Tag: Shannon Beveridge

Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018 (+WayHaught, Gaby Christian, and Shannon Beveridge)

Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018 (+WayHaught, Gaby Christian, and Shannon Beveridge)

I meant to publish this blog post a few weeks ago but I had to change my LFF content schedule somewhat due to unforeseen reasons and publish my interviews with Kat and Dom, Melanie, Elise and Natasha, and Shannon earlier. I prefer posting things in chronological order but alas. So, a few weeks later than planned, this post will be about Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018 and other panels later that Saturday, such as WayHaught, Gaby Christian, and Shannon Beveridge. I may also have been kicked out by security somewhere. Yes. It is not always easy to blog and vlog for you, dear readers! First things first, let’s delve into the panel of Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018.

‘Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018 (+WayHaught, Gaby Christian, and Shannon Beveridge)’ This post is about the panels on Saturday by Natasha and Elise, Kat and Dom, Gaby Christian and Rhiannon Fish, and Shannon Beveridge. I may also have been kicked out by security somewhere. Yes. Blogging and vlogging is not always easy 😉 Find the blog and THREE new videos here: http://bit.ly/HollsteinLFF

Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018

The first morning of Love Fan Fest was all about Wynonna Earp for me but around noon, there was another treat: Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018. I loved how Elise and Natasha clearly showed their respect and support for one another. It seemed that despite all these interviews and conventions together, they still hear new things about each other. For instance, Elise was talking about her projects behind the camera and how she was glad that it offered her a certain degree of freedom. Natasha replied with “That’s awesome!” and indicated that the audience should applaud for her more loudly.

I was also seriously impressed with the creativity of the questions, some of which led to hilarious answers and situations. For example, one question was whether Elise and Natasha could show how Laura and Carmilla would experience this visit to Barcelona. I was laughing so hard during Elise’s answer that I only recorded Natasha’s answer. I nearly missed Elise’s response to Natasha turning into Carmilla but I managed to record some of it. These moments are the reason I fell in love with (LGBTQ) cons 😀

The panels of Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018
Exclusive interview with Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018

Autographs

After their panel, Elise and Natasha went to the big autograph room. At ClexaCon, I loved filming that. After all, how beautiful is it to watch fans finally meet their idols? I walked to the staff member at the door and explained that I was press and that I wanted to film inside. I was allowed in, recorded a small video of me explaining what was going on in that room, and then I walked to the lines of people waiting for Natasha and Elise.

When I started filming there, a staff member walked up to me and said that I could not film. I explained to her that I was press. She said “oh, sorry” and left. A minute later, security came up to me and said something in Spanish. As I did not understand, he decisively said “no press.” Yup, I got kicked out.

WayHaught panel

During Love Fan Fest, whenever Kat and Dom were on stage, there seemed to be at least some talk about a possible marriage between Waverly and Nicole. The fans obviously want to see something happen in that respect.

That did not seem to be enough. We were surprised by a beautiful proposal on stage. I do not know the names of these two lovely ladies but the look in the eyes of the one proposing was so very intense (the other one had her back turned to me so I could not see her eyes). It was as if they were completely alone, not on a stage with Kat and Dom right by their side and 400 other women in the room. Whoo!

Access

After a short break walking around and having some food, I went back to the main hall. I have been receiving a few comments under my vlogs about how optimistic I continued to be even though this whole press thing was kind of hard. However, I can tell you that this was the moment when I was in low spirits. I was asking myself whether the trip was worth it. Therefore, I gave myself an option: am I going to be sad because of the way things are (not) going or am I going to do something about it? I decided to do the latter.

You see, our press contact was not responding and I realized the country code was not saved correctly in my phone. Once I had fixed that, I contacted her again. I asked her whether we could somehow get permission to shoot some photos and videos in the autograph room. When I was waiting for Gaby Christian’s panel to start, I heard we were granted permission for ten minutes right after Gaby’s panel, when Kat and Dom would start signing. How awesome was that?! That is when things started to go better and I was able to get better footage for you!

Gaby Christian’s panel

Even more awesome was that many visitors were waiting in line for autographs. That meant we could sit on the front row of Gaby Christian’s panel rather than on the floor. It was fun hearing Gaby talk about South of Nowhere and what it was like to take on that role fourteen years ago. To refresh my memory, I had rewatched the whole show two weeks prior. Can I just say she has a very pleasant voice to listen to?

Rhiannon Fish was also on the panel but honestly, I do not know any of her work so I was focused more on Gaby. They brought a friend, Mike Manning, who was Gaby’s fake husband in SHE4ME’s video, he told us. I wish I had realized it sooner but I also saw him on The Real World: D.C., in which he was struggling with his religion and his bisexuality as he had only recently come out. Powerful stuff!

