“Merce,” a campy musical comedy webseries starring Charles Sanchez, former musical director at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, has been selected for September’s Official Latino Short Film Festival in New York, following screenings at Brooklyn Web Fest and Austin WebFest. The series tells the story of a single, gay, HIV-positive man in Manhattan with an unshakeably sunny outlook and a Barbara Eden twinkle in his eye. “I wanted to show something opposite, something that reflected my own attitudes and life,” Sanchez said.  

“As a culture, we’re suffering from major PTSD from the AIDS crisis of the early ’80s and ’90s. The images of ravaged, sick and dying men and women were so vivid that they echo in our collective consciousness. When we hear “HIV,” those images come up, no matter how long ago they were.” 

“Merce” is the brainchild of Sanchez and Tyne Firmin, and is in the fundraising phase for its second season. All eight episodes of the first season are up at mercetv.com.

Merce, a comedy series – Trailer from MerceTV on Vimeo.

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