Quenton Allan Brocka (born 1972) is an American television and film director based in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

. He has directed and written a number of feature films while creating an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

television series for the

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

cable network. He also writes a column for '' The Advocate''.

Personal life

Brocka was born and spent his childhood in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. His family moved to the

mainland United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

, settling in

Parkland, Washington Parkland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington. The population was 35,803 at the time of the 2010 census and had grown to 38,623 as of the 2020 census. It is an unincorporated suburb of the city of Tacoma and is home t ...

where he attended Washington High School. He earned a degree in communications from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in Seattle and went on to get a Masters in film from the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

. Brocka is of

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

heritage and is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

. His uncle was

Lino Brocka Catalino Ortiz Brocka (April 3, 1939 – May 22, 1991) was a Filipino film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema. He co-founded the organization Concerned Art ...

, a film director in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and an advocate for

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

rights.

Career and awards

At eight years old, Brocka began creating simple slide shows from photographs and adding soundtracks. At age nine, his mother, a saleswoman for

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

, brought home a video camera and Brocka began creating

short films A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

and

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

. He found an early fascination with

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

, but after seeing ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...

'' and some

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

films as a teen, he realized

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

was a legitimate subject. While living in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, he directed a queer

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

show for several years. In 1999, Brocka released the animated short '' Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All The World'', an irreverent story of a lesbian couple and gay couple who dislike each other, but decide to have a baby together. The short was done as a school project that Brocka then submitted to

Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation is a presentation of Award-winning animated short films, annually touring throughout theaters, film festivals or college campuses in the United States. Background The festival is presented annually in th ...

. It went on to show and win awards at seven different film festivals. Brocka went on to create another short, ''Roberta Loved'', a story of a morbidly obese woman who is fired from her job and learns she will die. ''Roberta Loved'' won another set of awards, and Brocka learned that his audience was willing to be disturbed by his subject matter, whether through humor (as in ''Rick and Steve'') or drama (as in ''Roberta Loved'' and ''Seventy''). His next works were iconic documentaries of

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, ''

Porno Valley Porno Valley is a documentary series that aired from January 11, 2004 to April 4, 2004. This 13 part series follows the Vivid girls for 6 months. They present their work, their dreams and the daily life. They face the trouble in their relationsh ...

'', a reality show featuring

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

actresses from

Vivid Entertainment Vivid Entertainment Group is an American pornographic film production company,

and ''Camp Michael Jackson'' about the encampment of fans and media outside the

court trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

of pop-music star

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. Brocka was approached by Ariztical Entertainment to create low-budget gay romances and he agreed. For the first film, ''

Eating Out ''Eating Out'' is a 2004 American sex comedy film written and directed by Q. Allan Brocka and starring Rebekah Kochan, Ryan Carnes, Jim Verraros, Scott Lunsford, and Emily Stiles. Plot After getting dumped by his girlfriend Tiffani von der Sloot ...

'', Brocka reached out to ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' contestant

Jim Verraros James Conrad Verraros (born February 8, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor, who placed ninth on the American Idol (season 1), first season of ''American Idol.'' Child of deaf adult, Raised by deaf parents, he is fluent in American ...

, who had never previously acted, as a co-star. It went on to win several awards, including 2004 Best Feature at the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. ''Eating Out'' has spawned four sequels: 2006's ''Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds'' and 2009's ''Eating Out All You Can Eat'', neither of which included Brocka's direct involvement, and ''Eating Out: Drama Camp'' and ''Eating Out: The Open Weekend'', both from 2011, which Brocka directed and co-wrote, also serving as producer for the former. ''

Boy Culture ''Boy Culture'' is a 2006 American romantic drama film directed by Q. Allan Brocka, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Matthew Rettenmund. The film stars Derek Magyar, Darryl Stephens, Patrick Bauchau, Jonathon Trent, and Emily Brooke ...

'', Brocka's 2006 feature-length release, won more than a dozen awards at

film festivals A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

around the world, including Best Writing at the 2006

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

and Best Feature Film at Festival del Mar in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The

cable network later picked up ''Rick & Steve'' as an animated series, which aired from 2007 to 2009. Brocka also performed some of the show's voices.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Q. Allan Brocka
on Myspace * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brocka, Q. Allan 1972 births American film directors American animated film directors American people of Filipino descent American television directors Animators from California California Institute of the Arts alumni Guamanian male actors Guamanian people of Filipino descent LGBT film directors LGBT television directors American LGBT people of Asian descent Living people University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Guamanian LGBT people People from Parkland, Washington