Christian McLaughlin (television writer)

Last updated

Christian McLaughlin (born September 29, 1967 in Houlton, Maine) is a television writer, producer, and author. McLaughlin is a graduate of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas. He gained notoriety in his early twenties with the publication of his novels, Glamourpuss and Sex Toys of the Gods.

Contents

Television credits

McLaughlin worked as a script writer on:

He served as a creative consultant for the 2004 Fox reality special Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay but the special was pulled from the schedule before airing following complaints from media watchdog GLAAD. McLaughlin responded to the criticism, saying, "It's unfortunate that a group as well-intentioned as GLAAD is going to set themselves up as censors and judge what other people should be allowed to air or see." [1]

Career

He met his writing partner, Valerie Ahern, at the University of Texas, and started writing sitcom spec scripts together a year later. Together, they created and produced MTV's Emmy nominated soap opera Spyder Games (originally called Spyder Web) after being approached by Drew Tappon at MTV Series Development; they are currently working with Maverick Television to create the first all-LGBT serial, San Rafael, for MTV's new gay channel, Logo. According to Logo, San Rafael is about "the unexpected schemes and twists in the intertwined lives of a group of LGBT friends and foes living in the same apartment complex." ( The Advocate )

David Holman, then a production executive at Columbia Pictures Television, helped McLaughlin land an internship job at The Young and the Restless in 1989. His supervisor was Michael Minnis, then a script coordinator and writers' assistant. His internship included script synopsis of Y&R episodes and extras casting.

In 2014, McLaughlin's award-winning satirical play (with Stan Zimmerman) Meet & Greet was the breakout hit of the Hollywood Fringe Festival and ran for five months. [2] [3] The duo’s next stage comedy, Knife To The Heart, was performed in May 2018 at the Dorie Theater @ The Complex starring Andrea Bowen and Josh Zuckerman. [4]

Personal life

McLaughlin is openly gay. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GLAAD</span> American LGBT media monitoring group

GLAAD is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since included bisexual and transgender people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson Cruz</span> American actor

Wilson Cruz is an American actor known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life, Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery, and the recurring character Junito on Noah's Arc. As a gay man of Afro-Puerto Rican ancestry, he has served as an advocate for gay youth, especially gay minorities.

<i>The Advocate</i> (magazine) Bi-monthly American magazine covering LGBT-interest topics

The Advocate is an American LGBT magazine, printed bi-monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a website. Both magazine and website have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people. The magazine, established in 1967, is the oldest and largest LGBT publication in the United States and the only surviving one of its kind that was founded before the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan, an uprising that was a major milestone in the LGBT rights movement. On June 9, 2022, Pride Media was acquired by Equal Entertainment LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logo TV</span> American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global

Logo TV is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment programming targeting LGBT audiences. As of January 2016, approximately 50 million households receive Logo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GLAAD Media Award</span> Award for LGBT representation in media

The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards also recognize achievements in other branches of the media and arts, including theatre, music, journalism and advertising.

<i>Spyder Games</i> American television series

Spyder Games is an American television series that was broadcast on MTV from June 18 to September 20, 2001. MTV's second and last foray into the soap opera format following the run of the anthology series Undressed, the series was originally called Spyder Web in development.

Patrik-Ian Polk is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Polk, who is gay, is noted for his films and theatre work that explore the experiences and stories of African-American LGBT people. In 2016, Polk was included in the Los Angeles Times Diverse 100 list, which described him as "the man bringing black gay stories to screens large and small".

<i>Transamerican Love Story</i> American TV series or program

Transamerican Love Story is an American reality dating show in which suitors woo transgender woman Calpernia Addams. Addams chooses a suitor by process of elimination. When the show first aired, viewers could vote their preferences online, but it was Addams who chose whom to eliminate. Calpernia is accompanied by her friend Andrea James; each episode is hosted by comedian Alec Mapa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Jackson as a gay icon</span> Aspect of American singers reputation

Janet Jackson is an American pop and R&B singer and actress. Jackson garnered a substantial gay following during the 1990s as she gained prominence in popular music. Recognized as a long-term ally of the LGBT community, Jackson received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Album for her Grammy Award-winning sixth studio album The Velvet Rope (1997), which spoke out against homophobia and embraced same-sex love. In 2005, Jackson received the Humanitarian Award from the Human Rights Campaign and AIDS Project Los Angeles in recognition of her involvement in raising funds for AIDS Charities and received the Vanguard Award at the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2008. In June 2012, Jackson announced she was executive producing a documentary on the lives of transgender people around the world titled Truth, saying she agreed to sign on to help stop discrimination against the transgender community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19th GLAAD Media Awards</span>

The GLAAD Media Awards were created in 1990 by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to "recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their deads."

