Popular gay Kiwi podcast awarded web series funding

Press release: Little Empire Podcasts

For immediate release

Popular gay Kiwi podcast awarded web series funding

• The Male Gayz premieres on TVNZ OnDemand in the first half of 2018 as part of their New Blood content initiative.

Wednesday 13 December 2017: Little Empire Podcasts is delighted to have received NZ On Air funding to bring beloved podcast series The Male Gayz to screen.

In the six-episode chat show series, gay New Zealand comedians Chris Parker and Eli Matthewson will be joined by an array of LBGTQI+ guests as they discuss local and global queer issues.

The show will share the same off-the-cuff, hilarious and personal tales from Parker and Matthewson’s lives the podcast is known for, combined with facts, sketches and games to showcase talented and often underrepresented queer voices in Aotearoa. The production will featuring kiwi LBGTQI+ talent in front of and behind the camera.

The Male Gayz podcast has garnered a significant following, with over 65,000 downloads since its inception in late 2016. Previous episodes of the podcast have covered a diverse range of queer topics, from gay icons and coming out stories to the importance of pronouns and the language of self-identification.

Actor, comedian and show co-host Parker said “We are chuffed to be given the space and support to make our work more visual and share our gay jokes with a bigger, broader NZ.”

Stand-up comedian, TV writer and co-host Matthewson on hearing the funding announcement said “After spending a year doing my hair and getting my outfits right, I was devastated to find out our podcast was only audio. All that changes now. Super excited to bring Chris and my big gay chats about the big gay issues to the big gay web.”

Amie Mills, Digital Commissioner at TVNZ said The Male Gayz webseries is a fantastic example of distinctive content that will reach viewers with less traditional media habits. “New Blood content should be noisy, different, provocative, and champion diversity (sexuality, beliefs, gender, ethnicity, values) as well as authenticity of voice. We believe that The Male Gayz does exactly this and we’re excited to see it evolve from audio to video.”

Tim Batt is the The Male Gayz podcast producer and creator of Little Empire Podcasts. Batt said “I’m delighted that NZ On Air has allowed us to bring this show to Kiwi screens. Chris and Eli are comedy geniuses and I can’t wait for more people to get to see them.”

The Male Gayz web series will air on TVNZ OnDemand in the first half of 2018.

Little Empire Podcasts was launched in 2016 to showcase kiwi comedy to the world and hosts several hit New Zealand-based comedy podcasts including the international smash hit The Worst Idea of All Time, hosted by Guy Montgomery and Tim Batt (with over 8 million downloads); Boners of The Heart, hosted by Rose Matafeo and Alice Snedden; and Walk Out Boys, hosted by Joseph Moore and Nic Sampson.

Podcast link: https://itunes.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-male-gayz-podcast/id1163090627?mt=2
Social links: https://twitter.com/themalegayz, https://www.facebook.com/themalegayz, https://www.instagram.com/LittleEmpirePodcasts/
Website: www.littleempirepodcasts.com
Contact: littleempirepodcasts@gmail.com

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