EastSiders explained

EastSiders is an American dark comedy web series created by Kit Williamson. It premiered on YouTube on December 14, 2012, and began streaming through Logo TV's website on April 23, 2013. Set in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, the series follows couple Thom (Van Hansis) and Cal (Williamson) as they struggle with infidelity and substance abuse. It also explores the relationship between Kathy (Constance Wu), Cal's best friend, and her boyfriend Ian (John Halbach) as they reach their six-month anniversary, making it Kathy's longest relationship.

The first two episodes of the first season premiered on YouTube, and the subsequent seven episodes were funded by a Kickstarter campaign. On April 2, 2013, it was announced that the series was picked up for distribution through Logo TV's website, and the remainder of the season premiered on April 23, 2013. The second season premiered on September 15, 2015, through Vimeo's on demand service. The series was later sold to Netflix,^[1] and the third season premiered November 28, 2017.^[2]

Since its release, the series has received numerous accolades, including two Indie Series Awards and several Daytime Emmy Award nominations.

The fourth and final season premiered on December 1, 2019.^[3]

Series overview

In Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Cal (Kit Williamson) learns that Thom (Van Hansis), his boyfriend of four years, has been cheating on him with Jeremy (Matthew McKelligon). Though upset, Cal decides that he does not want to end the relationship. However, Cal also cheats with Jeremy. Though he intends to tell Thom about the affair, he does not. At the same time, Cal's best friend Kathy (Constance Wu) and her boyfriend Ian (John Halbach) reach their six-month anniversary, marking the relationship as Kathy's longest but Ian's shortest.

Cast

Main characters

• Van Hansis as Thom, an aspiring writer and Cal's boyfriend of four years. He cheats on Cal with Jeremy, but he comes to regret it and ends the affair in episode one.
• Kit Williamson as Cal, an aspiring photographer and Thom's boyfriend of four years. He works at an art gallery, which is usually empty. After learning about Thom's affair, he decides not to end the relationship. Though he admits he might never trust Thom again, he accepts it.
• Constance Wu as Kathy (season 1–3), Cal's best friend who lives next door to Cal and Thom. She and Cal went to college together. She has been long distrustful of Thom. Her relationships are short-lived, and her six-month relationship with Ian is the longest-lasting one she has had.
• Matthew McKelligon as Jeremy, with whom Thom and Cal cheat on each other. Though he is not sure what he wants out of his relationships with both men, Jeremy becomes upset that neither Thom nor Cal wish to continue seeing or talking to him. Eventually, he comes to regret his actions and apologizes to both of them. After Thom and Cal's relationship falls apart, he begins a relationship with Thom, only to realize that it is not what he wanted.
• John Halbach as Ian, a landscape architect and Kathy's boyfriend of six months. She describes him as a "hipster" and is the genuine nice guy of the neighborhood.
• Brianna Brown as Hillary (season 2–4), Cal's emotionally unstable sister.

Recurring cast

• Brea Grant as Bri, Jeremy's lesbian sister, who has been with her partner Vera ("V") for eight years and is raising children. Grant said of Bri, she "has a good head on her shoulders and has made good decisions (unlike some of the other characters on the show)."^[4]
• Sean Maher as Paul, owner of the art gallery and Cal's boss, who takes a sexual interest in Cal despite being married for ten years. He was formerly an artist himself, the art gallery is his former workspace, and he tells Cal to consider his hiring as "artistic patronage." Maher stated he was originally meant to appear in only one episode, but the role was later expanded after he began filming.^[5]
• Traci Lords as Valerie, Cal's divorced mother who lives in Phoenix. She spends most of her lunch date with Cal and Thom drinking and ordering gins and is said to be "raiding the mini-bar" in the apartment shortly after. She says she would be crushed if Cal and Thom ended their relationship, and even suggests they marry.
• David Blue as David.
• Stephen Guarino as Quincy, a gay party promoter who is friends with the group.
• Willam Belli as Douglas/Gomorrah Ray, an aspiring drag queen and door girl who becomes Quincy's love interest (season 2–4).
• Satya Bhabha as Jared.
• Jake Choi as Clifford (Season 4).
• Aaron Marcotte as Billy (Season 4).
• Bryan Batt as Richard, Cal's father (Season 4).

