Don’t Miss Billy Clift’s “The Lair: Hollywood” Coming to HERE TV in 2024

When the heads of HERE TV decided to reboot The Lair, they brought on filmmaker Billy Clift to re-imagine the world of the show, write the season’s scripts, and direct six 30-minute episodes.

Clift — with a successful track record at the network and a natural aptitude for world-creating — had always wanted to explore the vampire genre and is committed to telling queer stories. So he was enthusiastic.

“It’s totally different than anything I’ve done,” he says.

The network’s executives didn’t want a continuation of the original series, nor did they want him to copy the tone. They wanted something sexy, a little scary, and evocative of the diverse gay community today.

“I like to rethink things, re-imagine,” Clift says. “I usually say yes because I don’t know where it’s going to take me.”

And with Clift’s signing on, The Lair: Hollywood was born.

The show takes place in Los Angeles, where the entire vampire population has been killed by werewolves. As a ploy to repopulate the city, the ancient vampires send Landon Scott, a centuries-old gay vampire last awake in the 1920s, to contemporary Los Angeles to take care of the problem.

Clift is more than just a director. He’s a writer, producer, production designer, and editor, too. He is pulling from his varied expertise across departments to bring this fantastical world to life, which has turned the assignment into a cinematic display of vision.

His first move: casting Emrhys Cooper as the lead, “Landon Scott”.

“When [Billy] sent me the pilot, I knew he got it,” Cooper says. “His vision was so clear. And when we got to set, it just crystallized.”

When Clift was writing, he wanted “Landon” to be an enlightened figure, unphased by fleeting trends.

“He’s been around for so many hundreds of years that he looks at the world…[as] something that constantly changes,” Clift says.

For Cooper — who for the first time is playing the title character in a television series — was excited to breathe life into such an iconic, queer character on screen.

“It [was] interesting to explore the duality of his charm and his…devilish side, let’s say,” Cooper says. “You have to love to hate him and enjoy loving to hate him. I wanted to make sure you’ll root for him even if his motives are a little diabolical.”

The show’s cast also features LATV’s own Enrique Sapene, who plays an aloof and over-the-top real estate agent who crosses paths with “Landon Scott” and is lured into his lair.

“To bring this sexy, elegant, artful point of view and involve this diversity of actors in this world is extraordinary,” Sapene says. “[Billy] is so committed … and that reflects in everything [he] does in [his] art, particularly in this show.”

They shot a three-hour story (six 30-minute episodes) in just eleven days. It was always crunch time, but Clift and the whole team paced themselves through production days with grace.

“It’s important to me, as a director, to create a feeling on set that everyone feels comfortable. Yes, we have to get our work done, but…we can be relaxed and have a good time,” Clift says.

Though he wears many hats, his directorial style is naturally collaborative and empathetic.

“I felt very safe and free to do my best work,” Cooper says. “There was an intimacy coordination conversation before sex scenes. There were lots of rehearsals before the fight sequences. [Billy] created a great environment.”

Clift, who’s currently in post-production for the series, aims for the show to tie together elements of horror and sexual desire through captivating story, interesting characters, and a focus on beauty.

The cast is almost entirely gay, which normalizes and explores the many layers of gay identity. And they have a lot of sex, which can be captured on camera in many ways.

“When they were having sex, I wanted it to look like a painting,” Clift says. “They’re draped as if it’s a photoshoot. It should be beautiful.”

For Clift, it’s about taking his own stylized vision of the world and re-creating that sense of wonder in his work. Yes, it’s a steamy show with beautiful men. Yes, there are special effects and glamorous locations. But, it’s also an imaginative new time stamp on the current state of the queer community.

The show premieres on HERE TV in January 2024, so we’ll have to be patient. But, in the meantime, don’t miss exclusive interviews with Billy Clift and Emrhys Cooper on The Q Agenda this August and September.