ClexaCon 2019 Friday with ODAAT and Avalance

In this blog post, I talk about the things that I have seen and experienced on the first day of ClexaCon 2019. ClexaCon 2019 Friday included panels by and on BiPositive Podcast, Nicole Pacent, Queer Representation in Burlesque, One Day At A Time, and Avalance. I have added a video that I recommend watching if you want the full experience (don’t forget to subscribe!). I hope you enjoy it!

Queer storylines in therapy

A few months ago, I was interviewed by Mari and MD for their BiPositive Podcast. I knew that they wanted to do mental healthcare panels at ClexaCon just like they had at the London edition in November but that they were struggling to get there, like me. I was very happy to find out they made it and so I wanted to show my support by visiting their first panel.

The description of this panel was: “Media representation of the queer community has steadily been improving over the recent years – and queer clients in therapy find themselves gravitating toward their narratives in hopes of finding a good example to live by. In this panel, psychologists and media enthusiasts will explain how relating to a well-represented queer character can help develop positive outcomes in therapy, and add to the creation of a well-grounded minority identity.”

It was really interesting to hear about the methods they use in therapy to help their queer patients. Nicole Pacent was also present to talk about the creator’s side of the story.

Queer Representation in Burlesque

I knew of burlesque, but that is pretty much where it stopped. So, I thought it would be fun to stop by the burlesque panel to learn a bit more about this world so far away from me. It was cool to hear these women explain their dance history and how they ended up in burlesque. I loved that they gave a brief historical overview of burlesque as it helped me understand how it evolved into what it is today. They were performing that Friday night, but unfortunately, I had to give in to my jetlag and go to bed.

ClexaCon 2019 Friday with One Day At A Time

At 12:30, it was time for me to visit my first panel in the main panel room. One Day At A Time was coming. With the cancellation of the show on Netflix, I think it was really important to have a full panel room to show our support for the show and that the creators and actors are not alone.

Needless to say, the room was full. I loved the commitment Sheridan Pierce showed to portraying a nonbinary person as a well-rounded human being. I love the jokes that Sheridan and Isabelle made with each other.

An incredibly important moment was when they talked about “their first lady-loving scene.” It became very inspiring when Isabelle discussed how intimate the conversation before that moment felt to her. She never had that moment in her life herself and discussed the importance of consent and showing that in a TV show. I fully show that part of the panel in my video because every second of that moment counts in my opinion.

Pressroom interview with Haviland Stillwell

Right when I wanted to say hi to everyone in the pressroom, Haviland Stillwell walked in for interviews. I wanted to talk to her about Freelancers Anonymous, which I reviewed here. Last year, when she was on the LGBTQ+ actresses panel, she said something like: “Somebody pass me a gay role!” Naturally, I wanted to know how that worked out for her. You will find out soon enough.

Pressroom interview with Carmilla

After this interview, Annie Briggs, Natasha Negovanlis, and Elise Bauman walked in for their interviews. Unfortunately, my camera stopped working when this happened, so I started to get nervous. I was afraid I was going to be unable to record this interview. Luckily, after restarting it, it did work properly again. I only missed half of the first answer, so it wasn’t that bad. I asked Annie and Natasha about the progress of the second season of Clairevoyant. After all, I saw it mentioned on the IPF Funding list. Again, you will find out soon enough what the status is.

ClexaCon 2019 Friday with Avalance

I’m fairly new to Legends of Tomorrow and Avalance. I tried watching the first season, but I didn’t particularly like the show. I stopped watching it. After reading comments that the show gets better in season 3, my wife and I skipped to the third season. Indeed, the show has gotten better, and it is very clever in showing the LGBT+ spectrum in numerous ways. It wasn’t hard to fall in love with Avalance.

Last year, I saw Caity Lotz, but it was my first time seeing Jes Macallan. I have to say she was one of the two biggest surprises for me this con. I don’t know what I was expecting but what a warm, funny, and enthusiastic woman! They kept cracking jokes as if they were in character and I loved every second of it. Also, the tango performance was hilarious. Oh, and Katrina Law stopped (danced?) by to rub a ‘Nyssara 4 life’ shirt in Jes’ face. Life was fabulous.

More ClexaCon 2019 Friday coming up

Right after this panel, I had to run to the press room because Jes was coming for her interview. I will tell you all about the rest of ClexaCon 2019 Friday in my next blog post!

