Florida “Family-Friendly” Film Tax Credit Would Exclude Movies with Gay Families

Watching the Oscars tonight? Here’s some filmmaking news that will have you seething:

Florida lawmakers are considering an incentive package to attract film and entertainment jobs to the state.  Productions with “nontraditional family values,” however, would be ineligible.  State Rep. Stephen Precourt (R-Orlando), who introduced the bill, said that films depicting gay families should not get the tax credit, reports the Palm Beach Post.

Gov. Charlie Crist agreed, defining “traditional” families as those with a married man and woman. (Someone should tell him that according to the 2000 U.S. Census, less than 25% of all families in the U.S. consist of a married, opposite-sex couple living with their own (biological or adopted) children.)

The bill (HB 697) was approved unanimously last week in the House Economic Development Policy Committee, and is apparently a priority for Republicans as part of their promise to create jobs.

Not everyone who wants to limit the tax credit to “family-friendly” films agrees with Precourt about the definition of family values. Some say that limiting the tax credit to “G-rated” films is enough. It is also unclear whether the language about “nontraditional family values” would make it through the state Senate version of the bill. Still, this type of thing sets my teeth on edge.

After the jump, the relevant section of the legislation. “Nontraditional family values” are lumped in with smoking, sex, nudity, gratuitous violence, and vulgar or profane language. There go my hopes of selling a screenplay that’s a sort of Heather Has Two Mommies meets Pulp Fiction. Read the rest of this post »

Music for All Families: “And Mom and Kid”

As regular readers will know, I’m a big fan of They Might Be Giants and their great new kids’ album Here Comes Science. They also did a fun song called “And Mom and Kid” for Rosie O’Donnell’s recent HBO special A Family Is a Family Is a Family. (While I had some criticisms of the film, and Shannon raised some very good others, the music is still pretty fun.)

I am a member of the Amazon Associates program, and get a small referral fee from all purchases made at Amazon.com via links on this site. You are under no obligation to purchase through them.

They Might Be Allies

I was thrilled to hear indie band They Might Be Giants performing the theme song for Rosie O’Donnell’s recent HBO special, A Family Is a Family Is a Family.

Unfortunately, the song, “And Mom and Kid,” isn’t yet available online. I give you instead “Roy G. Biv,” from their generally awesome album Here Comes Science. At least it has a rainbow theme. (It’s from their weekly podcast, so there’s a short spoken intro.)

This also serves in lieu of our vlog for the week, which won’t be happening because of unforeseen circumstances. Stay tuned for one next Thursday. (And please leave a comment if there’s a topic you’d like to hear us address!)

I am a member of the Amazon Associates program, and get a small referral fee from all purchases made at Amazon.com via links on this site. You are under no obligation to purchase through them.

ABC Set to Pilot New Show with Gay Dad

ABC is set to revive a pilot about two exes, one a gay dad, raising their teen son along with their new significant others, says the Hollywood Reporter. It’s unclear from the coverage, but it seems as if the exes were an opposite-sex couple.

Entertainment Weekly writer Jennifer Armstrong says, “I salute ABC for not ruling out gay parents now that it has one set on the schedule with Modern Family.”

Hear, hear. Kudos also to them for showing an older child, not the media-typical infant, and for acknowledging that not all lesbian and gay families start as lesbian and gay families. The interconnections of families are varied and complex.

Lots of promise in this one. Let’s hope they deliver.

Preview Review: A Family Is a Family Is a Family

Rosie O’Donnell’s new documentary A Family Is a Family Is a Family, premieres this Sunday, January 31, at 7 p.m. ET on HBO. I’ve seen a screener, and here are my thoughts.

Overall, this is a great film, aimed at the elementary school ages, that focuses on children of various backgrounds speaking about their families. There are children with same-sex parents, opposite-sex parents, single parents, parents of different races, adoptive parents, children living with grandparents, and more. It is a wide-ranging sampling of the great diversity of family life in our country. If there is one gap, it is that there are no children with transgender parents—or at least none that speak about having them. Read the rest of this post »

Star On the BBC

Passing along this request. I don’t know anything more about the show, so if you’re interested, please contact the producer as below. The BBC is looking for same-sex parents in the U.S. to host two British teens for a week, and to be filmed for a new season of an ongoing show about parenting.

The show is titled, somewhat sensationally, “The World’s Strictest Parents,” but the description for the show makes it sound more like “parents who can set appropriate boundaries for teens who need them.” A promotional document for the show explains further:

The BBC are looking for role model families from the Gay Community to take part in a new TV show, in which they send two teenagers from England to go and live with them for a week to learn about discipline and respect!

The first two series were HUGE in the UK and was one of the highest rated new BBC3 shows ever, and we hope that this series is going to be even better. We are looking for diverse families with teenagers who would be good role models to our unruly British teens.

Families whose teenagers enjoy their own freedoms but ultimately respect their parents!

Sounds like you or someone you know? Contact sarahrubin@twentytwenty.tv

+ 44 207 424 7728

Sensational or not, I think it’s a good thing that they want to include lesbian and gay parents in the mix.

TV Alert: A Family Is A Family Is A Family

From Rosie O’Donnell comes “A Family Is a Family Is a Family,” a great-looking new documentary premiering this Sunday, January 31, at 7 p.m. ET on HBO.

Much of the film features children talking about their families, including ones with same-sex parents, single parents, adoptive families, and mixed-heritage families. Part of it features Rosie talking with her daughter Vivienne Rose about how their family came to be—and how, even after Rosie’s recent separation from Kelli, the children’s other mom, they are still a family. There are musical and animated interludes, including original songs by They Might Be Giants and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

For one segment, however, I have to fall back on the HBO description:

O’Donnell’s tongue-in-cheek performance of “My Science Project” tells the animated story of a young girl whose class project describes the scientific way she came to be. And Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “Too Marvelous for Words” is accompanied by an animated sequence of a sperm in top hat serenading a glamorous egg.

It looks like a wonderful film, but parents should be alert that it could raise some questions about biology and reproduction. Be prepared to provide fuller explanations to your kids if these are topics you haven’t discussed with them yet. For those looking for a way to explain those issues, however, the film could be just the help you need. It seems like the bulk of the film is rightly on the children and their family interactions, though, not on the mechanics of their origins.

Trailer after the jump: Read the rest of this post »

What Was Your Favorite Lesbian Mom Celebrity News in 2009?

Let’s keep it light this week:

Heather Has a Good Laugh

Somewhere, a pair of penguins is snickering. (Thanks, Queerty.)

As always, more videos with positive images of LGBT families at the Mombian YouTube channel.

High School Performance of Gay-Themed Musical Receives Cheers, Not Jeers

Last week, I wrote about the performance of a Tony Award-winning gay-themed musical by students at Massachusetts’ Concord-Carlisle Regional High School. Anti-LGBT group MassResistance was up in arms about a high school producing a “depraved homosexual musical” and was trying to use director Peter Atlas’ supposed friendship with Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education Kevin Jennings to smear Jennings.

What would happen, I wondered, at the actual performances? Protests? Catcalls? Snickers from fellow students in the audience?

The reality was much happier. Sarah S. Brannen, the author and illustrator of gay-inclusive children’s book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, attended the show on Saturday and was kind enough to submit this guest post about it.

December 13, 2009

Falsettos in Concord

I went to see Falsettos at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School on Saturday night. According to the Boston Globe, it was the first-ever production of the musical by a public high school. A production of The Laramie Project by the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School two years ago met with pickets and protests, so I was delighted to see nothing outside the school but audience members hurrying through the cold. Read the rest of this post »