I liked the mix of the panel; it allowed for a diverse Q&A.

Autographs by Kat and Dom

Right after the panel, my press buddies and I went to the autograph room. A long line had formed as many guests were signing at the same time. I showed the staff member at the door my texts, saying we now had permission to be inside for ten minutes. After a debate with other staff members, we were allowed to enter the room to wait for our press contact.

Inside the room, security came back to me immediately as well as some other staff members. We showed my texts and everybody clearly watched us until our contact arrived. She first had to make a few extra phone calls. Then, we were granted permission to shoot videos and take photos for ten minutes. Dear readers, this footage cost me quite some sweat so please enjoy it thoroughly 😉. Also, please do not share it (edited or unedited) without a direct link to my website and social media account.

Shannon Beveridge’s panel

Because of this opportunity, I missed the first part of Shannon Beveridge’s panel. I have not actively followed her over the years but I have seen some videos of her on YouTube. So, I really wanted to hear what she had to say and what the visitors wanted to ask her. I thought it was funny that she was clearly more comfortable in her videos that on the big stage. Every now and then, a question made her shy. She was asked what she first notices in a woman, for instance. Lol, imagine having to answer that in a big room full of people :p

She has such a big platform with over 600k followers on YouTube.  I am just starting out with YouTube and I find it really interesting to see what you can achieve with it. The past three weeks, my videos have been gaining traction. As a result, I have been getting quite a few private messages about how much these videos mean to people. Can you imagine how much you can help people if you have that many followers? Also, can you imagine how much pressure that adds to your work? That (im)balance continues to fascinate me!

Interview with Shannon

After the panel, at the end of the program, I saw our press contact. I asked her if there were going to be any media opportunities or whether this was it for us today. She asked whether we wanted to talk to Shannon Beveridge. Eh, YES!

So, you can read what it was like to meet Shannon Beveridge and watch my interview below. Please do not forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and share the video if you like it! I promise you there is more to come. I do not want to give it away entirely but I may also have an interview with someone already mentioned in this blog post!

So, was Hollstein at Love Fan Fest 2018 your favorite or were you there for someone else? Let me know in the comment section!

Shannon Beveridge Talks YouTube and LGBT Representation

Shannon Beveridge Talks YouTube and LGBT Representation at Love Fan Fest 2018

At Love Fan Fest, I was allowed to talk to Shannon Beveridge for a while, who is the genius behind YouTube channel nowthisisliving. I really appreciated this moment as I have just started my own YouTube channel. Being able to talk to somebody with over 600k subscribers is a chance you hardly ever get. What can you do with such a platform? What does such a platform mean to others? Also, what does she WANT to do with it?

In this blog and vlog, you will find out more about Shannon Beveridge, whom I think is very talented, caring, and chill. She talked about characters she felt attached to as a teenager, YouTube censorship regarding LGBTQIA topics, and visiting conventions.

‘Shannon Beveridge Talks YouTube and LGBT Representation at Love Fan Fest 2018’ At Love Fan Fest, I was able to talk to Shannon Beveridge, who has over 600k subscribers on her YouTube channel nowthisisliving. What can you do with such a platform? In this blog and vlog, you will find out more about Shannon. She talked about characters she felt attached to as a teenager, YouTube censorship regarding LGBTQIA topics, and visiting conventions: http://bit.ly/ShannonBeveridge

Below, you will find a video of the entire interview. I was not the only press member present during this conversation so you will sometimes hear LGBT Fans Deserve Better. If you liked the video, would you give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and subscribe to my channel? That would help so much. Thank you!

A chill environment

The other press members and I were brought upstairs to the relaxing room of the guests. There, Shannon was chilling on a couch and jumped up the moment she was asked whether an interview would be okay: “Let’s do this!” I loved the enthusiasm! We decided to all sit at one big table so it would not be a separate interview per media outlet but a joint conversation. That felt very organic to me (but the lighting in the video is a bit off).

LGBTQ YouTuber

An interesting topic to me, which was also addressed rather quickly by LGBT Fans Deserve Better, was how YouTube’s rules regarding LGBTQIA content have affected her the past two years or so. After all, it is increasingly harder for us in the LGBT community to start or maintain a YouTube channel. The horror stories that I have heard from multiple YouTubers made me worry about starting my own channel. Would it even matter?

Background info

Maybe you need some background information to understand that question. I have a simplified version for you. If you put the words lesbian, LGBTQ or something similar in a video title, the video will often immediately be considered not advertisement-friendly. If videos are demonetized, YouTube is not making money off them either so the videos are not shown in suggested videos. That means viewers will not organically find your videos; they will actively have to search for them. If you do not put those words in your title, how is the audience that actively looks for these videos going to see your video? It is simply not a fair system.