Episodes

The first two episodes were released through YouTube on December 14, 2012,^{[6] [7]} and December 21, 2012.^{[8] [9]} On April 2, 2013, Logo TV announced that it secured the rights to stream the series.^[10] The first two episodes were posted to the network's website on April 19, 2013, with the remaining episodes beginning a weekly release schedule starting April 22, 2013.^[10] Wolfe Video acquired worldwide digital and DVD rights to the feature film cut of the first season on January 15, 2014.^[11] It was released on DVD and digital download on August 12, 2014.^[12] It also became available through iTunes.^[13]

The second series premiered on September 15, 2015, with the simultaneous release of its first three episodes on Vimeo's on demand service.^[14] At the time, the series would release exclusively through Vimeo until October 3, 2015, on which release on other digital platforms and on DVD.^[15]

Season 4 (2019)

Production

After the initial two episodes aired, the remaining seven were funded through crowdfunding via Kickstarter. The campaign began on January 7, 2013 and met its goal $15,000 four days later on January 11, 2013.^{[16] [17]} The campaign closed on February 6, 2013, with $25,785 raised.^[16] The series launched a second Kickstarter campaign to fund the second season on April 14, 2014, with a goal of $125,000; the campaign closed on May 19, 2014, with $153,170 raised.^{[18] [19]}

The series is filmed on location in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.^{[20] [21]}

Reception

After the release of the first two episodes, The Daily Dot described the series as "charming, sharply written, and well-acted," specifically praising Guarino and Wu, and felt that the future of the series was "promising."^[22] Next Magazine also felt that the first two episodes were "top-notch", especially as it noted "the demographic [depicting the lives of young gay men] is still pretty unrepresented when it comes to well-produced series," and included the first season Kickstarter among those it recommended for backing.^[23] IndieWire recommended the series, because it was "giving Logo the kind of soap opera they should have on-air."^[24] NewMediaRockstars felt that the first season was met positively because fans "were eager for a quality series that portrayed realistic LGBT relationships without making sexual orientation the characters' defining feature."^[25]

Awards and nominations

The first season was nominated for a 2013 Satellite Award for Original Short-Form Program.^[26] LA Weekly awarded the series a 2013 Web Award for Best Web Series – Drama.^[27] It won the 2013 Indie Series Award for Best Ensemble and was nominated for five others.^{[28] [29]} In 2016, EastSiders received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series, and Hansis was nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series for portraying Thom.^{[30] [31]} The series also received ten Indie Series Award nominations in 2016, including Best Web Series – Drama,^[32] and won for Best Ensemble – Drama.

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2014	5th Indie Series Awards	Best Directing – Drama	Kit Williamson		[33] [34]
		Best Lead Actor – Drama	Van Hansis as Thom
		Best Supporting Actor – Drama	Matthew McKelligon as Jeremy
		Best Supporting Actress – Drama	Constance Wu as Kathy
		Best Ensemble – Drama			[35]
		Best Guest Star – Drama	Traci Lords as Val
2016	43rd Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series	Kit Williamson, John Halbach, Chrissy Dodson, Laura Roeder, <	-- Producers -->Inuka Bacote, Neal Baer, Kalvin Brewer-Yu, Jim Klever-Weis, Jake Weinraub, Beth Wheatley
		Outstanding Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series	Van Hansis as Thom
	7th Indie Series Awards	Best Web Series — Drama
		Best Writing — Drama	Kit Williamson
		Best Lead Actor — Drama	Van Hansis as Thom
		Best Lead Actor — Drama	Kit Williamson as Cal
		Best Lead Actress — Drama	Brianna Brown as Hillary
		Best Supporting Actor — Drama	Stephen Guarino as Quincy
		Best Guest Actor — Drama	Willam Belli as Douglas/Gomorrah Ray
		Best Guest Actress — Drama	Constance Wu as Kathy
		Best Ensemble — Drama			[36]
		Best Editing	Larissa Brantner James and Kris Fitzgerald
2018	45th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series	Kit Williamson, John Halbach, Larissa James, Jen Sarabok, Michael Saripkin, Van Hansis, Aydrian J. Howard, Susen McBeth, Jeff Sarabock, <	-- Producers -->Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Brea Grant		[37]
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series	Van Hansis as Thom
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series	Stephen Guarino as Quincy
			John Halbach as Ian
		Outstanding Writing in a Digital Drama Series	Kit Williamson
		Outstanding Directing in a Digital Drama Series	Kit Williamson
2020	47th Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series	Kit Williamson, Larissa James, Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Austin Robert Bales, Thomas Lee Bottom, Aydrian J. Howard, Jeff Sarabock, Jen Sarabok, Rhet Topham, <	-- Producers --> Delton Valentine		[38] [39]
Outstanding Supporting Actor for a Digital Daytime Drama Series	Willam Belli as Douglas/Gomorrah Ray
	Leith M. Burke as Derrick
Outstanding Guest Performer for a Digital Daytime Drama Series	Lin Shaye as Diane
Outstanding Writing for a Digital Drama Series	Kit Williamson
Outstanding Casting for a Drama or Digital Drama Series	Paul Ruddy		[40]
Outstanding Costume Design for a Drama or Digital Drama Series	Trevor Dow
Outstanding Makeup	Mary Chip, Robert Hensley, Willam Belli

