendships, and that’s okay. It’s all part of growing up, and sometimes, that means growing apart. I think that’s especially true for transplants moving to new cities and even more true for queer people. It’s all about finding your people, and sometimes, you have to go through a few rounds of figuring out what you want before you can land on what truly makes you happy.
How does it feel to have completed the third and final season of the show?
It feels bittersweet. I knew season three was the time to end the series, but it’ll definitely be weird not returning to these characters. The cast and crew feels the same way, but we’ll always have the friendships and the I’m Fine family we made along the way. Personally, it feels like I’m closing the chapter on that “Nate chapter” of my life, and so it’s a timely and fitting end.
Can you tell us something that was challenging about filming the series?
Budget is always something you’re fighting against when it comes to small projects such as this. Cutting corners, calling in favors, and finding every opportunity to save money is the name of the game.
Can you share one of your favorite moments or memories on set?
On set during the filming of season three, we were shooting a nighttime pool scene, and our director—Andrew Ceperley—was setting up for the shot but wasn’t satisfied with the angle he was getting. The two characters were sitting with their feet dangling in the pool, so straight-on shots were limited since there was a body of water in front of them. But that didn’t stop Andrew from fully getting in the water to film the entire scene. He didn’t even take the time to take his jeans off, let alone his socks or shoes. It was a moment of pure dedication, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
How does it feel to have I’m Fine featured on Dekkoo?
I’m so thankful it’s on a platform like Dekkoo, dedicated to telling exclusively queer stories. I hope being on here allows the show to reach more people!
Do you have any new projects you’re currently working on?
I have a short film also starring Lee Doud (Jeff) called Is This a Date? that’s currently in post-prod and will premiere on Dekkoo either later this year or early next. I also have a queer horror short, The More the Scarier, that will land on Dekkoo this Halloween. The production company I have with Michael Varrati called June Gloom Productions also has a short, The Office is Mine, that will be hitting the festival circuit this fall. We also have many more queer horror-genre stories in the works!
Sun is a young man who attends a sex party, organised via a dating app, with four other men. While the others seem to be enjoying themselves enormously, Sun finds himself unaroused, despite the others’ best efforts turn him on. ‘Sodom’s Cat’ is available to stream now!
‘Child of the ’70’s’ is the story of gay Italian-American Carlo Perdente who ends up working as a personal assistant to his 1970’s TV idol, the neurotic and over-the-top KiKi Lawrence. Season 5 is available now to binge on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week: A profoundly moving drama about a young man torn between the expectations of his family and his own burgeoning desires. Coming next week:
When architect Bruno (hot Chilean TV star Francisco Celhay) finds himself passionately drawn to Santiago tour guide, Fernando (Emilio Edwards) he faces challenging decisions about his identity – and his relationship with his wife and young son.
Hired to design a civic landmark for the Chilean capitol city, Bruno struggles with the commission. His uncertainty about how to proceed professionally is paralleled by his personal grappling.
Offering no easy answers, this tenderly told tale of sexual discovery has earned comparisons to Andrew Haigh’s Weekend for its beautifully realized portrayal of two men in love. Variety called In the Grayscale “A measured, tenderly played study of imprecise sexual identity.” The San Francisco Chronicle called it a “wonderfully complex character study.” The film also won the Jury Award for Best First Feature at the Frameline San Francisco LGBT Film Festival and the Ibero-American Debut Award at the Miami International Film Festival.
“The Blue Hour” can mean the time between day and night, a realm between dream and reality, or a point between good and evil. Based on a true story, The Blue Hour from director Anucha Boonyawatana is all about the relationship between a boy, who is pressured by his family, and a mysterious young man who will lead him into horrifying situations.
A sexy supernatural love story about a bullied loner, Tam (Attapun Poonsawad), who finds solace in the arms of Phum (Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang), a boy he meets at a haunted swimming pool. Phum reveals that his family’s land has been stolen and the new found lovers imagine a perfect life together on the disputed land. Haunted by a ghostly presence, Tam struggles to stay connected to reality.
An official selection of the Berlin International Film Festival, The Blue Hour is a dark atmospheric tale of love and distress.
Born in Nakhon Phanom, a North-Eastern Province of Thailand, in 1981, Anucha Boonyawatana is a Thai independent film director and also founder of G-Motif Production, one of the largest video production company in Thailand. His thesis film “Down the River”, combination of Buddhist philosophy and Thai art and a love story of a gay couple, won Young Thai Artist Award and has been shown at several film festivals. He collaborated with TUC, Thai-American Public Health Agency (under the US government) and UNESCO to direct the online movie “Love Audition1, 2” aim to promote health and relationships among Thai gay teenagers. In 2012, his short film “Erotic Fragments No.1, 2, 3” was screened in competition at Berlinale Shorts of the 62th Berlin International Film Festival. The Blue Hour is his first feature film.
Check out the trailer for The Blue Hour below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.
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