Stars of Acclaimed LGBTQI Web Series GIRLS LIKE MAGIC Host “Live-A-Thon” To Raise Funds For Show’s Second Season
The 12 hour entertainment event streams on YouTube this Monday, May 13th, from 3 PM to 3 AM (Pacific Time).
While the LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer and intersex) community has been portrayed in honest yet captivating ways through indie web series, out filmmakers who use YouTube to distribute those shows have suffered an unexpected setback in their hopes to accomplish their long-term goal of giving audiences quality content that reflects the community’s livelihoods and challenges.
That setback came last year when YouTube de-monetized videos that the platform’s management viewed as “inflammatory”. While violent, hateful and obscene content rightfully fell under that description, non-objective videos such as LGBTQI web series were also affected, leaving creators without any means of profiting from their work being shown on YouTube.
One of those series is the critically acclaimed comedy Girls Like Magic, which co-stars Julia Eringer (as Maggie, a.k.a. “Magic”) and Shantell Yasmine Abeydeera as Jamie, a duo whose romantic troubles become the unifying spark for what turns into a blossoming friendship; one that develops into a more intimate bond of its own.
The full first season of Girls Like Magic is available on YouTube (via the One More Lesbian channel), and in movie format on iTunes, Amazon Video, and Vudu. Eringer, who also created and wrote Girls Like Magic, is one of a substantial number of filmmakers who’ve been forced to find an alternative to YouTube monetization as she’s turned to crowdfunding (via Seed & Spark, linked to below) for the comedy’s second season.
As that campaign still seeks to raise $100,000 to make more episodes of Girls Like Magic, Eringer and Abeydeera will take their biggest step towards achieving that target when they co-host a special 12 hour “Live-A-Thon” for the series on Monday, May 13th from 3 PM to 3 AM Pacific (6 PM to 6 AM Eastern) on — of all places — YouTube. (See link below).
Directed by Heather Wagner, the event will feature appearances from a host of LGBTQI performing talent, while viewers can be part of the show by interacting with Eringer, Abeydeera and their guests on Girls Like Magic’s social media pages (links to both also below), and on YouTube’s chat window.
Among the guests scheduled to appear during the live broadcast are actors Rachel Paulson (host, Drink Responsibly/co-star w/Eringer of the feature film Good Kisser), Briana Venskus (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Supergirl, The Walking Dead), Amber Whittington (Lipstick: The Series, Amber’s Closet), Mandahla Rose (All About E, Crazy Bitches, Forever Not Maybe), Karman Kregloe and Bridget McManus (Happy Wife, Happy Life), actor/comedians D’Lo (Girls Like Magic, Sense8, Mr. Robot, Transparent), Jen Klein and Kristen Smith, singers Vanessa Bryan, Jen Murzda and Temme Scott, plus Beth Ryne (documentary filmmaker, Feeling Seen) and director Jane Clark (Crazy Bitches).
Donations to the show’s Seed and Spark campaign will be taken from viewers during the live streaming telethon, which, as Eringer describes it, will both get Girls Like Magic’s second season realized while bringing greater awareness to the importance of monetizing — and sharing — positive stories of the LGBTQI experience on YouTube and other channels.
What’s the primary mission of the “Live-A-Thon” for Girls Like Magic, and in what ways can fans of the show get involved in it?
Julia Eringer (creator/co-star, “Magic”, Girls Like Magic): To SAVE Girls Like Magic! Hahaha! I’m kidding…kind of. I think in saving the show, fans can show YouTube and other platforms that LGBTQ content is important, worthy and necessary in our cultural landscape. How can they save the show? By donating to and sharing the campaign! If everyone chips in and contributes $10, $20 or even $50, the show will be funded in no time!
We know that people like the show and relate to the characters; the 25 million views and thousands of positive comments attest to that. We even had one fan donate $1,000 in the first 5 minutes of the campaign — that blew us away! We need more fans to show up for LGBTQ content and donate to show the world that this content is worthy, necessary and has an audience!
Our real mission, underlying this, is to make people aware of the de-monetization of queer content on YouTube. It’s not something that many people know about — many of our friends, family and viewers had no idea it was happening and have become outraged upon finding out about it.