External links

• EastSiders on Logo TV
• EastSiders on Facebook
• EastSiders on Tumblr
• EastSiders on Twitter

Notes and References

1. News: Williamson. Kit. 'How I Sold My Web Series to Netflix': The Director of 'EastSiders' Explains His Secret. IndieWire. 2016-07-01. 2018-04-24. en-US.
2. News: EXCLUSIVE: 'EastSiders' Season 3 Premiere Date Revealed -- Plus, See the First Photos!. Entertainment Tonight. 2018-04-24. en.
3. Web site: Petski. Denise. 'Eastsiders' Returns To Netflix For Fourth & Final Season; Premiere Date Set. Deadline Hollywood. November 5, 2019.
4. Web site: Piccoli. Dana. Brea Grant likes it dark. AfterEllen. May 2, 2013. May 1, 2015.
5. Web site: Halterman. Jim. Sean Maher on "EastSiders". Plus "Much Ado" About His Partner. TheBacklot.com. April 30, 2013. May 1, 2015.
6. Web site: Avery. Dan. WATCH: "As The World Turns" Star Van Hansis Plays Gay Again In "Eastsiders". Queerty. December 11, 2012. May 10, 2015.
7. Web site: EastSiders the Series - Episode 1. YouTube. December 14, 2012. May 10, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20121216172819/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_P0XJXKXjc. December 16, 2012.
8. Web site: Watch! "Eastsiders" Episode Two. TheBacklot.com. December 21, 2012. May 10, 2015.
9. Web site: EastSiders the Series - Episode 2. YouTube. December 21, 2012. May 10, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20121221135425/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivO9rt237Zs. December 21, 2012.
10. Web site: Logo Acquires Hot Kickstarter-Funded Web Series "Eastsiders". Viacom. April 16, 2015. May 10, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091809/http://thepub.viacom.com/sites/logopress/Pages/LOGO-ACQUIRES.aspx. May 18, 2015. dead.
11. Web site: Kay. Jeremy. Wolfe Releasing picks up EastSiders. ScreenDaily.com. January 15, 2014. May 10, 2014.
12. Web site: Halterman. Jim. John Halbach On "EastSiders", More "Wallflowers" and 'Gay Making It.'. TheBacklot.com. August 12, 2014. May 10, 2015.
13. Web site: EastSiders. iTunes. 12 August 2014 . Apple. May 10, 2015.
14. Web site: "EastSiders" Returns For Season Two: REVIEW. NextNowNext. LogoTV. September 15, 2015. September 19, 2015.
15. Web site: Armstrong, Olivia. Afternoon Delight: Kit Williamson Talks 'EastSiders', Kickstarter, And The Importance Of Creating Your Own Work. Decider.com. September 17, 2015. September 19, 2015.
16. Web site: EastSiders The Series. Kickstarter. May 10, 2015.
17. Web site: Steinbach. Jessie. Fund This: EastSiders Launches Kickstarter Campaign For Second Season. Out Magazine. April 16, 2014. May 10, 2015.
18. Web site: EastSiders: Season 2. Kickstarter. May 10, 2015.
19. Web site: EastSiders: Season 2 - Description. Kickstarter. May 10, 2015.
20. Web site: Lewis. Amanda.
    1. LAWebAwards: EastSiders Wins Best Web Series Drama in L.A.
    . LA Weekly. August 28, 2013. May 10, 2015.
21. Web site: Glick Kidler. Adrian. Staples Plays Favorites With Clippers, New Silver Lake Show. Curbed. December 4, 2012. May 10, 2015.
22. Web site: Valinsky. Jordan. "Eastsiders": Gay dark comedy finds audience on YouTube. The Daily Dot. January 14, 2013. May 10, 2015.
23. Web site: Crowd Sourced: A full season of EastSiders // Reflecting on the legacy of James Booker. Next Magazine. January 9, 2013. May 10, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150207034251/http://www.nextmagazine.com/content/crowd-sourced-full-season-eastsiders-reflecting-legacy-james-booker. February 7, 2015. dead.
