Wow Presents Plus, the subscription streaming service from the creators of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” has announced the addition of four new original projects and the renewal of five current original series.
Coming this winter to the streaming platform is “Frenemies,” a series that takes a look at the heated history between Trinity Taylor and Eureka O’Hara, two contestants from Season 9 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”; “Out of Iraq: Settling Down in Seattle,” which is a continuation of the Emmy-winning documentary “Out of Iraq,” a film that follows Nayyef and Btoo, an Iraqi translator and an Iraqi soldier who fled war-torn Ramadi for a new life together; “Reading Queens with Psychic Char Margolis,” which follows the celebrity psychic Char Margolis as she communicates with the dead relatives and friends of select drag queens; and “Weekend Playlist with PEG Records,” a series that will feature music from some of the most popular RuPaul’s Drag Race Queens, including Alaska, Manila Luzon, Latrice Royale, and Jinkx Monsoo.
In addition to the new titles, Wow Presents Plus has renewed six of its original series including “UNHhhh,” “ICONIC,” “Wait, What?,” “Follow Me,” “Gaymer Guys,” and “His Vintage Touch with Tony Medina.”
The continued focus on creating content exclusive to Wow Presents Plus is part of the streamer’s strategy to drive viewership and membership to its 3.99 per month subscription OTT service, which launched in November 2017 with a slate of nine original series.
Over the past year, World of Wonder (WOW), the production company behind the Wow Presents Plus service and its original content, has taken three of its shows from digital to TV, including “Dancing Queen,” which was announced for digital before Netflix bought it, “Untucked,” the only YouTube program nominated for an Emmy last year before being purchased by VH1, and “The Trixie and Katya Show,” which was picked up by Viceland.
In addition to its streaming service, WOW also uses live events to drive revenue and build community. In 2015, the company launched the first RuPaul’s DragCon located at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Two years later, DragCon Los Angeles 2017 broke records with more than 40,000 attendees. Last year, WOW brought the convention to the east coast, launching it in New York City at the Javits Convention Center.
“The ethos of World of Wonder has always been about building a community. From our TV shows and documentaries, to our gallery space in Hollywood, to our bi-coastal yearly conventions, our mission is to service our audience with programming, experiences and product,” said founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato in a joint statement. “Our streaming platform WOW Presents Plus is a natural extension of that mission statement, allowing us to produce and distribute content directly to our audience. The response for WOW Presents Plus over the past year has been incredible, and we are committed to continuing to expand the volume of content, as well as membership experience opportunities.”