We ourselves didn’t realize the full extent and ramifications it had on LGBTQ content creators until it happened to us. Ultimately this de-monetization is discrimination and censorship and we think that if more people knew about it, it might change something. Our hope is that by making people more aware of this issue, they’ll be as outraged as we are, and maybe YouTube will change their policies.
In what ways will this event serve as an extension of Girls Like Magic’s Seed & Spark crowdfunding campaign for season 2?
Eringer: As well as guests and artists from the greater community, we will be introducing some of our new cast for season 2, as well as bringing in musicians from season 1 to get people excited about what’s to come. Our hope is that the Live-A-Thon will inspire and entertain viewers so much that they won’t be able to control themselves — they’ll reach for their credit cards as soon as they hear the sweet sounds of Jen Murzda or see Amber Whittington’s gorgeous face!
Describe how YouTube’s recent decision to de-monetize LGBTQI content motivated you to put this event together.
Eringer: I think that the decision by YouTube was based on something sensible — to prevent inflammatory content creators from benefiting and making money from the platform. I think it might have been appropriate in relation to terrorist groups promoting themselves and profiting from streaming their videos on YouTube — that’s what it was originally intended to prevent. But a lot of other folks have been caught up in the issue and are being penalized when their content is no more “inflammatory” or “offensive” than other heterosexual content.
When something is being de-monetized purely because it is LGBTQ, that’s discrimination and it’s not fair. It’s also a form of censorship because how are these shows/content creators supposed to survive without the revenue that other creators are getting? It was the combination of our outrage and the fact that we are being directly affected (by YouTube’s policy) that motivated us to put together this event.
How will the Live-A-Thon help to boost not only audience awareness of Girls Like Magic but also the awareness of the need for platforms like YouTube and others to help LGBTQI filmmakers/actors profit through having their content hosted on such platforms?
Eringer: I think when a community has been marginalized the way that the LGBTQ community has there are many negative effects. Firstly, It is detrimental for individuals to not see themselves represented in our stories — in film, TV, media and art. It makes people feel like there is something wrong with them or that they don’t belong, when that just isn’t true. Unfortunately there’s a hetero-normative whitewashing in the media that has gone on for far too long.
Secondly, I believe that stories are crucial for the growth of our culture, and if a group of people remains hidden from our stories due to censorship, it is detrimental to our society. We need stories to be able to look outside our own bubbles, to understand people who are different from ourselves, and to care about each other. It’s one of the only ways to bridge the gaps between people and in the current socio-political climate, it is crucial.
Representation and visibility are so important, and discrimination and censorship of this kind is incredibly negative and detrimental to our progress as an inclusive culture. We hope that the event and discussions around the issue will boost people’s awareness of this and the need for platforms like YouTube and others to help and encourage, not hinder and limit, LGBTQ and minority creators.
What steps are you and Shantell taking to accomplish those aforementioned objectives?
Eringer: We are reaching out to press outlets and journalists in the hopes that you will spread the word far and wide so that not only our viewers but also the general population can understand what is going on with de-monetization and that this is discrimination.
Similarly by involving more artists and members of the community, we hope to grow awareness by reaching their fans and social circles. When people realize what is happening and they become as outraged as we are, perhaps there will be enough pressure on YouTube for it to revise its policies so that LGBTQI filmmakers can thrive once again on the platform.
What are your overall hopes for the event’s success in terms of entertaining viewers, making Girls Like Magic a profitable venture, and in helping to get the show monetized once again?
Eringer: We hope that we will entertain viewers as well as informing them about de-monetization, discrimination and censorship and highlighting the importance of representation on screen so that they are inspired to become active participants in our campaign so that Girls Like Magic gets the second season it deserves!
Watch, interact with and contribute to Girls Like Magic’s Live-A-Thon Monday, May 13th on YouTube at:
www.youtube.com/user/onemorelesbian
Help fund season 2 of Girls Like Magic on Seed & Spark:
www.seedandspark.com/fund.girls-like-magic
Reach out to the show on Twitter and Instagram at: @girlslikemagic
