John Dylan De LaTorre & Baltimore Russell: ‘People You Know’

Look out for the new, original gay series “People You Know,” which launched on gay TV network Here TV on Friday, April 3.

“People You Know” celebrates the lives, challenges and dreams of these true-to-life characters and their quest for love, status and power, their journey set in the high-powered urban, unforgiving New York City. Fashioned similar to that of “Scandal” and gayer than “Empire,” this ultra-provocative series focuses on sex, love, greed and its consequences and is centered around a circle of friends, family and ex-lovers. 

Another interesting facet of the show is that it was actually an online series plucked from the Internet by Here TV, making it the only primetime drama starring gay characters on network television.

I had a chance speak to John Dylan De La Torre and Baltimore Russell, both founders of Orchard Winfield Productions, co-writers of the series and actors with starring roles in “People You Know.” And also, in case I forgot to mention, both exceedingly hot.

I  saw the trailer. I love the concept. Tell me a little about the series.
De La Torre: “People You Know” is a provocative primetime drama where the seven deadly sins of a group of 30-somethings destroy[s] any chance for happiness. They strive to discover love and achieve their dreams while surviving the fast pace of New York City.

So this was picked up from an Internet series. How did that happen?
Russell: We started working on this series about three years ago. We produced the first six episodes of the season, and we premiered them online last June for Gay Pride. During that time we had been in contact with Here TV, and we worked out a licensing agreement so we could put the show on their TV channel this Friday.

DLT: When we premiered last summer … we gained some traction with some press and some publications. When we were contacted by the Here network, that’s how they discovered us. They were, I guess, just doing their normal research on programing, and they came across “People You Know” and realized that it was a salacious primetime drama worthy of network appeal.  When they reached out to us, they wanted to take “People You Know” from the Web and deliver it to their network.

Like I said, I saw the trailer and it seemed to me like a gay “Empire” – or should I say a gayer “Empire.”
DLT: It’s definitely that type of format, especially the style of the series. What we are trying to convey is a very character-driven and story line-driven series, which is that mixture of that primetime format like “Empire” or “Revenge” or “Scandal,” something that is very character-driven where the story line is just filled on top of one another so that ultimately everything is all intertwined.  There’s a purpose, and there’s a reason for these particular characters, that everything they go through has a meaning, especially when it comes to their choices. It definitely has ramifications.
So who are the cute little hotties in the starring roles?
DLT: That’s me, actually, and Baltimore is the blonde.

Nice! So you’re both also actors?
DLT: We are both actors in the series.

Are you guys so excited for the premiere?
BR: We are. We’re very excited.  We’ve been working on this project for a while, and we’ve been very encouraged with the way it’s been received. We’re onto something good here.

DLT: I think that it’s just a validation of all the hard work and years that we’ve put into it, from the initial inception of the idea, from writing down the first line to the pilot. It’s an overwhelming feeling, especially coming from an independent filmmaker. You don’t have to automatically have the means to get it onto a network. Every time we work on something we’re always raising the bar, and there’s no cap on bringing as much excellence as possible.

Who writes the story lines?
BR: We both write the story lines. We both created it as well.  When we started working on the pilot, we actually both quit our jobs to work on it. We threw in everything and said, “This is what we need to do,” and we found a way to make it all work.

I saw a hint of a boardwalk. Was any of it filmed at Fire Island?
DLT: No, actually. I wish that we were able to do some of it on Fire Island. Who knows, maybe down the line in the next couple of seasons we will be able to. We were very fortunate so far; we primarily filmed all within Manhattan. We live in Hell’s Kitchen, so we’ve been very fortunate to have our local community, bars and restaurants, to allow us to film some of these scenes. But that boardwalk you were talking about was actually shot on the High Line.

Are you two partners?
BR: Yes, we’ve been together since 2000, and we’ve been married since 2007.

I love that.
DLT: We met when we came to study theatre and acting here in New York. Now we have a partnership not only in life but in career.

To find Here TV, log ontoheretv.com/ordernow

Here TV is also now available as a YouTube premium channel. Connect with “People You Know” on Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo, Instagram and the PYK website.