Celebrating LGBTQ History Month with Dan Steadman
Dan Steadman
In this profile series, Revry is highlighting authentic contributors to the LGBTQ media and entertainment community. We ask questions to find out who they are and where they are going in the future. The questions remain the same but the answers tell their unique story. It’s time to explore and celebrate true representation beyond the limits of Hollywood.
After a decade in L.A. working on THAT 70S SHOW, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! and creating, writing, and producing with his writing partner Rajeev Sigamoney TV pilots for actors like Tony Hale, Glenn Howerton, Melissa McCarthy, Jennifer Coolidge, and Sean Hayes, Dan Steadman turned to features. First, he and Rajeev made JESUS PEOPLE: THE MOVIE (with Octavia Spencer & Wendi McLendon-Covey) which had a week long theatrical run in 10 major cities, then a 3 year run on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Dan then started moving around the country, writing/directing the gay-themed Christmas film RED LODGE, the Palm Springs International Film Festival selection HIDDEN HILLS, American Movie Award winner BELLEVILLE, (which had a weeklong release in 13 Midwestern cities through Wehrenberg Theatres) and 7 more titles. He teaches acting in the St. Louis area and makes feature films with his students. Some titles can be found on Amazon Prime and his films RED LODGE and TABOO TEACHING are on Revry. His company is focused on lead roles for unconventional female characters, stories of people over 40, all body types, LGBTQ characters, and other underrepresented folks.
What are you best known for?
Probably my Christmas film RED LODGE, which was deeply personal to me. At the time I was single, in my late 30s, living in Montana after a decade in Los Angeles, and deciding if I was even relationship material. I was completely fine with the idea that I might not be best suited for coupling and I had a lot of ambivalence about the whole subject matter. So for that film, I projected myself into both the characters of Dave and Jordan – but also their straight family members. When people ask me “who” I am in a movie, as in “which character?” I never quite know how to answer. It’s a loaded question because I can tell the inquisitive person already has a character in mind and they just want their hunch verified. But the truth is, I’m a piece of all of them.
The second thing I might be known for is TABOO TEACHING, the short film documentary I made about how my partner Rodney Wilson was nearly fired in the 90s for being a gay history teacher in Missouri – and how it led him to create LGBTQ History Month, celebrated every October in the U.S. for the past 25 years. He’s braver than I ever was.
What is the first thing you worked on?
The first thing I wrote and directed was a TV series in my teenage years where I basically was a teenage clown. It’s funny, because I had no interest in clowns. But hiding behind pancake makeup was a way for this formerly-Baptist, son of a youth pastor, gay, conflicted teenager to hide his true self on camera, while still being able to live his pubescent showbiz dreams.
What are you working on that no one knows about yet?
A project I’m hoping to get support on is a dream of mine since I was a child. I’m actually 50% done with the pre-production. It’s a Muppets-inspired movie musical about a gay dog name Tyke who leads his misfit friends through a prison break in the pound to freedom on the outside. THE MUTTS is the kind of movie I needed as a child and is something still needed today. At least in my opinion.