In the meantime, you can read these ClexaCon blog posts (with videos!):

Natasha Negovanlis, Elise Bauman, and Annie Briggs visited ClexaCon London

Natasha Negovanlis, Elise Bauman, and Annie Briggs visited the press room of ClexaCon London to discuss their Carmilla characters, queer representation, and stereotyping, among other things. I have uploaded the video of this interview during the con but I had not had the time yet to write down the interview. So, here it is. One question is mine, the others are from some of the other press members present. We discussed more, which you can find in the video below this image.

Two different characters for Annie Briggs

Annie, how was your role in Carmilla challenging as you had to play both Lola and the dean? Did you prefer one role over the other?

Annie Briggs: “I don’t know if I can answer which one I prefer. Honestly, I think the gift in that was that those two characters, the dean versus Lola, were so drastically different.

The most challenging aspect for me was in the second season when I was playing Perry who was beginning to show signs of possession. There is a sort of grey area. There is a much subtler line between the two.

But between like full-on deanie-dean and Lola, they are so different. It was such as joy to play and it was fun. The writers gave me a great gift by creating very, very different character voices. So, half my work really was done for me.”

Queer representation in media

Me: “What is the number one thing content creators and the entertainment industry should do to improve queer representation in media?”

Elise Bauman: “Listen to the queer community. Hire writers of the queer community. Not that I am saying that straight writers can’t write roles for queer people, I don’t think that’s the case.

But I think if you do that, then you have to confer with people who are from the community. I think that is a really important step. If we are going to tell different stories, then we need a diverse writing room that is going to be able to tell those stories accurately.”

Natasha Negovanlis & Annie Briggs simultaneously: “Absolutely.”

Natasha Negovanlis, Elise Bauman, and Annie Briggs face stereotypes

Do you ever come across stereotypes in your career or personal lives?

Annie Briggs: “When do we not?”

Natasha Negovanlis: “All the time. It’s constant. Even when I started doing more comedy or when I did Clairevoyant, a question we got asked a lot in interviews was ‘was it weird working outside of your comfort zone?’ Annie would just cackle: ‘Do you know Natasha? Have you met her?’ Or ‘was it weird doing comedy?’ I don’t know if it is because I have dark hair or sharp features. People assumed very much I was this Carmilla type, which… There are so many elements in my personality in her, absolutely.

I think we face it all the time. Especially with female characters, whether they are straight or queer, they are often two dimensional. Women are there to support the men. I think we have all been really lucky with Carmilla and to have characters that actually have agency and are doing things.

I think one thing as well is once you start playing queer characters, I find that at least for me personally, I almost never get auditions for straight roles anymore, which is really interesting to me. In my day-to-day life, I have a lot of straight passing privilege.”

Stereotyping

Elise Bauman: “Everything comes down to stereotyping. We do it on a day-to-day basis. Think about Tinder. Literally 0.2-second judgment. […]

Something that I’m playing with right now is that I think it’s perhaps the conflicting nature of something is what makes it interesting. Because I am petite, the fact that I box seems really weird to people. That’s what’s interesting to me. That I look a very specific way but then I have this other energy within me and that’s interesting.

I kept thinking for a long time that I had to be my face. My face is a very specific thing and so I thought I had to act the way that my face looked to people. But maybe it is interesting if I am not what my face looks like.”

Annie Briggs: “Right. Like when people find out that one of my hobbies is knitting. They’re like WTF?

[…] I think the best I can offer is on my side of things as a content creator when I am creating roles, is incorporating layered human lives and making sure that that exists across the board.

Also, on a very simplistic level, breakdowns go out to actors and they are always required to dwindle it down into 3 words of the top that is [covering] this complex human life. And that’s not helpful to us on the receiving end.”

Natasha Negovanlis, Elise Bauman, and Annie Briggs visited ClexaCon London discussed more

As said, Natasha Negovanlis, Elise Bauman, and Annie Briggs talked about a few more things. You can find those in the video. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and share the videos you like with your friends. That helps me more than you can imagine.

PS here are my interviews with Kat Barrell, Jamie Clayton, the team behind I Can’t Think Straight, Nicole Pacent, Mandahla Rose, the writer and producer of Different for Girls, and the directors of ClexaCon.

Tag: Clairevoyant