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Does (sex) life end for gay men as they approach 50?

That’s the question explored by the comedic, fast-paced & serialized web series Old Dogs & New Tricks, through the friendship and tribulations of four diverse and otherwise successful West Hollywood men – each one located squarely within middle age. Los Angeles (in general) and West Hollywood (in particular) add a strong flavor to Old Dogs & New Tricks, with its traffic, earthquakes, plastic surgery, and strongly youth-obsessed culture. But the focus remains on how these four different gay men react (or overreact) and adjust (or not) to getting older:

  • Nathan Adler (Leon Acord): A successful talent agent, Nathan was secure with being alone — until he turned 50!! Then, the advances of an amorous 25-year-old underwear model knocked him for a loop.
  • Brad King (Curt Bonnem): A one-hit wonder from the late 1980s, Brad contends ‘guys are more interested in inches than years’ — and has turned the on-line hook-up into an art form.
  • Al ‘Muscles’ Carter (Jeffrey Patrick Olson): A personal trainer at a WeHo gym, Muscles has the body of a porn star and the mindset of a 16 year old girl — he’s not putting out til he meets his Mr. Right!
  • Ross Stein (David Pevsner): A former TV leading man in the 1990s, Ross is now settled into a long-term gay marriage — but as his husband becomes more successful, Ross finds himself spending too much time alone.

Director’s Note

 

I wouldn’t bother doing a comedy web series unless we could put forth an effort to aesthetically blow every other web series out of the water. Leon has written a script and assembled a cast that more than exceeds the standards of web series; indeed, we could bundle the episodes together and we’d be most of the way towards doing a real feature or TV pilot. It was absolutely essential for the series to match that visually.

 

Think the glamour of Sex and the City but with the edge of Entourage, but on either show’s footwear budget. Just because it’s on YouTube doesn’t mean it has to look like it was shot with a webcam, doesn’t mean sound was recorded next to a freeway. The colors and lighting are as rich and dynamic as West Hollywood itself, and as vibrant as our characters.

 

And most importantly, I personally guarantee sharp editing that has zero tolerance for wasted time. You’re watching this online, you’re only a click away from another video, updating Twitter, or contemplating accepting your great-aunt’s friend request. I promise to hold your attention only long enough for you to fall in love with our characters and ride along for their adventures, and still have time for your precious cat videos.

 

— Arvin Bautista