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http://www.metroline-online.com/pages/featured/coverstory/a-look-at-make-the-yuletide-gay.shtmlA Look at ‘Make the Yuletide Gay’
In "Make The Yuletide Gay," we witness this lovable family’s holidays get overly festive as Olaf “Gunn” Gunnunderson, an out-and-proud gay college student, crawling back into the closet to survive the holidays with his parents.
Courtesy TLA Releasing
Keith Jordan plays the character Gunn in “Make the Yuletide Gay.”
Rob Williams, the director of Long-Term Relationship, Back Soon and 3-Day Weekend, brings us an hilarious addition to the gay holiday genre that is destined to be a “Must See” holiday movie for the gay community for more reasons than just being an extremely well made film. In "Make The Yuletide Gay," we witness this lovable family’s holidays get overly festive as Olaf “Gunn” Gunnunderson (Keith Jordan), an out-and-proud gay college student, crawling back into the closet to survive the holidays with his parents (hilarious performances by Derek Long & Kelly Keaton). He keeps his cool as his quirky Midwestern hale and hearty parents try to set him up with his high school sweetheart, Abby (Hallee Hirsh). But when his boyfriend, Nathan (Adamo Ruggiero), shows up at their doorstep unannounced, Gunn must put on a charade to keep the relationship a secret. With pressure mounting from all sides, will Gunn come out before the truth does? The ending will surprise you for sure.
Director Rob Williams is an award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, with an impressive three movies under his belt ("Long-Term Relationship," "Back Soon" and "3-Day Weekend"), Rob is a determined professional within the gay film industry and with the completion of "Make The Yuletide Gay," has given the community another first rate work. “I love Christmas movies.” Says Rob, “Maybe it’s the inevitable happy endings, maybe it’s the sense of hope and wonder they provide, maybe it’s just blatant wish fulfillment of seeing loving families around the Christmas tree. Whatever the reason, I love them, and that’s the main reason I wrote and directed 'Make The Yuletide Gay'. The fact that there are so few gay-themed Christmas movies also made me want to create something new, something that gay youth could watch with their parents during the holidays. I especially wanted to create a film which showed a coming-out process that wasn’t traumatic or violent, but encouraging and full of love and support.” As one character says in the movie, “We all want to be what our parents want us to be, and we all hide things from them.” Maybe a gay teenager will see this movie and decide not to hide his true self from his parents, and maybe he’ll find out that they love him or her no matter what. You couldn’t ask for a better Christmas wish than that.
The lead, Olaf, is masterfully played by Keith Jordan, who began his career in New York City where he received his BFA in Acting at Marymount Manhattan College. Upon graduation, he performed skits on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” booked roles in various independent films in NYC. Soon after, he landed a role in the film "Suburban Girl," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin.
Courtesy TLA Releasing
Out actor Adamo Ruggiero plays the character Nathan in “Make the Yuletide Gay.”
Olaf’s love interest is played by Adamo Ruggiero, an experienced actor and host. He began his career in Community Theatre at a very young age. In 1996, he landed his first professional job as Cupid in Stage West’s Christmas production of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” In 2002, Adamo landed his first professional television job, premiering in the second season of “Degrassi: The Next Generation” as Marco Del Rossi. Throughout his seven years on the show, his role as a gay teenager hasgarnered much attention. In 2004, "Degrassi" received its first GLAAD Media Awards nomination for Outstanding Drama Series for Adamo’s starring episodes entitled “Pride” (part 1 & 2).
In January 2008, Adamo “came out” as a young gay actor in an exclusive TV interview with eTalk and a cover story in Fab, Canada’s premiere gay scene magazine. In an attempt to share his story with other struggling gay youth, he has lent his name to The Trevor Project (an organization that helps suicidal gay and questioning youth) where he shot an international PSA alongside Roseanne Barr, T.R. Knight, Kristin Davis, John Goodman and Neil Patrick Harris. He also produced and starred in a PSA for the “Report Homophobic Violence, Period” (RHVP) campaign for Toronto’s 2008 Pride Festival. Adamo is for sure a talent to be watched as he makes our community proud. A definite inspiration for gay youth.
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"Make The Yuletide Gay" is a production of Guest House Films LLC which was created in 2005 by partners Rob Williams and Rodney Johnson as a way to tell the kind of gay stories that they want to see. In a short period of time, the company has produced four feature films and is quickly becoming a recognized and respected name in the world of independent gay cinema as they make strides into the quality of craft we see in mainstream cinema. It is clear that films released by Guest House are films to be watched.