Wes Hurley is a Russian-American writer and filmmaker. He has collaborated with many theater, drag, and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

performers 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 region o ...

and raised awareness of human rights violations in Russia.

Early life and education

Born and raised in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

(present-day

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

), Hurley moved to

in the 1990s at the age of 16 with his mother when she married an American.Leah Baltus, , ''City Arts'', April 25, 2012.Natasha Lipman
"'I hated my homophobic stepdad, then he came out'"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

, February 21, 2020.

Career

Hurley's films, many with gay themes, include '' Waxie Moon'', ''

Waxie Moon in Fallen Jewel ''Waxie Moon in Fallen Jewel'' is a 2011 pop-art musical comedy from cult filmmaker, Wes Hurley. It stars the renowned performance artist, Marc Kenison as his gender-bending burlesque personae Waxie Moon, as well as The Stranger Genius-award ...

'', ''Zolushka'', ''Rusalka'',Matt Baume
"People to Watch in 2015"
''The Advocate'', January 2, 2015. and the web and later TV series ''Capitol Hill'', which premiered in 2014.Brangien Davies
"After growing up gay in Russia, a Seattle filmmaker wins big"
''Crosscut'', January 18, 2019. He has also collaborated with theater, cabaret, and drag performers including Waxie Moon,

Sarah Rudinoff Sarah Rudinoff (born August 26, 1971) is an American actress, singer, and writer. She was the recipient of a 2004 Genius Award from the Seattle, Washington alternative weekly newspaper '' The Stranger''. Life and career Born in Alexandria, Virgini ...

Jinkx Monsoon Jerick Roman Lamar Hoffer (born September 18, 1987), better known by the stage name Jinkx Monsoon, is an American drag performer, actor, comedian and singer best known for winning the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and the seventh seas ...

, BenDeLaCreme, and Jackie Hell, and raised awareness of human rights violations in Russia.Wes Hurley
"Growing Up Gay in Russia"
''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', February 2, 2016. In 2020, Hurley filmed "Potato Dreams of America" - a dark autobiographical comedy starring

Dan Lauria Daniel Joseph Lauria (born April 12, 1947) is an American actor, known for playing the role of Jack Arnold in ''The Wonder Years'' (1988–1993), Jack Sullivan on ''Sullivan and Son'' (2012–2014), and Al Luongo on '' Pitch'' (2016–2017). Ear ...

, Lea DeLaria, Jonathan Bennett, Sera Barbieri, Tyler Bocock, Marya Sea Kaminsky, Hersh Powers, Lady Rizo, Sophia Mitry Schloss and

Lauren Tewes Cynthia Lauren Tewes () is an American actress. She played Julie McCoy on the television drama anthology series ''The Love Boat'', which originally aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986. Early years Tewes was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania, of Germ ...

. The film premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

on March 16, 2021. Hurley has been a regular contributor to ''

''.

Private life

Hurley realized he was gay before leaving Russia; he

came out 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 ...

to his mother when he was 16. His autobiographical film '' Little Potato'', co-directed by Nathan Miller, tells the story of their migration, his adolescence, and his mother's relationship with her spouse, who ultimately came out as

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

Honors

In 2013 Hurley was chosen as one of the Artists of the Year by ''City Arts'' magazine, along with

Megan Griffiths Megan Griffiths (born April 22, 1975) is a film and television director who resides in Seattle, Washington, U.S., and is a board member of Northwest Film Forum. Early life and education Megan Griffiths was born in Ohio, lived in Moscow, Idaho ...

Macklemore Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; (formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper and songwriter. A native of Seattle, Washington, he has collaborated with producer Ryan Lewi ...

Ryan Lewis Ryan Scott Lewis (born March 25, 1988) is an American record producer, DJ, videographer, photographer, graphic designer, music video director, rapper, and songwriter. Along with producing his own album, ''Instrumentals'', Lewis produced the alb ...

, and

., ''City Arts'', November 25, 2013. He was chosen as a Person to Watch in 2015 by ''The Advocate''. In 2019 he won a

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has commi ...

grant. ''Little Potato'' won over two dozen awards from around the world including Jury Awards at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

, Oslo Fusion,

Sarasota Film Festival The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and is held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-lo ...

, Annapolis Film Festival, USA Film Festival and Audience Awards at Outfest,

Ashland Independent Film Festival The Ashland Independent Film Festival is held in Ashland, Oregon, United States. It has been organized by the non-profit Southern Oregon Film Society since 2001. Founded by D.W. and Steve Wood, the festival is held each spring over five days at th ...

and Mardi Gras Film Festival. ''Little Potato'' had its online premiere on ''Topic'' and was later picked up by ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''. The short is also a Vimeo Staff pick, was short-listed by ''

The Wrap ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' and nominated for Best Short by

Cinema Eye Honors The Cinema Eye Honors are awards recognizing excellence in nonfiction or documentary filmmaking and include awards for the disciplines of directing, producing, cinematography and editing. The awards are presented each January in New York and have b ...

. The companion VR piece ''Potato Dreams premiered at

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

Film Festival and

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 ti ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurley, Wes Living people American film directors American film producers American television producers Gay entertainers Gay screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people) LGBT film directors Russian LGBT entertainers Soviet emigrants to the United States Russian LGBT screenwriters LGBT people from Washington (state) Filmmakers from Seattle People from Seattle