Vimeo has provided a platform that has allowed many smart young filmmakers to thrive. Amongst them, the creator of the 2012 hit The Outs, Adam Goldman. Along with fellow writer and actor Sasha Winters, Goldman serves the shows as writer, director and actor. In today’s mainstream media landscape, where many gay characters are relegated to fun sidekicks or comic relief, Goldman laments at this “embarrassing state of affairs. And I've been saying that for years. The truth is that there's so little media out there about queer people, or that treats queer people with the same kind of attention and humanity that we usually see applied to straight people, that people who want that kind of media are always on the lookout for more. I know I, personally, have had nights where I'm like ‘How am I out of things to watch that have anything to do with my life or the people I know?’ and hopefully we're filling that void a little bit.”
The Outs centers around Mitchell (played by Goldman), his best friend Oona (Winters) and his ex-boyfriend Jack (Hunter Canning). The show features a talented cast of actors including Tony Award winner Alan Cumming. Set and filmed in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Prospect and Crown Heights, the series embraces its locality and features a soundtrack of Brooklyn based musicians.
The truth is that there's so little media out there about queer people
Goldman and Winters created The Outs in 2012 out of a desire from something of their own. “When you're focusing on making work and struggling to balance a day job, you end up working on projects for other people, and I think we just wanted to create something that was entirely us. Whatever you say about The Outs, whether you like it or not, it's undeniably something that came straight out of our brains, onto the page and ultimately onto the screen.”
After shooting the first episode, and the uncertainty of not knowing if they would have time or money to continue making episodes, Goldman admits the reaction was beyond what he expected. Two Kickstarter campaigns exceeded their goals and allowed the show to continue and grow. “We were fortunate enough to have people watch and react emotionally to the show, so there was a desire to keep exploring these characters and these relationships and figuring out how they all fit together.”