| Genre: | Dramedy Sex comedy LGBTQ Independent |
| Director: | Chance Calloway |
| Composer: | Trey Randol |
| Opentheme: | "How We Break ('Pretty Dudes' Anthem)" by Matt Almodiel, Chance Calloway and Peter Su
|
| Country: | United States |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 39 |
| List Episodes: |
|
| Camera: | Single-camera |
| Runtime: | 9–34 minutes |
Pretty Dudes is an American LGBTQ digital dramedy created by Chance Calloway that tells the story of a group of friends in Southern California who navigate in and out of platonic and romantic relationships. Predominantly featuring an inclusive and intersectional cast and crew, the series stars an ensemble that includes Xavier Avila, Tiffany Commons, Bryan Michael Nuñez, Kyle Rezzarday, Manny Shih, Joshuah Noah Snel, Aria Song, Tae Song, Yoshi Sudarso, and Olivia Thai.[1] Pretty Dudes aired initially on YouTube and streams on Amazon Prime Video and VOD service Stoopid Ambitious as of 2019.[2] [3]
Set in the greater Los Angeles area, the series follows a group of millennial friends of varying races, genders, and backgrounds as they navigate platonic and romantic relationships. Photographer Zario (Bryan Michael Nuñez), business law student Ellington (Xavier Avila), gamer Alexander (Kyle Rezzarday), and doumi Jay (Tae Song) live with model Sunji (Yoshi Sudarso), where they are frequently visited by hard-drinking neighbor Eagle (Olivia Thai). After entering a bet to get Zario a new boyfriend, resentments and betrayals cause friction in the group. The second season expands the main group to include painter Kish (Tiffany Commons), art gallery owner December (Aria Song), Ellington's younger brother Marshall (Joshuah Noah Snel), and December's younger brother Boaz (Manny Shih).
| Character | Actor | Occupation | Seasons | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.5 | |||||||||||||||
| Hector "Zario" del Rosario | Bryan Michael Nuñez | photographer | Main | Guest | ||||||||||||
| Ellington Gomez-Pacheco | Xavier Avila | business law student | Main | |||||||||||||
| Jericho "Jay" Kim | Tae Song | doumi | Main | |||||||||||||
| Alexander Erzhähler | Kyle Rezzarday | gamer | Main | |||||||||||||
| Sunji Spencer | Yoshi Sudarso | model and actor | Main | |||||||||||||
| Eagle Diolosa | Olivia Thai | active duty airman | Main | |||||||||||||
| Marshall Gomez-Pacheco | Joshuah Noah Snel | unknown | Recurring | Main | ||||||||||||
| December Lín | Aria Song* | art critic | Recurring | Main | ||||||||||||
| Rock Diolosa | Marc Fajardo | unknown | Recurring | Main | ||||||||||||
| Kish Yancey | Tiffany Commons | painter | Main | |||||||||||||
| Boaz Lín | Manny Shih* | photographer | Main | |||||||||||||
| Cassian "The Body" Crosby | Christian Olivo† | actor | Main | |||||||||||||
| †Prior to joining the cast as season two regulars, both Manny Shih and Aria Song appeared earlier in the season, Song in a guest spot (episode: "The Death of Romeo") and Shih in a recurring status. *Olivo appeared in a recurring status for the majority of the season, though was credited as a lead for his initial consecutive appearances. | ||||||||||||||||
Caught Gay-Handed was the very first Pretty Dudes-related project, released April 30, 2017.
Chance Calloway and Gerry Maravilla co-directed the Malibu-set music video for the series anthem. Featuring Nuñez in an unnamed role implied to be Zario, other cast members also appear in the video alongside the song's singers Matt Almodiel, Calloway and Peter Su.[13] The song and several remixes were released as an EP compilation.
Containing two episodes, "Bravo Double Delta" and "Brother's Keeper," this short was co-written by all of the season 2 writers, Chance Calloway, Christopher Edelen, and Andrea Lee.
This short doesn't seem to be in canon with the actual plot of season 2. Among other things, The Dude House is a different location, singer Tanerélle plays Kish (actress Tiffany Commons has been cast in the same role for season two), and Sammy Cantu plays a character named Aza Keeper, where his season two character is named Ken Dahl.[14]
Pretty Dudes: The Novel, a novelization of the first season was released on July 7, 2020. [15] [16]
In 2024, Calloway released RAM (Like the Verb), which centered on Charlit Dae's season two character Ram Takada. The film premiered on the film festival circuit.
The show's first season received a positive response from critics who mostly praised its diversity and inclusive storylines. Philip Hernandez of Black Talent TV called Pretty Dudes "a one a kind web series."[17] Asyiqin Haron of Geeks of Color called the show "incredibly diverse," highlighting the "great storytelling."[18] It was listed as one of "9 Dope, Black Web Series To Dive into for the Summer" by Shadow and Act, called "extraordinary" and "the rare series that showcases nuanced friendship between gay and straight men" by Jordan Simon who went on to add, "If you love Noah's Arc, you will enjoy this.".[19] While noting that Pretty Dudes seemed "created for the gay male and female gaze," Devin Randall complimented the "truly fleshed out story" in a review for Instinct Magazine.[20] RIZEup Magazine called the series "trendsetting."[21] In a negative review, queerguru said the series has a "lightweight plot" "intended to be watched only by other millenials."[22]
| Year | Awards | Category | Recipients | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | NYPS Awards | Best Series | Pretty Dudes | [23] | |
| Best Performance by an Ally | Xavier Avila | ||||
| 2018 | Asians on Film Festival of Shorts | Best Music Video | How We Break ("Pretty Dudes" Anthem) | [24] | |
| 2019 | LGBTQ Shorts Film Festival | Best LGBTQ Short | Pretty Dudes: The Double Entendre | [25] | |
| Comedy Shorts Film Festival | Best Comedy Short | [26] | |||
| 2024 | Absurd Film Festival | Best LGBTQ+ | RAM (Like the Verb) | [27] | |
| Chinatown International Film Festival | Best Director | Chance Calloway | [28] | ||
| Best Documentary | RAM (Like the Verb) | ||||
| Best Visual Art | |||||