Yes, there’s John Waters, Gus Van Sant, Pedro Almodovar, Lee Daniels, Gregg Araki, Kimberly Peirce, Lisa Cholodenko and Dee Rees. But there’s at least one other director who deserves to be included in that group of barrier-breaking LGBTQ filmmakers: Kenny Ortega.
Ortega, one of this year’s honorees on Variety’s Power of Pride list, made movies that queer kids could relate to, even if they didn’t know they were queer when they were watching them.
In 1992’s “Newsies,” Ortega discovered Christian Bale as a young actor, casting him as the star of Disney’s live-action musical about singing Manhattan newspaper delivery boys during the newsboys’ strike of 1899. The movie was so far ahead of its time that — despite soft box office receipts — it inspired a hit Broadway musical two decades later. Ortega next engineered the 1993 cult family comedy “Hocus Pocus,” with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker...
Ortega, one of this year’s honorees on Variety’s Power of Pride list, made movies that queer kids could relate to, even if they didn’t know they were queer when they were watching them.
In 1992’s “Newsies,” Ortega discovered Christian Bale as a young actor, casting him as the star of Disney’s live-action musical about singing Manhattan newspaper delivery boys during the newsboys’ strike of 1899. The movie was so far ahead of its time that — despite soft box office receipts — it inspired a hit Broadway musical two decades later. Ortega next engineered the 1993 cult family comedy “Hocus Pocus,” with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker...
- 6/30/2020
- by Ramin Setoodeh
- Variety Film + TV
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