The first two episodes of ‘EastSiders’ were released on YouTube in December 2012. A web series with few resources ready to tell an LGBT story that would never have had a place on an open television. The two episodes were viral, which allowed them to get the money for a full first season through crowdfunding. From there everything has gone up, with three seasons already recorded, a fourth (final season) about to see the light, and already part of the Netflix international catalog. A more than deserved success for a series with magnificent scripts, an author photograph and a great ability to get into the psychology of his characters.
‘EastSiders’ tells the love story of Cal and Thom, two complex and imperfect men looking for their own way in a chaotic world full of pre-established rules. Because in love, as in the rest of life, not everything has to be white or black. There should be nothing preconceived as “normal.” Life is what we want it to be, what works for each of us. Cal and Thom’s relationship follows its own rules and reinvents itself at every step. They are not perfect or want to be, all they want is to be happy, nothing more.
If there is something that characterizes ‘EastSiders’, it’s not the typical gay story. He does not wander about stereotypes, but rather engages in a relationship with problems that do not understand sexual orientation. A series with homosexual and heterosexual characters with which he addresses the same problems. The plots flee from the extravagant, from the stereotypes, from the clichés, from the eccentric. They are everyday stories with captivating narrative strength and coherence, full of background reflections that do not impose, that only invite you to open your mind and have each create your life as you please.
I am amazed at the evolution of ‘EastSiders’. The first season is a web series format, it shows that resources are limited, but it has a script and a surprising narrative and visual invoice. The second season has more budget, reinvents itself, expands the theme even more, without losing any strength in its scripts. And the third is the maximum reflection that Kit Williamson (creator of the series) is capable of anything. An author, intimate, thoughtful and agile delivery that squeezes its characters to the fullest by reinventing the way of narrating.
‘EastSiders’ is a series that has found itself, taking full care of the development of its characters and trying to open its reflections as much as they could. A fiction that has managed to combine drama and comedy addressing all kinds of topics. Worth. It is not another LGTB-themed series. The fourth season, still to be released, will be the final closing of the series. In this post the creator tells how the creative process was and how the series has come so far.
