Trapped not only features an candid portrayal of a gay leading character, but it confronts body image, sexism, racism, and transphobia and features a wonderful, diverse cast, including African Americans, Latina-Americans, trans actors playing trans roles, trans actors playing cis roles, and more.

Trapped in the Booth is a half-hour comedy based on my experiences. The series follows Charlie, a neurotic, gay DJ as he navigates the "bros and hoes" world of New York City nightlife. With Charlie’s 30th birthday looming and his career, love life, and pretty much everything else in his world going nowhere, a major, unexpected life event suddenly throws everything he holds dear into question and, perhaps, jolts him awake for the first time in his life.

 

I shot the pilot completely independently, raising the entire production budget and the majority of the post-production budget myself, assembling a team, sourcing locations, casting, and finally, executing the shoot over eight days on-location last October in New York City.

When we meet Charlie (Louie Mandelbaum / ME!) in the pilot, he is subconsciously grappling with the latent shame that has followed him into his post-closeted life. While he's stuck DJing in shitty local bars and clubs that cater to straight people, Charlie secretly dreams of becoming a superstar DJ, songwriter, and producer--a gay Mark Ronson, if you will. But up to this point, Charlie's ambitions as an artist have been confined to the safety of his bedroom. Accustomed to hiding as a means of survival, he's terrified of putting his work, and thus himself, out there.

 

Moreover, Charlie has never been in a relationship with another man, a fact that as he perilously nears 30 leads to crippling angst (and, as a comedy, hijinks a'plenty) as he stumbles through dating, sex, and, love as a gay man in 2018.  

This story is incredibly personal to me. Presenting a queer character in a hyper-realistic and compassionate light--honestly rendering one gay man's journey of becoming--is my primary mission with creating this show.

 

Even in the “golden age” of television featuring some of the most diverse programming ever, the marked dearth of gay leading men on TV is largely unchanged from I was growing up in the '90s and 2000s. Few and far between are series which tell truthful stories about our experiences in ways that are both specific to our lives but also showcase how our stories are totally universal. Given how important media is in forming our identities, this cannot continue to be the status quo. With Trapped, I set out to make the show I felt like I needed to see growing up and which frankly, I still need to see now.

Beyond Charlie's story, the series also centers around his sister and roommate Kate (Lily Mandelbaum), a body-positive, "curvy" Instagram model and minor social media celebrity who seeks to do something deeper with her platform than simply hawking plus-sized bathing suits to make ends meet. It also features Charlie's best friend, the mysterious and outspoken DJ Nolita (Pop singer and songwriter Maluca Mala), a keeper of many secret lives, as well as Charlie and Kate's parents, legendary fashion editor, Jill (Ilana Levine) and retired lawyer and kept-man, Pete Isaacson (Chris Kies). 

When I set out to shoot this pilot a year ago, my goal with doing so independently was to create a fully-realized and undeniable vision for the series to submit to pilot festivals and to use as pitch material for networks and production companies. Now that our final cut is nearly complete, and thanks to the truly astounding team with whom I've had the privilege of collaborating, I believe with all my heart that we’ve created a truly hilarious, poignant, beautifully-rendered and extraordinarily necessary network-ready pilot. This story is unlike anything else that’s out there. It needs to be told.  

This amazing cast and crew, as well as the investors who have believed in us thus far, have already taken this story so far with nothing but our passion for telling this story. Now, in the final stretch, we need your help. Your contribution to this campaign will allow us  to:

 

1. Finish our Final Cut: The money from this campaign will help us pay our editor and director to finish the final cut of the pilot.

 

2. Color and Sound Mix: It will also help us do the sound and color mix, which will give the pilot the professional sheen it needs, as well as allow us to pay actors to repair any glitches that occurred with recording dialogue during filming.

 

3. Graphic Design and Pitch Materials: Trapped needs a great logo and a killer-looking Series Bible that lay out the entire world of the show and our vision for the future of the series in vivid detail. This bible is a critical piece that will accompany the final cut of the pilot and will help us showcase our ability to expand the pilot into a multi-episode, multi-season series. In addition to great content, it also has to be a visual feast. Your contribution will help us pay for the graphic designer we need to help bring this bible to life.  

 

Our main goal now is is to find the proper home to make the rest of this funny, touching, and important series. We hope you will consider helping us do so by making a contribution!