Merry Queens

MERRY QUEENS ON THE SMALL SCREEN

A new queer web series explores friendship, race, and identity with a dash of mystery.

Henry Alejandro Corzo is a budding filmmaker who has made a name for himself writing, directing, and producing many short films. Born in Bogota, Colombia, and now based in Long Beach, CA, Corzo’s queer international perspective drives his stories. Corzo is now expanding his cinematic skills with Mæry Queens, his first web series now streaming the first seven of twelve episodes on YouTube.

How would you describe your new web series, Mæry Queens?

CORZO: Mæry Queens is a dramedy exploring the relationships within a group of gay friends in Long Beach, CA, while trying to solve the mystery of the kidnapped cat. 

Where did you get the idea?

CORZO: A while back I had an idea about a Latin-style soap opera featuring a group of Colombian gay guys living in the US. I had a lot of material from personal experiences. However, I figured that not many people would connect with that specific story, but most people could relate to a diverse group of friends. Specific characters are not based on particular people but certain personality traits and situations may have some base on real events and individuals’ behaviors.

Why did you set the story in Long Beach rather than WeHo or another big gay mecca?

CORZO: Even though the great majority of gay people in Southern California live outside the two square miles that encompasses WeHo, their stories keep being defined by just the demographic that live there.  Mæry Queens was not really set out to tell the Long Beach gay story per se, but it tries to move the dial a little bit to show that there are more perspectives out there in other geographies.

Mæry Queens has an ethnically diverse cast of hot young gay men. Diversity and race quickly become a major thread through all of the characters’ stories. Why did you choose to work such a serious topic into what’s mostly a light who-done-it story?

CORZO: Because of the nature of the gay community, people have dealt longer and more directly with diversity. We appear more integrated than mainstream society—however, at a closer look that may not be true. We all come with our own prejudices that sometimes have an impact even in our closest friendships. Now that the topics of race and ethnicity seem to be of mainstream relevance, I thought it would be important to showcase them. Mæry Queens may be enjoyed as light who-done-it story, but if you scratch deeper there is more than one serious topic explored.

Your previous experience has been mostly short films, why did you choose to tell this story as 12-part web series rather than a single feature film?

CORZO: A long time ago I wrote a popular Spanish website where I published the gay soap opera Campus. I liked the steady interaction with the audiences while I was releasing each episode. Mæry Queens was written with that concept in mind, and a web series seemed to be an ideal format to showcase it.

The first seven episodes are on YouTube now. When are you planning to release the final five episodes?

CORZO: We are planning to release episodes 8 thru 10 by mid November. We are talking with a local promoter to have a Season Finale event in a Long Beach gay venue where we would release the last two episodes by mid December.

Is there anything you can tease us with while we wait for the second half of the series?

CORZO: If you see the episodes more than once you may find that there is a lot of subtext that will play big in the finale. There are a few surprises at the end and some unexpected love connections. All I can say is that when you think you know what’s happening, you may actually have no idea.

Search “Mæry Queens Web Series” on YouTube to watch now. For more info go to maryqueenswebseries.com and facebook.com/MaryQueensWebSeries.