24. Web site: Critic's Picks: 2013's Six Drama Web Series You Must See, Including the Year's Best. IndieWire. December 20, 2013. May 10, 2015.
25. Web site: Linnell. Christine. EastSiders Season 2 Preview: Surprising Twists Ahead For Acclaimed LGBT Web Series. NewMediaRockstars. April 3, 2015. May 10, 2015.
26. Web site: Satellite Awards - 2013. International Press Academy. May 1, 2015.
27. Web site:
    1. LAWebAwards: The 2013 Winners List
    . LA Weekly. August 28, 2013. May 10, 2015.
28. Web site: 5th Annual Indie Series Awards Winners. Indie Series Awards. 2014. May 10, 2015.
29. Web site: 5th Annual Indie Series Awards Nominees. Indie Series Awards. May 10, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150811084639/http://www.indieseriesawards.com/2014/02/5th-annual-indie-series-awards-nominees.html. August 11, 2015.
30. Web site: The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces the 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy® Award Nominations. National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. March 24, 2016. March 24, 2016. December 11, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201211193508/http://emmyonline.com/day_43rd_nominations. dead.
31. Web site: Young & Restless Leads Daytime Emmy Noms But Ceremony Won't Be on TV. Variety. March 24, 2016. March 24, 2016.
32. Web site: Nominations Announced For 7th Annual ISAs. Indie Series Awards. February 3, 2016. March 22, 2016.
33. Web site: 5th Annual Indie Series Awards Nominees. Indie Series Awards. February 7, 2014. November 12, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150811084639/http://www.indieseriesawards.com/2014/02/5th-annual-indie-series-awards-nominees.html. August 11, 2015.
34. Web site: Giddens. Jamey. Colleen Zenk, Van Hansis, Alicia Minshew and More Snag Indie Series Award Nominations. Daytime Confidential. February 7, 2014. November 12, 2015.
35. Web site: Indie Series Awards History and Archive of Past Winners. Indie Series Awards. September 27, 2015.
36. Web site: Newcomb. Roger. WINNERS: 7th Annual Indie Series Awards. We Love Soaps. April 7, 2016. April 8, 2016.
37. Web site: The National Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences Announces Nominations For The 45th Annual Daytime Emmy® Awards. Emmy Online. March 21, 2018. March 23, 2018. March 30, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180330113125/http://emmyonline.com/day_45th_nominations. dead.
38. Web site: NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR THE 47TH ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY® AWARDS. National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. May 21, 2020. May 23, 2020. https://archive.today/20200628233256/https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020.05.21-DTE-Release.v02.pdf . June 28, 2020.
39. https://theemmys.tv/daytime-47th-digital-drama-winners/ DIGITAL DRAMA WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT DAYTIME EMMY® AWARDS CEREMONY - The Emmys
40. . THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE WINNERS OF THE 47th ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY® AWARDS . New York City, New York . National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences . June 26, 2020 . June 28, 2020. https://archive.today/20200628233349/https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/daytime-47th-winners-telecast-2020-06-27-1600.pdf . June 28, 2020.