If you want information from other LGBTQ YouTubers, these two videos are great examples: Bria and Chrissy and Michael Rizzi.

More difficult

Shannon admitted it was getting more difficult to get content to reach the people who need it the most. She gave a very elaborate explanation of how quickly videos become demonetized and what the effects are of that. First of all, creators do not get paid for their work and without resources, it is harder to make this content. Still, she feels she wants to make videos because they mean something to her viewers. However, if her video gets flagged, it takes about 24 hours to be reviewed. That is also the period you see the biggest jumps in views. As a result, it is hard to get in the suggested videos list after the review, gain a good spot in search results, etcetera.

Restricted Mode

Another issue she talked about is YouTube’s Restricted Mode. LGBT content often ends up being blocked in the restricted mode. Who uses restricted mode? Public schools, public libraries, and conservative parents do, she said. So, when you cannot watch those videos at home and you cannot go to your library or school, where can you watch this content safely? Man, I remember what it was like not knowing of any representation. I do not wish that upon anyone else!

Practical tips from Shannon Beveridge

I wanted to know whether Shannon had any practical tips for me. After all, our community will not be getting answers from YouTube itself anytime soon. For instance, would she advise me to put lesbian, LGBTQ or something similar in the video title or not? What does she normally do?

Shannon said that she usually does not put these words in the title. She wants to make her channel about more than just lesbian or LGBTQ topics even though it is a big part of her channel and many of her followers are queer.

However, if she does talk about it, she does put the word lesbian or something similar in the title. One example is ‘Lesbian interviews ex-boyfriend’. She told me to put the words in the title because I am specifically targeting that audience and they will search for it. Also, ‘Lesbian interviews ex-boyfriend’ did not get flagged. She called YouTube’s policy a crapshoot; you never know what will happen.

See, that is exactly what I needed: advice from someone with experience who has seen the changes herself.

Type of content

Shannon Beveridge was asked whether she sometimes feels pressured to make content that she did not want to create. She told us that she feels much freedom. However, she also feels that her viewers want her to release four videos a month and that she does not know how to give that to them. She sometimes asks herself what is left to give as “you already know all of my soul.”

I sensed she was at a point where she was wondering what the next step would be for her channel. Coincidentally, she posted a video about two weeks ago, which completely differs from her other videos. It is about her trip to Spain, Love Fan Fest and other parts of Europe. It looks very creative and it has a different vibe, right? I would not mind seeing more of this!

Shannon Beveridge at Love Fan Fest

I hope you liked this description of the interview at Love Fan Fest. I thought it would be more fun than simply publishing a page stating the answers and questions. Next week, I’ll go back to the chronological order of my Love Fan Fest experiences. Last week, something happened that made me move away from the content schedule I had originally planned for you. As a result, I had no more time to add a blog to the videos I posted online. Sorry about that! Anyway, here they are and I hope to see you back as subscribers on my YouTube channel if you have not subscribed already!

Love Fan Fest Photo Shoot and Opening

Love Fan Fest 2018 Part 2: Love Fan Fest Photo Shoot and Opening

This week, I will tell you all about the second part of Love Fan Fest 2018: the Love Fan Fest Photo Shoot and Opening. Saturday morning, I was going to try to get into Love Fan Fest for the second time since my press pass was not available yet on Friday. Because of that, I had missed Shannon Beveridge’s panel and I was a little nervous about whether or not I was going to receive it this morning.

‘Love Fan Fest 2018 Part 2: Love Fan Fest Photo Shoot and Opening’ In this blog, you can read all about the Love Fan Fest Photo Shoot, opening, and Wynonna Earp panels on Saturday. You will also find two videos: http://bit.ly/LFF20182Vlogs

First, here are two vlogs for you! The first one is about the Love Fan Fest photo shoot and opening:

The second one focuses on two Wynonna Earp panels on Saturday:

8 am

We as press were told to be back the hotel at 8 am to pick up our press passes. I took metro line 1 to the hotel. It took me a little longer to get to the hotel than before because the metro apparently does not run that often in the weekend. That meant I was at the hotel at around 8.15 am.

My press buddies had a look on their face and I was worried whether they were upset with me for being a bit late. I was supposed to have breakfast with them after picking up our passes so I thought that was it. Unfortunately, it was the same story as yesterday: nobody knew about the press passes and we were told to wait. That did not sound good.

