Winston-Salem web series Gin & Platonic serves up love, laughter, and tears

adies and gentlemen, meet Kali. She’s the assistant manager at a downtown hotel in Winston-Salem. She’s openly gay and rather impetuous, even reckless, in her romantic life. Now meet Anthony. He’s the avuncular, middle-aged weatherman for a local TV station in Winston-Salem. He too is openly gay but in a committed relationship with long-time boyfriend Nigel, although there are storm clouds on the horizon.

Kali and Anthony are roommates, best friends, drinking buddies (hence the title), and each other’s shoulder to cry on. They’re played by Brittany Brizzee and Robert C. Beshere, and they’re the

Lprincipal characters in Gin & Platonic, a new web series created by award-winning filmmaker Zack Fox.

Lest one thinks this is the Piedmont Triad’s version of Will & Grace, Gin & Platonic is not, strictly speaking, a situation comedy. There is humor, to be sure, but it’s inexorably intertwined with drama and pathos. As well as depicting Kali and Anthony’s attempts to navigate careers and relationships, the series will also address many of the issues currently facing the LGBTQ+ community.

Gin & Platonic is scheduled to launch July 7th and there will be a special preview screening at 2 p.m. this Sunday at Marketplace Cinemas, 2095 Peters Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem. Admission is free, although those who attend are asked to post and/or share the July 7th launch on their socials. Members of the cast and crew will be on hand to discuss the series. The first three 12 minute episodes have been completed and will be used to raise interest and potential funding to produce a full 12-episode series.

For more information about Sunday’s screening, call (336) 725-4646 or visit the o cial Marketplace Cinemas website: https://www.mpcws.com/.

“The impetus for Gin & Platonic — as a writer, I wanted to explore the strengths and values of a domestic, platonic relationship over a traditional romantic relationship,” said Fox, the general manager of Marketplace Cinemas as well as a prolific filmmaker. “Our lead characters live together, make breakfast for each other, discuss their days, go to work, share the good times and the bad times, and return home at the end of the day to repeat the process.”

In addition to Brizzee and Beshere, the ensemble cast includes Michael Smallwood, Tracey Reynolds, Michael Burke, and the ubiquitous Jennie Stencel — and another major character is the city itself. “Winston-Salem looks like a glittering jewel,” said executive producer Elizabeth Caddy. “In addition to the fantastic acting, costumes, and cinematography, we see some stunning shots of Winston-

Salem. We hope it will show people what a beautiful city it is and encourage other filmmakers to raise a camera here and take a look around!”

“Our first three episodes are a selfcontained story that sets up the idea of the series and who are characters are,” Fox explained. “These first three episodes we’ll use as a jumping board to gauge interest and potential funding in expanding to a full 12-episode series. We have an outlined plan for a whole miniseries. Our cast and crew loved working together and would love to continue exploring these characters.”

Having made several short films — including Spirit of the Cinema and Sea Salt Wind (both award winners) — this is by far the biggest project Fox has yet tackled. “Gin & Platonic was the most challenging project I’ve directed yet, one for simply the script’s content and story, another being the scale of the project. My previous projects have all been one or two locations. This is where serving as director and cinematographer definitely helped the planning process.”

Fox has nothing but e usive praise for his cast and fellow crew members, particularly Caddy and assistant director/ co-director Kaitlyn Archenbronn.

“Zack had been putting together this script for a while,” Archenbronn recalled. “Finally we said ‘Let’s just do it!’ — and the rest is history! Zack already had a good network of friends in the indie film industry and like The Avengers we ‘assembled’ the best cast and crew for the series!”

“Zack and I had worked together on a few projects and could tell pretty quickly that there was a creative ‘click,’” Caddy said. “Over lunch, we were brainstorming some possible projects and he men- tioned a show he had written called Gin & Platonic. I read the script, loved it, and was honored to be asked to executive produce it and do the costume design/ wardrobe. Our crew was small but mighty. The series became something truly better than the sum of its parts — and the parts were pretty great to start with — and I am very proud of both the result and the road we took to get there.”

Of course, Gin & Platonic relies heavily on the chemistry between the two leads. Both Brizzee and Beshere connected with their characters — and each other — from the get-go.

“I absolutely love how fierce the love that Kali and Anthony have for each other,” Brizzee observed. “We all need that person in our lives who we can depend on through thick and thin. They have each other’s backs, as well as telling it how it is. Kali is multi-layered: She is sensitive, can act helpless at times, and needs her roommate to lift her up — while also being protective, loving, and a bit of a flirt. It was amazing playing Kali.”

The chemistry between Brizzee and Beshere was instantaneous, she said. “When I first met Bob on set, it was like I had reunited with a long-lost friend, even though we had never actually met each other in real life! I know for a fact we will continue the friendship that we fostered while on set for a long time.”

“We clicked instantly,” Beshere confirmed. “Not five seconds after I walked on set the first day, I heard ‘Yo, what up, roomie?!’ from the opposite side of the room. There sat Brittany, who flashed me a peace sign while getting her hair touched up. She sprang into action, immediately cracking jokes and talking shop like a ‘bestie’ would. I remember my thought was ‘Well, this is gonna be easy.’

I had no idea the level of raw talent and professionalism I was going to work with. The bar was set pretty high. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this series. As a side note: Let’s all work to hurry up and get this baby funded and picked up so we get to keep Brittany, OK? Because we want to go the places she’s going!”

“I really hope that everyone watching can find something and someone to connect with,” Brizzee said. “I hope this series brings about tears of joy, tears of sorrow, anger, fulfillment, and excitement … and, gosh darn it, I hope people want more Gin & Platonic!” !

See MARK BURGER ’s reviews of current movies. © 2023, Mark Burger.

WANNA go?

The IMDB page for Gin & Platonic is https://www. imdb.com/title/tt27855989/?ref_=pro_tt_visitcons, and the o cial website is https://www. ginandplatonicseries.com/.