Private Project

Misadventures of Bucky & Beene

The Misadventures of Bucky & Beene follows the lives of two campy pirate radio DJ’s, Pepper Buckthorne who was once Miss Gay USA and her sassy younger sidekick, Jelly Beene who threaten the locals in upstate New York with their WRU-GAY in the morning radio show and befriend Sharon their free spirited albeit ditzy neighbor in the process.

  • Lisa M Thomas
    Director
    Change of Scenery, Cold Spring Hotel, Candy Store, Vampire Tango, Zebra, Freeing Silvia Baraldini
  • Lisa M Thomas
    Writer
    Thirsty, Witness Against Our Vanishing, Change of Scenery, Freeing Silvia Baraldini
  • Rob York
    Producer
    A Thousand and One, Wonder Showzen, Queenie in Love
  • Lisa M Thomas
    Producer
    Teenage Euthanasia, The Shivering Truth, The Jellies, One Percent More Humid, Thirsty, Xavier: Renegade Angel, Wonder Showzen
  • Peppermint
    Key Cast
    "Pepper Buckthorne"
    Rupaul's Drag Race, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, The Real World
  • Jonny Beauchamp
    Key Cast
    "Jelly Beene"
    Stonewall, Katy Keene, Thirsty, Penny Dreadful
  • Anni Krueger
    Key Cast
    "Sharon Fox"
    Inside Amy Schumer, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, A Taste of Christmas
  • Tim Gunn
    Key Cast
    "Tim Gunn"
    Project Runway, Sex and the City 2, Ugly Betty, Zoolander: Super Model, Guide to Style
  • James McMenamin
    Key Cast
    "Bob"
    Orange is the New Black, Nurse Jackie, Manifest
  • Jon Orsini
    Key Cast
    "Richard B. Moody"
    Generation Um, The Survivalist, Law & Order
  • Davram Stiefler
    Key Cast
    "Billy Boy"
    Undecided: The Movie, UCB Comedy Originals, Difficult People, Lez Bomb
  • Project Type:
    Television
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 11, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    44,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Lisa M Thomas

Lisa Thomas has been working in film and television since moving to NYC in 1999. Currently Lisa is an Executive Producer on the hit Adult Swim animated series, Teenage Euthanasia starring Maria Bamford, Jo Firestone, Tim Robinson and Bebe Neuwirth. She was the Co-Executive Producer on the animated series, The Shivering Truth for Vernon Chatman (of South Park fame) and was the Supervising Producer on Tyler the Creator’s animated series, The Jellies. Lisa was the Executive Producer / UPM on the independent feature musical, Thirsty about the life of Scott Townsend, Provincetown’s legendary Cher impersonator. She was the Line Producer on Liz Garcia’s feature, One Percent More Humid, and was the Production Manager on Lighting Bugs in a Jar, which premiered at Cannes. She Produced MTV’s, Wonder Showzen as well as Zoolander Super Model for Ben Stiller and Paramount. Lisa Co-Produced / Co-Directed the documentary, Freeing Silvia Baraldini about the former U.S. political prisoner of the same name and was the Producer on the documentary, Sid Bernstein Presents about the man who brought the Beatles to America. Since 2018 Lisa has been collaborating with Ryder Cooley and the dark carnival band, Dust Bowl Faeries directing and producing a series of music videos including the politically charged Sirens, the circus spectacular, Zebra, the film noir inspired, Vampire Tango the music novella, Candy Store and most recently a Gothic Spaghetti Western which was shot in Sicily on 35mm. Lisa received her MFA in Film from Stony Brook University where she studied under Christine Vachon of Killer Films. She is the President and Co-Founder of Thin Edge Films and has worked for MTV, PBS, HBO, Adult Swim, Maysles Films, PFFR and Augenblick Studios.

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Director Statement

As someone who has felt like an outsider for much of my life and who grew up closeted until my late 20’s for fear of being disowned by my traditional Italian family, it’s essential for me as a writer / director to create life affirming queer stories. Growing up this way afforded me the unique experience of seeing the world through a different lens, so when I saw the 1961 film, “The Children’s Hour” or Alain Berliner’s film, “Ma Vie En Rose” years later they had a profound impact on me. The feelings that came up for me when viewing these two films even though they were made over thirty years apart and their characters were vastly different from one another had a similar effect, they helped me to see bits of my own struggles on screen, they validated my very existence, unlike most Hollywood fair which had little or nothing to do with my own life experience. While it’s apparent that we’ve come a long way with LGBTQ+ representations in film and television over the years, it’s still quite clear that gay people as a whole are underrepresented in the medium.

I wrote The Misadventures of Bucky & Beene as a way to explore the growing divide between conservatives and liberals in our country or more specifically between upstate rednecks and outspoken queers. The idea that many “gays” are actually neighbors with people who oppose our lifestyle is a very real and under explored conflict in television. The decision to have an airstream be our main protagonist’s home and business rolled into one, means that at a moment’s notice our DJ’s can hit the road when trouble abounds. While it’s relatively easy to relocate our main cast, it’s worth noting that no matter where Bucky and Beene turn up, inevitably there will be those who love and support their fabulousness and those who oppose everything they stand for.

The pilot episode which is titled: the Misadventures of Being Gay in a Straight World is my way of bringing queer positive stories to life on the small screen. Giving our DJ’s their very own pirate radio show will be a fun, poignant and educational way to explore the myriad of topics a gay person might encounter in a predominately straight world. Despite its campy style, the goal for Misadventures is to help all audiences to reconsider their place in an ever increasing gender bending / non-conforming world.