Hero: Out Writer Bryan Fuller

January 13, 2007

What a thrill to speak with the creator of "Wonderfalls" and "Dead Like Me", and now a writer on "Heroes", the super-fantastic fantasy epic that rules the new TV season. And best of all, he's openly gay. Always has been. We talk to Bryan Fuller about genres, fantasy, gays on television, and the why science fiction is important for today's (gay) audiences.

OUTzoneTV.com: Let's start off with everyone's favorite show right now. What's your involvement with “Heroes?”
Tim Kring created it. And he’s a peach of a guy. The whole experience has been really fantastic. My agents called and said “you have to read this.” And they never do that. They’ve tried in the past, and there’s stuff that I kinda go, “I don’t get it. I don’t know if I can get excited about writing that.” I’m sort of a workaholic and if something doesn’t inspire me then I cannot, at all, dream of working on it. And I read the script, and it as one of those things that in my gut I thought, “this is going to be HUGE.” The diversity of characters, the metaphor of feeling that you need to be giving something back. There are issues of destiny and fate. And all those things I really like to write about. I knew it would be a really great ride. And I knew it would be a big hit. So I joined a fantastic staff that Tim pulled together. And it’s been the best writing experience I have ever had on a show.

Everyone on staff has such great strengths. People who know this genre inside and out. Everbody on the show is both a great…plottist? Is that a word? But they’re also great character writers. So I really think it’s a great collision of magical events that all of these people came together. And I think it’s to Tim’s credit that he’s really come to it and allowed everyone to give to it as much as they can. So it’s very Utopian. When you think about a writing staff- this is what it should be.

HEROES

What were the shows that you watched as a kid? And what shows do you think influenced you the most?
The “Twilight Zone” has to be the biggest. It was the first time that I was watching television that wasn’t confined by the boundaries of reality. In my house, growing up it was often westerns and very grounded kind of stuff on TV. So when I first discovered the “Twilight Zone,” it was an epiphany. You don’t have to talk about things that don’t necessarily happen? And of course, I was a huge fan of “The Munsters.”

Which Munster did you want to be?
I think I was Eddie. You know, sleeping in the drawer. A little inconspicuous. And you know, he had a pet dragon, that’s not a bad thing to have around for emergencies.

You created Showtime’s "Dead Like Me".’ A show that was very much science fiction, that spoke to very relevant issues. Can you talk about that?

DEAD LIKE ME

I think that’s what shows like “The Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek” do very well. They look at our reality through a fantastic context. And you get to see different parts of your reality that you wouldn’t see every day. It sort of sneaks up on you. I think that’s what “Battlestar Galactica” is doing so well right now. Just politically, in terms of the war in Iraq. It’s a show that’s indicative of this era. They’re using the annihilation of the human race to tell this story that taps into a lot of the issues that we’re experiencing right now. That would be very unpleasant to sit down and watch every week, because they’re too real. But when you put it on the level of space opera, it becomes a little more palatable, and a little more poignant.

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OUTzone's Sexiest Gay of the Year!

January 09, 2007

We sat down with OUTzonetv.com's winner of our Sexiest Gay of the Year poll -- Kevin Vanwanseele and asked him what it was like to be called sexy by a bunch of strangers. He turns out to be a fascinating guy with lots to talk about.

OZ: How does it feel be OUTzonetv.com’s sexiest gay of the year?
I’m totally excited.

OZ: Who was the first person you called?
My boyfriend. And then my dad. And I was like, “Hey dad, I have some news. I sent my picture to this website a few months ago, and they voted me sexiest of the year.” And his response was, “Cool, man. Did you have to be nude for one of those?” And I said, “no, Dad.” He was proud.

Obviously some sort of "sport" that Kevin plays. We're not sure which one, but we like it!

OZ: How did your boyfriend react?
His co-worker heard the news actually, and wrote a blog entry about it at “Broadcasting and Cable” She was like, “oh my god, can I blog about it?” And yeah, everyone’s excited.

OZ: We found out you co-founded a non-profit…
I’m the Treasurer, Vice President and Co-founder of the Northeast Two-Spirit Society, which is a group of gay and lesbian Native Americans here in New York City.

OZ: Wow. Now, we know a lot of people are confused by what “two-spirit” means. Can you tell us about it?

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Q & A with Rob Williams

January 08, 2007

OZ: Hi Rob. How are you?
I’m good. Everything seems to be going well.

OZ: So, overall, how did being on “Manhunt” go for you?
Great. Right afterwards, I was signed with IMG in New York. They signed John and me. I moved to New York for nine months of the year, I was in LA for the remainder. And that’s what I did for my fulltime job for about two years. I’m still represented by IMG, but I’m no longer doing it full time.

OZ: What are you up to now?
I run the men’s division for a fashion company.

OZ: Were you always interested in fashion?
Yeah. I went to law school, but I knew that I didn’t want to do that. A friend of mine started his own company, and I went to work for him. And then I kind of moved that into a new profession.

OZ: So, you were the last gay standing, and you made it to second place. What was that like?

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