LGBTQ+ streaming service OUTtv announced Monday a number of new original commissions alongside the renewal of returning fan-favourite titles.
OUTtv’s latest slate spans scripted comedy and drama, reality, mockumentary and documentary, including the feature-length doc The Hockey Player (90 minutes), which follows Canadian hockey player Luke Prokop, who in 2021 came out as the first openly gay player under NHL contract.
From Upper Canada Films, The Hockey Player is directed by Jacqueline Doorey and produced by Taylor Prestidge, with cinematography by Jerome Riel. “Blending intimate vérité footage with cinematic storytelling, the film charts Luke’s journey as he navigates the intense pressures of professional hockey while challenging one of sport’s most traditional cultures,” reads a description in an OUTtv press release. The documentary “captures both the physical demands of the game and the quieter personal battles beneath the surface, offering a timely reflection on identity, resilience and the power of authenticity to shift conversations far beyond the ice.”
The lineup also includes the new U.K. comedy panel series Gay vs. Straight (six episodes x 30 minutes), OUTtv’s latest commission from British producers David Ian and Milli Productions. Hosted by Ian, each episode sees a gay team and a straight team go head-to-head in a battle of wits, stereotypes and lived experiences as they debate and compete across quiz rounds, physical challenges and opinion-led segments, challenging assumptions in front of a live audience and playfully exploring cultural differences and unexpected similarities.
The new scripted comedy Pass the Salt (six episodes x 22 minutes) is an OUTtv original from PK Studio Productions, created by Panta Mosleh, who also serves as showrunner. Executive produced by Anthony Q. Farrell (Shelved, Run the Burbs, NBC’s The Office), Pass the Salt “follows a sheltered Muslim Iranian grad student who, after moving out to escape her overbearing family, must navigate the chaos of understanding her queer identity, roommate shenanigans and managing her family’s expectations — all while falling for her new roommate, a Jewish woman,” reads a synopsis. Mosleh is a Groundlings graduate and 2021 SNL Scholarship recipient, whose work has been supported by various programs including Warner Access, Women in the Director’s Chair, Reelworld, Sundance and the Netflix Diversity of Voices initiative.
OUTtv’s new slate also includes the scripted drama Sweet as Sugar (six episodes x 15 minutes), produced by Monkeys & Parrots Productions, which follows Olivia, an eccentric university student double majoring in performance art and gender studies, whose financial insecurity, curiosity and libido lead her to try her hand at sugar babying. “Her life becomes increasingly stimulating as she navigates clients, fellow students, her sardonic roommate River, her collegiate crush Laine, her overbearing mother Tracy and her nurturing Nana,” says a description in OUTtv’s press release. Developed and produced with the support of the Independent Production Fund, Ontario Creates, the Canada Media Fund, and Canadian federal and Ontario provincial tax credits, Sweet as Sugar was co-created and co-written by Becca Willow Moss and Cassidy Civiero, who also serve as co-executive producers, with Moss starring and Civiero directing. Produced by Jane Loughman and Rose Mergler, the cast includes Megan Follows, David Hewlett and Kate Hewlett.
Another scripted series commissioned by OUTtv is One Baby, Please (six episodes x 15 minutes), which “follows laidback Arab immigrant, Omar, and his uptight Barbadian husband, Dieon, who fight the system, their friends and family to achieve their ultimate dream: having a gayby,” reads a synopsis. Produced by Kate Green Productions Inc., One Baby, Please is written by Karim Ahmed Adam and Adrian Neblett, and directed by Anthony Q. Farrell, Kate Green and Polly Pierce. The series is supported by the Bell Fund, the Independent Production Fund and Creative BC, and was developed through the National Screen Institute’s Series Incubator in 2021, which enabled the creation of a proof-of-concept pilot.
The new mockumentary workplace comedy series Sexy Touch (six episodes x 15 minutes) is produced by Afro Viking Pictures and set in the small, conservative town of Brookside, Nova Scotia. “The series follows a queer, bisexual couple who open a sex-positive shop aimed at breaking the town’s prudish stigma around pleasure and sexual expression, only to face escalating protests, chaotic workdays and a mismatched team of employees who often create more problems than they solve,” says OUTtv’s press release. The series is written and directed by Taylor Olson, a Canadian Screen Award nominee whose 2020 debut feature Bone Cage received more than 30 festival accolades, and Koumbie, whose debut feature Bystanders won the Best Atlantic Screenwriting award at the Atlantic International Film Festival in 2022.
All of the new commissions from OUTtv are scheduled to arrive on the service later this year.
OUTtv has also greenlit a second season of acclaimed reality series Willam’s Dark Room Duel (seven episodes x 30 minutes), following a successful first season launch in 2025. Produced by New York-based production company Daddy TV, this OUTtv original sees multi-talented male strippers compete in a series of themed challenges and performances, going head-to-head through a bracket-style elimination format for the opportunity to open for Willam during one of their live shows.
Rounding out the slate is a third season of scripted drama Two Brothers (eight episodes x 15 minutes), produced by Meikle Productions. This series follows fraternal twins Aiden and Aaron — one gay and one straight — and the very real struggles they face to find self-acceptance and to fit into a small-town community while being Black.
Photo of Luke Prokop, featured in the documentary The Hockey Player, courtesy of OUTtv
