James Conrad Verraros is an American singer, songwriter, and actor, who placed ninth on the first season of American Idol. Raised by deaf parents, he is fluent in American Sign Language and gained notoriety on American Idol for signing the lyrics to his audition song. After competing on the series, he released three pop rock, dance albums with music producer and songwriter Gabe Lopez. Verraros was also featured on the 2002 compilation album American Idol: Greatest Moments, covering "Easy" by the Commodores – this album reached number four on the Billboard 200 chart.
Shock to the System is a 2006 gay-themed mystery film. It is the second film adaptation of a Richard Stevenson novel featuring fictional detective Donald Strachey. The film premiered at the 2006 Outfest film festival before going into rotation on the here! television network.
But I'm a Cheerleader is a 1999 American satirical teen romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit in her feature directorial debut and written by Brian Wayne Peterson. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan Bloomfield, a high school cheerleader whose parents send her to a residential in-patient conversion therapy camp to "cure" her lesbianism. At camp, Megan realizes that she is indeed a lesbian and, despite the "therapy", comes to embrace her sexuality. The supporting cast includes Clea DuVall, RuPaul, and Cathy Moriarty.
Latter Days is a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama film about a gay relationship between a closeted Mormon missionary and his openly gay neighbor. The film was written and directed by C. Jay Cox and stars Steve Sandvoss as the missionary, Aaron, and Wes Ramsey as the neighbor, Christian. Joseph Gordon-Levitt appears as Elder Ryder, and Rebekah Johnson as Julie Taylor. Mary Kay Place, Khary Payton, Erik Palladino, Amber Benson, and Jacqueline Bisset have supporting roles.
Stonewall is a 1995 British-American historical comedy-drama film directed by Nigel Finch, his final film before his AIDS-related death shortly after filming ended. Inspired by the memoir of the same title by gay historian Martin Duberman, Stonewall is a fictionalized account of the weeks leading up to the Stonewall riots, a seminal event in the modern American gay rights movement. The film stars Guillermo Díaz, Frederick Weller, Brendan Corbalis, and Duane Boutte.
Shortbus is a 2006 American erotic comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in an early 2000s New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by various underground NYC gatherings that took place in the early 2000s. According to Mitchell, the film attempts to "employ sex in new cinematic ways because it's too interesting to leave to porn." Shortbus includes a variety of explicit scenes containing non-simulated sexual intercourse with visible penetration and male ejaculation.
When a Killer Calls is a 2006 direct-to-DVD horror film directed by Peter Mervis and starring Sarah Hall, Mark Irvingsen, Robert Buckley, Derek Osedach, and Rebekah Kochan. It was distributed by B movie company The Asylum. The film was released in February 2006, to coincide with the theatrical release of the 2006 remake of When a Stranger Calls, which this film is a mockbuster of.
Lucas Jones is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. Introduced in 1989, the character was played by several child actors, most notably by Justin Cooper from 1996 to 1998 and Logan O'Brien from 1998 to 2002. The character was rapidly aged in 2002 and Evan Bonifant took over the role briefly before he was replaced by C.J. Thomason who last appeared in 2003. The role was recast with Ryan Carnes in 2004. Carnes left the role in 2005, and was replaced by Ben Hogestyn. Hogestyn left the series in 2006. In late 2013, it was announced that Carnes would reprise the role in the new year. Carnes departed the role in March 2020, with Matt Trudeau debuting November of the same year. Trudeau last appearance in March 2021. Carnes reprised the role for two episodes in January 2024.
Gwen Welles was an American actress.
Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds is a 2006 American sex comedy film directed by Phillip J. Bartell. It is the sequel to Eating Out (2004) and the second installment in the Eating Out franchise. Q. Allan Brocka, who wrote and directed the first film, returned to co-write the screenplay alongside Bartell. The film stars Jim Verraros, Emily Brooke Hands, Rebekah Kochan, Brett Chukerman, Marco Dapper, and Mink Stole. Verraros, Hands, and Kochan reprise their roles from the first film as Kyle, Gwen, and Tiffani, respectively, while Chukerman replaces Ryan Carnes as Marc. Dapper portrays nude art model Troy, while Stole plays Kyle's mother Helen. Following the first film, Kyle and Marc break up, with both setting their sights on Troy, who is questioning his sexuality. In his attempt to approach him, Kyle pretends to be an ex-gay man, with Tiffani posing as his girlfriend, and attends meetings at a support group with Troy; conversely, Marc decides to seduce Kyle by being his out gay self.
Rebekah Kochan is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Tiffani von der Sloot in the Eating Out franchise.
Quenton Allan Brocka is an American television and film director based in West Hollywood, California. He has directed and written a number of feature films and has created an animated television series for the Logo cable network. He also writes a column for The Advocate.
The Vicious Kind is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Lee Toland Krieger. It stars Adam Scott, Brittany Snow, Alex Frost, and J. K. Simmons. It follows a misanthropic man who tries to warn his brother away from the new girlfriend he brings home during Thanksgiving, but ends up becoming infatuated with her in the process.
Dance of the Dead is a 2008 American independent zombie comedy film, directed by Gregg Bishop and written by Joe Ballarini. The film featured Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, Chandler Darby, Lucas Till, Blair Redford and Carissa Capobianco. The plot revolves around the mysterious reanimation of the dead and the efforts of several students to save their high school prom from attack.
Eating Out: All You Can Eat is a 2009 American sex comedy film directed by Glenn Gaylord. It is the third installment in the Eating Out film series. The only returning character from the first two films is Tiffani, while Mink Stole reprises her role as Aunt Helen from the second film.
Eating Out: Drama Camp is a 2011 American sex comedy film and the fourth installment in the Eating Out film series. The film was directed by Q. Allan Brocka, who co-wrote it with Phillip J. Bartell.
Eating Out: The Open Weekend is a 2011 American sex comedy film and the fifth and final installment in the Eating Out film series. The film was directed by Q. Allan Brocka, who co-wrote it with Phillip J. Bartell. It was released on DVD in the United States on March 20, 2012.
Rollercoaster is the official debut album of pop rock-dance artist Jim Verraros. It was released by independent label Koch Records on April 26, 2005. Several of the album's songs had been featured on a previous release by Verraros, titled Unsaid and Understood, which had acted as a demo album. Unsaid and Understood had been self-released in 2003, a year after Verraros placed ninth on American Idol's first season, and had drawn the attention of Koch Records, which proceeded to sign Verraros. Gabe Lopez produced Unsaid and Understood as well as Rollercoaster. He also provided backing vocals and played several instruments on both albums. Among Rollercoaster's other background vocalists is Angela Peel, who made it to the semi-finals on American Idol, during the same season as Verraros.
Out is a 2020 American animated short film directed and written by Steven Clay Hunter, produced by Max Sachar, and distributed by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The plot features a young gay man who has not yet come out to his parents, who unexpectedly has his mind magically swapped with his dog's. The seventh short film in the SparkShorts series, it is both Disney's and Pixar's first short to feature a gay main character and storyline, including an on-screen same-sex kiss. The short was released on Disney+ on May 22, 2020. The short was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Finding Mr. Wright is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Nancy Criss. It was produced by Matthew Montgomery and Nancy Criss, and written by Jake Helgren. The film stars Matthew Montgomery, Rebekah Kochan, David Moretti, Jason Stuart, Scotch Ellis Loring, Rasool J'Han and Evan Miller. The film had its premiere at the Philadelphia QFest on July 13, 2011. It then moved on for a screening at the FilmOut San Diego LGBT Film Festival on August 20, 2011.
