Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBT-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) Bisexual True Blood actress Anna Paquin is in negotiations with HBO to executive-produce mini-series Madame X, a period drama based in Victorian New York City and based off of the book My Notorious Life: A Novel by Kate Manning. Madame X chronicles the controversial life of Axie Muldoon, an orphaned immigrant who grew up to create a thriving midwife business and "defied the law in the name of women’s reproductive rights." Paquin would star as Muldoon and serve as executive producer, along with her producing partner and husband Stephen Moyer and actor Jack Black.
2) TV host extraordinaire Ellen DeGeneres is set to executive-produce a new reality show for NBC. Based off of a U.K. series, First Dates documents several couples on their first date, taking place in the same restaurant and during the same evening. NBC has ordered eight episodes and filming begins this summer in Chicago. No premiere date has been set yet.
3) ABC Family has ordered a "straight-to-saga," 13-episode order for Shadowhunters, based off of the best-selling YA series The Mortal Instruments. Praised for its inclusive characters in both the books and its single feature foray (2013's The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), the series follows 18-year-old Clary Fray as she discovers she is a "Shadowhunter," a human-angel hybrid that hunts demons. Thrown into a world of werewolves, warlocks, and a cast of other mythical characters, Clary meets fellow hunter Alec, who hides the fact that he's gay from other hunters, and Magnus, a bisexual warlock, among others.
4)Out LGBT advocate George Takei and his husband Brad have announced a new reality web series, It Takeis Two, which will follow the couple's day to day lives including preparations for George's new Broadway show Allegiance based on his true childhood story. It Takeis Two will premiere April 7, check out the trailer below.
5) Out bisexual singer Sia released a new video this week for her new U.K. single "Big Girls Cry." The video is the third to star 12-year-old Dance Moms star Maddie Ziegler, she previously starred in the videos for "Chandelier" and "Elastic Heart." Check out the "Big Girls Cry" video below, Sia's album 1000 Forms of Fear is available on iTunes.
6) Short film Pride Fighter is seeking help to complete its funding. Pride Fighter tells the story of an amateur mixed martial arts fighter who is rejected by his fighting partners and trainers once he comes out. An examination of the discrimination and challenges many gay athletes face, Pride Fighter's raised funds will be used to bring in actors, rent camera equipment, and pay for film festival submission fees. For more information on the project, head to the film's Kickstarter page.