GagaOOLala

GagaOOLala is a Taipei-based subscription video on demand service specialized in LGBT content. It is owned by Portico Media Co., Ltd. Launched in 2016, it is the first LGBT-focused OTT platform in Asia.[2] Its catalog includes feature films, shorts, documentaries, series and its own original content.[3]

GagaOOLala
Type of site
Entertainment
Available in
  • English
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Traditional Chinese
Headquarters
Taipei, Taiwan
Area servedAsia
Founder(s)Jay Lin
Products
Services
URLwww.gagaoolala.com
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedNovember 11, 2016 (2016-11-11)[1]

Name

On a 2019 interview, Jay Lin, CEO of GagaOOLala, revealed the story behind the name: "Lala’ and ‘gaga’ are slang terms for lesbian and gay in Chinese. The ‘oo’ comes from the French ‘ou’ which means ‘or’".[4]

History

Portico Media is one of the co-founders of the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival and was in charge of the organization of the festival during its first three editions (2014, 2015, 2016). However, Jay Lin still found the film festival experience limiting regarding the availability of LGBT content for Asian audiences and decided to establish Asia's first LGBT-streaming platform, GagaOOLala.[5] GagaOOLala was first launched in Taiwan on November 11th, 2016.[6] Its first expansion into the Asian market took place with the launch in the 10 countries that conform Southeast Asia on April 28th, 2017.[7] On May 13th, 2018, GagaOOLala was launched in Hong Kong and Macau.[8] In June 14th, 2019, the streaming service started operations in all of South Asia. The company made the announcement together with a distribution tie-in with KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival.[9]

Activism

In October 28th, 2016, GagaOOLala celebrated the first ever Queermosa Gala, an award ceremony "to bring broad media visibility to the people and companies working hard to have LGBT voices heard in Taiwan." The ceremony was supported by GLAAD.[10] Among the first year winner's were television host Dee Hsu, singer A-Mei and rights activist Chi Chia-wei.[11]

During the Taipei Pride celebrations of 2018, GagaOOLala, GagaTai and LalaTai organized together with the Singaporean fashion photographer Leslie Kee the photography exhibition Out in Taiwan. The project was composed of black-and-white portraits of LGBTQ people living in Taiwan in order to humanize the LGBT community.[12]

GagaOOLala is also one of the five founding members of the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, one of the main LGBT rights group in Taiwan.[13] The organization was one of the main driving forces behind the passing of the same-sex marriage law in Taiwan on May 17, 2019, making it the first country in Asia.[14]

Content

The platform currently hosts more than 1000 LGBT titles including feature films, shorts, documentaries and series from all over the world, but with a focus on Asian queer cinema.[15] It is the home for the filmography of international queer directors such as Simon Chung, Zero Chou, Scud, Marco Berger or Joselito Altarejos, and the distributor in Asia of international hit titles like Blue is the Warmest Color, Moonlight, Front Cover or Weekend.

Original Content

GagaOOLala has produced original content since its launching date. In 2016, they produced Ting-Chun Huang short film Sodom's Cat, one of the first R-rated queer stories from the island's filmography.[16] The film was selected at that year's Outfest, Frameline and nominated to the Iris Prize.[17]

The next year, 2017, GagaOOLala produced its first feature film, Tale of the Lost Boys, by Filipino director Joselito Altarejos. The film, a Taiwanese-Filipino cross-cultural story that tackles issues of sexuality and self-identity, was awarded Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Office Award at Sinag Maynila Film Festival.[18] That same year, the platform also commissioned its first original series Queer Taiwan, an episodic documentary about the circumstances that have made of Taiwan a beacon for LGBT rights in Asia and, eventually, the first country in the continent to legalize same-sex marriage.[19] The first season focused on four main topics in Taiwan: religion and the marriage equality movement, the drag culture, sex and disability, and surrogacy.[20]

In 2018, Queer Taiwan was renewed for a second season and re-branded as Queer Asia. The move to four new different countries (Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam), "to highlight the steep cultural differences in Asia within the LGBT community".[21]

GOL STUDIOS

In March, 2019, GagaOOLala launched GOL STUDIOS, a crowd-sourcing platform to assist in the production and distribution of LGBT content around the world. GOL STUDIOS is open to all filmmakers, where they can upload any projects they are working on, request resources, and connect with other film professionals. The platform will bring more original content into GagaOOLala. In its first year, GOL STUDIOS commissioned 11 projects that will be released in 2020. Among the selected projects are Hong Kong independent film director Kit Hung's latest project Forever 17, a Zero Chou's new film and series, and the surrogacy-themed documentary Made in Boise, that will premiere on the second half of 2019 at Independent Lens on PBS.[22][23]

References
  1. "酷兒線上影音平台 11/11開台營運". Yahoo News. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  2. Huang, Tzu-ti. "Taiwan's gay film streaming service GagaOOLala makes foray into India". Taiwan News. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  3. Frater, Patrick. "Taiwan LGBT Platform GagaOOLala Adds Gol Studios Production Hub". Variety. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. Tegdes, Péter. "'Our goal with the films is to raise awareness to our community' – Interview with Jay Lin, founder of 'gay Netflix'". Humen. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  5. Shackleton, Liz. "Portico Media CEO Jay Lin on launching Asia's first gay-themed OTT service". Screen Daily. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  6. "酷兒線上影音平台 11/11開台營運". Yahoo News. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. Power, Shannon. "Forget Netflix, there's a new Asian streaming service that's 100% LGBTI". Gay Star News. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  8. "GagaOOLala LGBTI Film Platform launches in Hong Kong". Dim Sum. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  9. "LGBT film streaming platform GagaOOLala launched in India". The NEWS Minute. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  10. Wang, Holly. "Queermosa just celebrated Taiwan's first-ever LGBTQ awards ceremon". GLAAD. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  11. van Aswegen, Albertus. "Taiwan holds first ever LGBTI awards". Gay Star News. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  12. Thomas, Cat. "Out in Taiwan: Standing for Equality with Fashion Photographer Leslie Kee". The NewsLens. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  13. "婚姻平權大平台的出生與成長". Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  14. Aspinwall, Nick. "Taiwan becomes first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  15. Lang, Nico. "Taiwan's First LGBTQ Streaming Service Is Preparing to Take Over Asia. Is Asia Ready?". Into. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  16. Villareal, Daniel. "This Explicit Film About a Group Hookup Marks a Major Shift in Taiwanese Gay Film". Hornet. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  17. "Sodom's Cat". Iris Prize.
  18. "'Tale of the Lost Boys,' Allen Dizon lead all winners in Sinag Maynila festival awards". Interakyson. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  19. Hollingsworth, Julia. "Taiwan legalizes same-sex marriage in historic first for Asia". CNN. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  20. Yang, William. "Queer Taiwan: Facilitate Mutual Understanding through a Queer Lens". Ketagalan Media. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  21. Lin, Jay. "The Origins of 'Queer Asia': The First International LGBTQ Docuseries in Asia". International News Lens. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  22. Shackleton, Liz. "Filmart: Asian LGBTQ platform launches production initiative". Screen Daily. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  23. "MADE IN BOISE". PBS. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
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