Photo: The cast and crew of Gay Pride & Prejudice (L-R Ronald Peet, Vella Lovell, Zackary Grady, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Justin Mikita, Blake Lee) on the red carpet ahead of their Tribeca Film Festival Panel: A Romantic Comedy Event: Gay Pride and Prejudice. Credit: Getty.
Few writers have made their mark on the literary canon quite like Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice-her saga of courtship, candor, class, and, ultimately, love and marriage-has been the subject of much adaptation, interpretation, and admiration since its 1813 publication. It's a personal favorite of playwright Zackary Grady, who, after the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage, set out to work on a script for a queer, modern stage adaptation. Around the start of the pandemic, his idea transitioned from one on the stage to a fully auditory performance-spurring the new fiction podcast Gay Pride & Prejudice.
The Spotify Original podcast and Gimlet production follows Bennet, a 30-something gay man navigating dating and avoiding commitment in Boston, over the course of a year. The 10-episode saga-chapters run approximately 20 minutes each-stars Blake Lee as Bennet; Ronald Peet as a brooding, ex-football-playing Darcy; Tony Award-winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Colin; and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's Vella Lovell as Charlotte. Jesse is also an executive producer alongside her husband, Justin Mikita, and Mimi O'Donnell, Gimlet's Head of Scripted Fiction. Gay Pride & Prejudice debuted in time for Pride Month and new episodes are released every Wednesday.
The production, which has been in the works for over six years, is one that has been treated with utmost care-as well as incredible levity. Having someone who's such a fanatical Jane Austen fan being charged with this has been really fun because [Zackary's] left a lot of breadcrumbs for people who are big fans of Jane Austen, Jesse told For the Record. Yet Zackary, fan as he is, looked at his task through a sober lens. The purpose of an adaptation is not to nerd out, it's to tell a good story, he explained. And to tell a good story, Zackary indebted his setting with intention.
A time and place for everything Gay Pride & Prejudice takes place from June 2015 to June 2016, so it is a period piece, Zackary told For the Record. And I leaned into anything that happened in that year-that was really our world and our backdrop. And what it meant to be queer through that year was very different than it is today. It feels like a time capsule already, which is both great and sad how much has changed so quickly.
Zackary's first impression of Pride and Prejudice was that it was very gay in its original telling. They go to balls and have drama. Oh, so they're gay, he joked. So when the 2015 ruling occurred and Zackary realized there was finally an opportunity to tell this version of the story, he seized the opportunity. And with this backdrop came the opportunity for new evolutions of the beloved characters to unfold.
The way that Zackary wrote it to be so irreverent in the period that it's set in, I didn't feel like I had to play any kind of game with matching my character up with the Darcy that I had encountered in reading, or in other adaptations or interpretations, said Ronald. So it felt like all of us had free range to make our characters extremely original.
Ronald's other half in the show, Blake, agreed. Every rom-com started with [books like Pride and Prejudice], Blake explained. But I didn't feel like I had to play the Lizzie Bennet from the books. There were just these moments that came through in his writing that I felt were so true to the original character, but we still got to make it our own thing.
The entire cast, though, is clear-eyed about the relevance of Gay Pride & Prejudice's setting today. Hopefully the podcast serves as a reminder of how much this legislation, these decisions, impact people's lives in such a small, nuanced way, Zackary said. It's more than just laws; it's people's lives. And I think we forget that, and I hope that our story contains a picture of fully rounded queer people and reminds us that it's not just a marriage certificate. It's so much more than that.
Adapting and queering characters Fans who listen to Gay Pride & Prejudice will encounter a cast of characters who represent many facets of the LGBTQ community-and give a voice not only to different races and sexualities, but also to those who are HIV+. This is conveyed through casting, scripting, and use of voice and audio queues.
It was important to represent the diversity in the community, Justin told For the Record. We also have some ideas for future seasons that would expand even further upon the world and and be inclusive of trans, nonbinary, and pansexual stories. We really wanted to make it feel authentic and inclusive without feeling forced. And it was very important for us to find a cast that also reflected the stories that we're telling.
Some of the characters even flipped common conventions-such as the gay best friend trope-on their heads. To me it's just real life, reflected Vella, who plays Charlotte, the token straight best friend. In real life, it's not just straight white men with one Black sexy friend. Everyone is a star of their own story, and everyone has different supporting characters, and I think it's so much fun to play with that. This is real life for this particular story and this particular perspective.
A work of audio fiction If marriage is a key theme of the podcast, it's also a prominent one between the creative team and Gimlet. Audio always lends itself well to playwrights, noted Mimi.
Transforming a play-based script into an audio-focused production isn't always seamless. So that's where Mimi comes
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
Photo: The cast and crew of Gay Pride & Prejudice (L-R Ronald Peet, Vella Lovell, Zackary Grady, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Justin Mikita, Blake Lee) on the red carpet ahead of their Tribeca Film Festival Panel: A Romantic Comedy Event: Gay Pride and Prejudice. Credit: Getty.