Wait again

After a while, we were told to go to the merchandise stand. When we got there, they did not know where the passes were. We were told to wait again. By now, there were about five more people waiting for press passes.

At about 9 am, we were pointed at. That made us hopeful. Then, the others were given their press passes and we were not. If you wanted to see me in a nervous state, that was probably the best time. After some running around and phone calls, our contact found a list with our names and we were finally granted the holy press passes. Can you imagine how relieved I was?

Photos

That relief lasted two seconds. “In ten minutes, all the guests will come down for the Love Fan Fest photo shoot and interviews. You are supposed to go to the main hall for that right now.” Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? I started to panic. I had nothing prepared. Yes, there were a few questions in my mind but if you have to go talk to actors, who have been asked questions a million times before, and you are new to this and you are recording it and oh yeah, you might also be a fan at the same time, you feel pressure.

I grabbed a peanut bar from my bag because I needed food to think…. I went back to ClexaCon in my head and I remembered how nervous I was for my very first interview and how completely unnecessary that was. “They are human beings too, they can be nervous themselves or they can be completely relaxed, just breathe!!” I kept telling myself.

Love Fan Fest photo shoot

Let me tell you, nobody is relaxed during those photo moments. I remembered the press room at ClexaCon and I could see it happen again at the Love Fan Fest photo shoot. The guests had to walk on the stage in the main hall, where it was completely quiet, and they were asking themselves: how do I need to pose? I tried to stay calm and not let the “OMG – OMG – OMG – OMG” in my mind shine through. I hope it worked :p

To interview or not to interview

After the Love Fan Fest photo shoot, it was time for interviews. However, I was then told that we (the “special media”) were not scheduled for interviews now but that I would be texted when they had found a spot for us. I was on call. It felt good not having to do interviews right on the spot but at the same time, spontaneity is hard too.

Also, I was still in the room with my other press buddies, who were not scheduled for interviews either, when all these interviews were taking place around us. That kind of looked funny. So, I just started to record footage of the guests being interviewed.

When I came back from a restroom break, though, my press buddy was casually chatting with Melanie, Kat, and Dom, who had come to our chairs to relax and wait for their first panel. I felt weird just joining the conversation but all my stuff was right there so it was not like I could simply go anywhere else… Oh well.

I asked Melanie how crazy her schedule was and yup, it was as crazy as you can imagine. She said she had a great agent though, who looked after everything, so she would not get too uncomfortable. We all need sleep and food, after all. I met Melanie’s agent the next day: I can confirm she really looks after her 😊

Opening

Then, the guests left and all the visitors entered the main hall. It was exciting to see everybody so happy for Love Fan Fest to start. Loud music started to play and images of the guests appeared on two screens. That footage was shot at the balcony where I would have my interviews later (so keep an eye out for that 😉).

The audience went crazy with anticipation. Then, all the guests entered the room and went back to the stage. They were not told what to do at that stage, so it ended up being quite funny. Everybody but Melanie, Kat, and Dom had to leave again so that everybody’s program could start.

Purgatory panel

Love Fan Fest’s first panel was called the Purgatory panel, which meant that Melanie, Kat, and Dom were on stage together. At one point, Kat and Dom had to leave and the second panel started, which was Melanie by herself. What was cool about this event was that the panels were not moderated. They were simply Q&A panels. That meant the guests were asked the questions that visitors really want to know.

Respectful

I did think a few times that the questions asked were not that respectful though. For instance, I heard somebody say something along the lines of “I wish everything/everyone was as beautiful as Mel’s ass” before asking her question. I wondered why anyone feels the need to say stuff like that. Luckily, in the very beginning, the guests could not hear the questions because there was too much echo on stage. This was fixed later during the day.

Another example is that in response to a question, Dom explained that she does not want to sing in front of a crowd because it makes her feel very anxious and then a few minutes later, another person asked her to sing. Maybe it had something to do with the language barrier?

On Sunday, I was lucky enough to ask Kat and Dom what they thought of the questions and they were genuinely very happy with them, so I guess it was just me or they missed those things because of the echo. Anyway, I thought there were some truly interesting ones as well that made them think very hard before answering.

More photos and videos

After that, I walked around a bit to take photos and shoot videos of everybody waiting in line for their photos and meet and greets. I asked staff whether I could take pictures inside the rooms but I could not. I understood that but at least I tried for you guys 😊

Next week, I’ll talk about the following panels: WayHaught, Hollstein, Gaby Christian, and Shannon Beveridge. I also have some press footage from the autograph area, for which my press buddies and I had to work hard. Stay tuned and do not forget to follow me on YouTube!

PS Want to watch Wynonna Earp? You can get season 1 here and season 2 here.

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