EXCLUSIVE: xXPonyBoyDerekXx, described as “a boundary-breaking digital play fusing theater, film, and mixed digital media into an epic multi-week online event,” will play out across the internet on X (formerly Twitter) and OnlyFans starting today, executive producer John Cameron Mitchell announced.
The project, from Mitchell and producer Arterial Projects, is written by playwright Gage Tarlton and co-directed by Tarlton and Carlos Cardona, and follows the character of an 18-year-old OnlyFans creator in real-time as he navigates “a fraught path of autonomy, capitalism, sexuality, and survival amid the demands of physical commodification in a virtual world.”
The story, utilizing a hybrid approach to drama, will be told entirely through OnlyFans and X posts, with producers describing the story as “an incendiary coming-of-age story detailing how the internet distorts reality and leaves a mark on the young and on-line body.”
Viewers will need to subscribe at OnlyFans.com/xXPonyBoyDerekXx. The xXPonyBoyDerekXx videos are all pre-recorded.
“Gage Tarlton hacks the commercial source code of the OnlyFans hi-tech strip club to craft a totally new kind of humane storytelling,” said Mitchell. “It flips the camera back onto the viewer to force them to experience the actual humanity behind digital sex work. Finally! Young intelligent filmmakers and theater-makers subvert the Porn Industrial Complex for the purpose of empathy!”
The protagonist of xXPonyBoyDerekXx will be played by what producers are calling “an up-and-coming viral internet star” whose identity won’t be revealed until the final scenes. Co-starring will be Boomer Banks, an OnlyFans personality and community advocate, playing “Aaron Channing.”
xXPonyBoyDerekXx will feature scenic design by Ana Novačić, costume design by Catharina Schürenberg, art direction by Sydney Buchan, and original music by Daniel Schlossberg. Other credits include Brayden Simpson as line producer and Brian Sabowski is the unit production manager, and the intimacy team is Teniece Divya Johnson (Intimacy Consultant) and Marcus Watson (Intimacy Coordinator).
Tarlton’s previous work has been developed with La Mama ETC, Victory Gardens Theater, The Kennedy Center, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Queen City New Play Initiative, and Kenan Theater Company. He was a 2019 Kennedy Center Playwriting Fellow, a 2023 finalist and 2020 semifinalist for The O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference, among other accomplishments. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild and is represented by Farrah Cukor at United Talent Agency.
Cardona’s work includes two feature films, Second Chance (2016) and Scenes from a Breakup (2018). Carlos has shot numerous feature documentaries including the Netflix hip-hop documentary Stretch & Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives (2015); Mixtape, the upcoming story about the history of mixtapes for Def Jam; and Discovery+’s They Call Him Mostly Harmless.
Mitchell is best known for writing and starring in the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and has also appeared in stage productions Big River, Six Degrees of Separation, The Destiny of Me, Hello Again and The Secret Garden. He also wrote/directed the films Shortbus (2006), Rabbit Hole (2010, Oscar nomination for Nicole Kidman) and Neil Gaiman’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties. TV credits include The Sandman, Girls, Shrill, Mozart in the Jungle, Vinyl, The Good Fight, Yellowjackets, City on Fire, and as Joe Exotic in Joe Vs Carole.