Queer Dating App Jack’d Launches Film Festival With Judges TS Madison, Miss Lawrence, Bobby Ashley, Mike Gauyo and Dyllón Burnside (EXCLUSIVE)

Jack’d, the largest dating app for queer people of color in the United States, is launching the inaugural Jack’d Film Festival, a showcase and competition celebrating original films by queer creators with a particular focus on films that center the experiences, stories and/or perspectives of queer people of color.

TS Madison (“Outlaws With TS Madison” podcast, “Beauty in Black,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Miss Lawrence (“Fashion Queens,” “Empire”), Bobby Ashley (“The Ave,” “Single Man Problems”), Mike Gauyo (“Ginny & Georgia,” “Send Help”) and Dyllón Burnside (“Pose”) will serve as festival judges.

“Queer filmmakers have always created stories that challenge conventions, expand perspectives and help people feel seen,” said Tyrus Townsend, Jack’d Film Festival manager. “The Jack’d Film Festival enables a new crop of filmmakers to bring their stories directly to their audience and gives audiences an active role in celebrating the filmmakers behind them.”

The grand jury award and audience choice award winners will receive $10,000 each.

Joining the Jack’d app and participating in the festival is free. To view films and vote, members need to download and install the Jack’d app. Selected entries will appear only to users of the app from Monday, Nov. 2, through Dec. 3. Both short and full-length films will be eligible for prizes from the $20,000 pool, with Jack’d members able to vote on their favorite films in-app to help select the winner of the Audience Choice Award. Films must be submitted online via instructions found at https://www.jackd.com/filmfestival/ by 5 p.m. PT on Oct. 21. All films will be available for streaming from the app during the festival.

Jack’d is one of the world’s largest GBTQ+ social networking and dating platforms, serving millions of users across more than 180 countries with more than 15 million people in 2,000 cities.