Girls Like Magic Interview at ClexaCon 2019

One of the most precious moments of ClexaCon 2019 is the interview I had with Julia Eringer and Shantell Yasmine Abeydeera, who play Magic and Jamie in a web series called Girls Like Magic. I loved watching this web series on the One More Lesbian YouTube channel and was sad to see the season end a few weeks ago.

This interview was not planned at all. I had interviewed Julia for her part in the upcoming film Good Kisser and mentioned to her that I really liked Girls Like Magic. I asked her if we can expect another season and she told me Shantell was driving to Las Vegas in a spontaneous act. They wanted to talk about the fact that they would soon be releasing a crowdfunding campaign for season 2. That is how we ended up in this interview.

Below are parts of our interview. If you want the full interview, I recommend the video that I added below this image.

Girls Like Magic as a movie

Me: “Was Girls Like Magic a movie before it was a web series?”

Julia: “That’s actually a bit of a misconception. It was originally designed as a web series. It was written that way, and it was shot that way. Once we had a distributor that wanted to take the project on, they wanted to release it as a movie. So they cut it as a film. But, primarily, it is a series.”

Shantell: “And the thing was that when we had the opportunity for it to go out as a film, well, why not? The more queer content out there, the better. We didn’t have a platform for it as a web series at that time. But then, One More Lesbian approached Julia to put it on their channel and the rest is…”

Julia: “History.”

Shantell: “Herstory.”

Girls Like Magic: teasing or waiting for the right time?

Me: “Girls Like Magic is really good at teasing. I see it in the comments too. When will something happen? Just admit there’s something there. Is that something you get from viewers as well?”

Julia: “Teasing? That’s interesting…”

Shantell: “Yes, I see it in the YouTube comment section too. When are they going to get together? It wasn’t an overly sexual show, I suppose. That really wasn’t what it was about. It was about friendship and then a love story. Well, it’s a love story, but you know. Nothing could have happened any quicker than what it did because that’s how long it took her to love me.”

Julia: “Oh! No, that’s not true at all. I disagree with that. I think Magic loved Jamie immediately. It took her some time to get away from her preconceptions and essentially the brainwashing that happens through the heteronormative society that we’re just completely bombarded with. If you’re not exposed to other ways of life, how do you know how you would respond to that?”

Fluidity

Shantell: “Also, one thing we really addressed in the first season, and I’m really hoping to move away from in the second season, is Jamie is really stuck on the fact that Magic is straight. She’s kind of stuck in that narrative and that world where there’s gay and there’s straight. That’s not true. There’s bisexual and pansexual. There’s a lot of fluidity that was kind of ignored. That was a huge thing for Jamie. Jamie was like: “Well, she’s straight, and I can’t love her.” She ignored a lot of the signs. Because Magic was kind of there and Jamie was just like: “No…”

Julia: “Well, Magic first had to get rid of her boyfriend. That took a moment.”

Shantell: “Oh, that guy.”

Bisexual representation

Me: “A lot of people here at ClexaCon believe bisexual representation is underrepresented. I think they would be glad to hear that. Do you think you can take that on in season 2?”

Shantell: “It’s actually something I’m really passionate about. I think bisexuality should be… Well, it’s in the title: LGBTQ. As a community, we should definitely embrace the bisexual community more. I think bisexual representation in the media is going to be so important for bridging the gap between the heterosexual community and the LGBTQ community. If anything, we should be celebrating bisexuality. It’s so wonderful.”

Julia: “It is wonderful.”

More Girls Like Magic

Honestly, the interview went on for five more minutes, and something really beautiful happened. Writing it down would not do justice to the story. I recommend watching the video for that.

Also, as of April 23, the team is holding a crowdfunding campaign for Girls Like Magic season two. I am so ready for that season, so I have supported the campaign financially. Can you do the same? Also, sharing the crowdfunding campaign (and this blog post) helps tremendously.

This is the first blog post I have for you from ClexaCon. I am working very hard on the rest. I still have an exclusive interview with upcoming movie Good Kisser for you, which will come out next week. In addition, I interviewed Lily and Caitlyn, who are responsible for Twenty the Web Series. I am a big fan of that show too, so I was really happy I bumped into them and that they agreed to talk to me. Of course, press room interviews are coming up and the now traditional vlog/blog posts combinations. In the meantime, you can read some ClexaCon London blog posts if you haven’t already.

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