Building Queer Media From Nothing with Damian Pelliccione

Wines We're Drinking

Jessica: 2023 Vino Blanco from Para Wines, a Latino owned winery in Oregon

Damian: Be Free non-alcoholic rosé (Bevmo, under $10 a bottle)

Jessica sits down with Damian Pelliccione, Hollywood's only openly non-binary CEO and co-founder of Revery, the first queer, certified minority owned and operated streaming media company. Damian breaks down what a drag king actually is, gives the inside scoop on King of Drag Season 2 premiering September 20th, and gets honest about building a media company from nothing with three co-founders from wildly different backgrounds. The conversation moves through coming out to an immigrant Italian family, the $1.7 trillion in LGBTQ+ spending power, the Target boycott, and watching ICE activity in his own East LA neighborhood. Pour a glass, this one covers a lot of ground.

Content note: this episode includes discussion of immigration enforcement (ICE) and its impact on immigrant communities, plus anti-trans legislation and political attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.

In This Episode We Cover

[00:00] Intro, name pronunciation banter, and meet Damian Pelliccione

[01:19] Wines We're Drinking: Be Free non-alcoholic rosé and the alcohol-free mixology boom

[12:03] Pronouns, allyship, and holding space with intention

[20:07] Chisme break: phone addiction, digital distraction, and choosing to unplug

[28:26] What is a drag king? Breaking down the art form and the King of Drag origin story

[42:16] Coming out to an immigrant family and building Revery from a hotel room idea

[53:31] The hardest part of building a queer and POC owned company, and why diversity accelerates innovation

[1:04:26] LGBTQ+ buying power, the Target boycott, and Latina Power chisme

[1:11:08] Trans safety, the King of Drag national tour, and real allyship

[1:17:17] ICE in his East LA neighborhood, fashion as protest, and where to watch King of Drag

About Damian: Named one of Business Insider's top power player execs in video streaming, co-founder of Revry, GLAAD Media Award winner for Drag Latina, and a graduate of the Goldman Sachs Black and Latinx 2020 Accelerator Program.

Connect with Damian Pelliccione

Reverie: www.reverie.com

King of Drag Season 2: premieres Sunday, September 20th on Reverie

King of Drag National Tour: www.kingofdragtour.com

Mic Drop podcast: streaming on Reverie

Instagram: @damianmedia

@kingofdragtv

Connect with Wine & Chisme

Website: www.thewineandchismepodcast.com

Instagram: @thewineandchisme

TikTok: @thewineandchisme

Call us and tell us how we're doing (858) 304-0266

Sin prisa. Sin vergüenza. Con vino.

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