Historically, the portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in media has been largely negative if not altogether absent, reflecting a general cultural intolerance of LGBT individuals; however, from the 1990s to present day, there has been an increase in the positive depictions of LGBT people, issues, and concerns within mainstream media in North America. The LGBT communities have taken an increasingly proactive stand in defining their own culture, with a primary goal of achieving an affirmative visibility in mainstream media. The positive portrayal or increased presence of the LGBT communities in media has served to increase acceptance and support for LGBT communities, establish LGBT communities as a norm, and provide information on the topic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st GLAAD Media Awards</span>

The 21st GLAAD Media Awards was the 2010 annual presentation of the media awards presented by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The awards seek to honor films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that fairly and accurately represent the LGBT community and issues relevant to the community. The 21st annual award ceremony included 116 nominees in 24 English-language categories, and 36 Spanish-language nominees in eight categories.

Spirit Day is an annual LGBTQ awareness day observed on the third Thursday in October. Started in 2010 by Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan, it was initially created in response to a rash of widely publicized bullying-related suicides of gay school students in 2010, including that of Tyler Clementi. Promoted by GLAAD, observers wear the color purple as a visible sign of support for LGBTQ youth and against bullying during National Bullying Prevention Month, as well as to honor LGBTQ victims of suicide.

Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay is an unaired American reality television special planned for broadcast by the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox). The two-hour special was set to premiere on June 7, 2004, although it was abruptly removed from the Fox schedule only eleven days before its planned broadcast. Filmed in West Hollywood, California, the special depicted two straight men in competition for a $50,000 reward over who could pass themselves off as a more convincing gay man. The contestants were required to move into separate lofts with gay roommates, come out to their best friends, and socialize at gay nightclubs, in addition to competing in a variety of daily challenges. The special was hosted by Irish television presenter Amanda Byram.

Bert V. Royal Jr. is an American screenwriter, playwright, and former casting director. He is best known as the writer of the play Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2005, and the 2010 teen film Easy A.

Stan Zimmerman is an American television producer, director and screenwriter. Zimmerman has written for many television series including The Golden Girls, Roseanne and Gilmore Girls and the 1996 feature film A Very Brady Sequel. Zimmerman is also the creator and executive producer of the sitcom Rita Rocks.

<i>When We Rise</i> 2017 docudrama miniseries about the history of LGBT rights in the US

When We Rise is an eight-part American docudrama miniseries about the history of LGBT rights advocacy in the United States from the 1970s to the 2010s. It was created by Dustin Lance Black and stars Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Louise Parker, Michael Kenneth Williams, Austin P. McKenzie, Emily Skeggs, Jonathan Majors, Fiona Dourif, and Sam Jaeger among 30 others. The miniseries premiered on ABC on February 27, 2017, with the rest of its episodes airing March 1 to 3.

Anatomy of a Hate Crime is a 2001 American made-for-television docudrama based on a true crime; it was written by Max Ember and directed by Tim Hunter. It stars Cy Carter, Brendan Fletcher, and Ian Somerhalder. The film is based on the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard. It premiered on MTV on December 10, 2001, and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series. After the broadcast, MTV went dark for 17 12 hours while it aired a continuous on-screen scroll listing the names of hundreds of United States hate crime victims.

References

  1. 1 2 Goodridge, Mike (October 12, 2004). "Seriously, dude, it was a joke". The Advocate . pp. 85–7. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  2. "Hollywood Fringe - meet & greet".
  3. "Meet & Greet". 26 August 2014.
  4. "BWW Review: KNIFE TO THE HEART Hits a Bullseye!".