Photo Credit: After Louie

The new narrative film After Louie has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to cover filming and post-productions costs. The film follows Sam (out actor and advocate Alan Cumming), a middle-aged gay man, who was a member of the AIDS advocacy group ACT UP in the 80s and 90s and is upset with what he believes to be the younger generation’s indifference towards AIDS and sex politics. Sam finds his perception of modern gay life challenged when he becomes unexpectedly involved with Braeden, a younger man. Actor and former GLAAD national spokesperson Wilson Cruz recently signed on to star in the film. Check out the After Louie Kickstarter trailer below and visit their page for more info:

Last year, GLAAD launched a PSA starring Cumming to raise awareness about the FDA’s blood donor deferral policy for gay and bisexual men. To further inform and inspire action toward the ongoing fight to beat the HIV and AIDS epidemic, GLAAD partnered with The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in early 2015 and published a resource guide for journalists on covering HIV and AIDS, as well as launching a series of PSA’s with Hollywood talent including Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Lane, Daniel Franzese, Tituss Burgess and more.

Though the dialogue surrounding AIDS and HIV has grown, After Louie draws attention to the lack of representation in entertainment. GLAAD’s most recent Where We Are on TV report shows that there is only one character depicted as HIV-positive across U.S. broadcast and cable scripted programming (Oliver on ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder). This lack of media coverage gives reason as to why ACT UP’s co-founder Larry Kramer (The Normal Heart) feels After Louie “needs to be made”.