Singapore media will flirt with a little more representation when a rare LGBT drama drops its first ep today starring an all-the-way-out gay cast from Singapore and Thailand.
Filmed in Bangkok, Getaway is a gay BL (boys love) web drama by gay people for gay people, according to its creators at LGBT platform Dear Straight People.
“Making one has been on my bucket list for the longest time and, in 2022, all the stars aligned in the sense that I finally had the network and the resources to make it happen,” creator and Dear Straight People founder Sean Foo said.
Those behind the series include openly gay Thai director Ark Saroj, and a queer cast from Singapore and Thailand. Singaporean talents include actor Steven David Lim from 1996’s Growing Up and Hirzi Zulkiflie, a YouTuber and Pink Dot’s first Muslim ambassador. Thai actors include Paween “Snooker” Nalieng from the popular Thai gay web drama series Gay Ok Bangkok, model Sirinutt “Sean” Cholvibool, and trans woman and drag queen Zymone.
Whereas most BL series cater to heterosexual women, Dear Straight People say Getaway includes the nuances about “what it really means to be gay in Asia” that are usually omitted.
The show follows Sam (Foo), as he escapes to Bangkok to find his banished gay uncle after coming out to his conservative father (Lim) goes awry. There, he meets and falls in love with Top (Snooker).
The series consists of five 10-minute episodes which will be released weekly on YouTube. The first episode drops later at 6pm.
The production took half a year to complete and was sponsored by companies such as Bangkok luxury resort The Siam, where much of the filming took place, the Four Seasons Hotel in the Thai capital, and Gayhealth.sg.
LGBT representation in Singapore media is basically nonexistent with tight laws banning any form of homosexual “content” on local television and radio.
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