Synopsis
Starring Canada’s Drag Race legend Kendall Gender, Stay is a tender exploration of relationships. On their last night in town, Kaleb– known more commonly by the stage name Ivy Diamonds (Kendall Gender)– meets Ryan (Riley Davis), an artist from Vancouver. The few hours they spend together before Kaleb heads back to his tumultuous relationship bring him an unexpected sense of clarity.
Director Biography – King Louie Palomo
King Louie is a Queer, Filipino-Canadian, producer-director committed to uncompromising visions that challenge conventional paradigms. He works to encourage dialogue and foster community through producing films and other media forms. Over the past five years, King created short films that have been screened at local and international film festivals.
As a producer, King’s credits include CROSSROADS, which was acquired by Viddsee, LOST BENEATH THE STARS (Warsaw 2018, Edmonton 2018), which was bought at Cannes Film Market by RTE Ireland for network and online distribution and secured European theatrical and online distribution with Sofy TV. He also produced THE GIFT (currently on the festival circuit) and THE LONELIEST BOY IN THE WORLD (featured on Directors Notes, Booooooom TV), which was written and starred by Dylan Schmid.
As a writer-director, King’s credits include NENE (Standout Director at 21st Reelworld Film Fest) and recently finished STAY, starring Kendall Gender (Canada’s Drag Race Season 2, Canada vs The World)
King Louie also works in the Visual Effects industry as a Production Manager and currently working at Distillery VFX. Recent credits include: WENDELL AND WILD (Netflix) and THE LAST OF US S1 (HBOMax.)
Currently, King is in post-production for a new short film titled AUGANIC and developing STAY for his first feature-length film.
STAY is inspired by years of being a fan of drag art and watching Drag Race and wondering what it’s like to date and be in a relationship when you’re a drag artist, and what’s it like to date a drag queen? I’ve been wondering, “Is it difficult for either party? What are those experiences like?”.
With STAY, I want to tell a story of a relationship that isn’t impeded by this stigmatism and by the typical setbacks that we’ve seen frequently addressed in queer cinema. I want to tell a story that captures an innately unique tension. Even though the setting is particular, I think the story is a very universal one. Who hasn’t met someone spontaneously one night and had an instant connection only to have that romantic bubble bust because that person is not available. Most importantly, I wanted to create a portrait of Drag from a much deeper perspective. The story of STAY is as relevant today as ever in its attempt to show that they are more than pretty makeup and wigs. There are so many stories to tell in this world and so many that aren’t being told.
STAY explores a budding queer and drag romance through a naturalistic lens that makes us feel like we’re in the room, right there with them. I hope that audiences will come away from the film knowing that we all will find love at some point in our lives, and it doesn’t matter if you are gay, straight, bi, transgender, or a drag queen.