Our story:
The Emmy nominated - BEACON HILL the SERIES is back by popular demand for Season Two with longer episodes, positive LGBTQ representation, juicy romance, intrigue and political drama...all spearheaded by our Executive Producer Crystal Chappell, the Emmy Winning actress and producer of "Otalia" , Days of our Lives and Venice the Series fame.
Hi. My name is Jessica and I’m one of the Creators and Producers of BEACON HILL the SERIES. Our story began in the summer of 2013. My writing partner Linda and I were talking about some of the television shows that we missed. Shows like The West Wing and Dallas, ER and Dynasty. We were also lamenting the loss of so many daytime dramas that had been cancelled in recent years.
Soon we were daydreaming about the kind of show we’d love to see. Something smart with great dialog that focused on strong female relationships. We enjoy politics so that had to be included. But we also missed those old soapy dramas and we wanted to see shows that delved deep into relationships between star crossed lovers and families who harbor secrets. And finally, we wanted to see ourselves represented on the screen. Strong, successful women who just happen to be gay.
We wanted to watch a drama. A drama full of political corruption and intrigue, family connections and betrayal, and of course—there had to be romance. Lots of romance.
So as crazy as it sounds, we decided to write and produce the show ourselves.
In 2014 we were extremely fortunate to partner with Emmy winning actress and producer Crystal Chappell—who has produced her own Emmy-winning drama Venice the Series, which is now entering its sixth season. We were lucky enough to have a dream cast of daytime actors who came on board and brought our show to life.
We self-funded Season One and were thrilled by the overwhelming response. That first season received three daytime Emmy nominations, including one for Outstanding New Approaches Drama. We could not have been more proud of the incredible work of the entire cast and crew, and everyone who helped make our dream come true.
Who we are:
We run Bella Books, one of the largest independent lgbtq book publishers in the US. Bella focuses on publishing stories by women, written for women. Our goal is always to promote storytelling that tells our stories—through books and now through film. We want to create content that show both women and men in all of their wonderfully complex and layered possibilities. Beacon Hill is the first of what we hope will be many productions.
Season Two:
So Beacon Hill is finally back for Season Two with an amazing script. In addition to the great cast coming back from Season One, we’re absolutely thrilled about the new actors joining in on the fun. We’re welcoming the incredible Marem Hassler of Riley Parra fame, Hillary B. Smith from One Life to Live and General Hospital, Jacob Young of All My Children, Bold and Beautiful and General Hospital and Nadia Bjorlin from Days of our Lives and Venice.
Why are we crowdsourcing this season?
Creating content out of the mainstream of television is always a challenge. Shows that feature lgbtq characters present even more challenges when trying to find a path through the traditional route of streaming and broadcast television. That’s why we’re producing it ourselves. We are passionate about telling our stories. Stories that matter. Stories that entertain. But as you know, filming a big sweeping drama with an amazing cast of actors is expensive. Filming on location in Boston is even more so.
What will the money be used for?
Our cast is split between east and west coasts and we have to get them all to the same New England location. Travel for the cast and crew for Season Two is over $10,000. Hotels for everyone to stay during filming, which this year is nine days, will be $13,000. So you can see how things start to really add up.
Longer Episodes Please!
After season one, we heard from our fans. They wanted longer episodes! And we want to make our fans happy. But longer episodes mean we need more production and post production funds. In addition to hotel and travel, all of the money raised will go to cover our production costs like cameras, lighting, and sound equipment rentals. It will be used to pay the crew and incredible cast for all of their hard work and long hours spent creating magic. Then of course we have to feed our cast and crew for those nine days – 3 meals a day. This production follows SAG/AFTRA rules, which means we are doing things by the book. We have to have liability insurance which is a must when filming on location. We have wardrobe, hair & makeup and transportation costs. Once filming is done we need funds for post-production that include editing, sound, music and color correction so that everyone’s hard work ends up looking and sounding good.
This is where you come in. We need your help making Season Two a reality. Our Season Two script is AMAZING. It’s full of SURPRISES, PASSION, ROMANCE and yes—it has the answer to the longest cliffhanger ever—Who’s at the damn door?
And did I mention the episodes are longer? So I’m asking you to help us make this the BEST Season EVER! Help us bring Season Two of Beacon Hill to life. We promise an amazing ride.
We’re grateful for every single penny that comes our way. No amount is too small or too big! And we have some wonderful perks and incentives to show our gratitude.
We have lunches, meet and greets with cast and crew. We have set visits and even some early viewing of Episode One! We have the usual but always awesome Beacon Hill swag like shirts and hats and hoodies. And of course whiskey glasses so that you can drink like Claire! And we have unique and personalized one-of-a-kind perks that include phones calls with cast members.
If you haven’t watched Season One of Beacon Hill, we invite you to take a look now! Visit https://BeaconHillTheSeries.com for trailers and episodes from last season.
Other Ways You Can Help
We know some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean you can't help us get the word out that Beacon Hill is back! Let people know about this campaign.
Thanks so much for your help – and for joining the Beacon Hill team!