“I was a young artist interested in telling stories that resonated with me. I wanted to see myself and my community on-screen,” Polk said.
Polk, who’s openly gay, wrote and developed “Noah’s Arc,” a short film-turned-half-hour comedy and drama that follows four Black and brown gay men navigating careers and romance in Los Angeles. It was the first scripted series to launch the fledgling Logo TV in 2005, where it ran for two seasons.
The show’s central characters were aspiring screenwriter and hopeless romantic Noah, his bisexual love interest Wade, matriarch Alex, promiscuous clothing store owner Ricky and married college professor Chance. Their honest storylines dealt with homophobia, bisexuality, HIV/AIDS, addiction, infidelity and same-gender-loving relationships.
Polk is releasing “Noah’s Arc: The Movie” on Paramount+ and Showtime on Friday. Filmed in Atlanta, it shows the original characters wrestling with career dilemmas, parenting, generational shifts, health and grief 20 years after the show’s premiere.
Credit: Matt Miller/Paramount+
Polk, who directed season one of the series, also composed original music and served as executive producer. He was inspired by director Spike Lee’s independent filmmaking.
“His motto was ‘By any means necessary,’ and he made his first film (1986’s “She’s Gotta Have It”) with whatever money he could pull together, and it launched an amazing career. Making a short film with a video camera doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, so I gathered whatever funds that I could, got my artist friends together and just made something,” Polk said.
Studying film at USC School of Cinematic Arts gave him the confidence to create original work centering on Black queer men.
“I was naive enough to think that I could achieve at anything but audacious enough to do whatever I wanted to do as an artist. No one was going to call me to give me an opportunity to tell my story or checking for Black gay stories because none had really been done at that time,” Polk said.
Credit: Matt Miller/Paramount+
The series was previously adapted into a feature film, “Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom,” screened in select theaters in 2008. Polk decided to make another full-length project after the response from his 2020 livestreamed short, “Noah’s Arc: The ’Rona Chronicles,” which featured the cast interacting on a Zoom call during the shutdown from COVID-19.
“Noah’s Arc: The Movie” was shot in Atlanta in 2023. The writers strike during postproduction delayed its release.
“Our core fan base has aged with the show, so I wanted to show who Black gay men are as we slide into middle age,” Polk said.
Polk, a Hattiesburg, Mississippi, native, made his directorial debut with “Punks,” a romantic comedy produced by songwriter Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, in 2000. He released the feature films “The Skinny” in 2012 and the coming-of-age story “Blackbird” two years later.
In 2015, he moved to metro Atlanta to work on scripted television. He became a writer on BET’s “Being Mary Jane,” Starz’s “P-Valley” and Showtime’s “The Chi.” Now splitting his time between Los Angeles and East Point, Polk calls Atlanta his “second home.”
“I’ve gotten to know the city, film and TV community well over the years. Atlanta has a rich production community, so it’s very easy to shoot movies here. It felt like the right thing to do, especially for our budget,” Polk said.
One of those aforementioned “core” fans is Atlanta resident Lonnell Williams. Williams hosted the LGBTQ interview and travel digital series 3LWTV.
Williams said “Noah’s Arc” presents complex, nuanced portrayals of Black queer men. “We [same-gender-loving men] are often featured as flamboyant caricatures or attached to the hips of a white savior. Our stories are rich and plentiful on their own,” he said.
“The original series is an important milestone as mainstream media continues to overlook our stories. Polk is a boss whose storytelling remains masterful, relatable and downright fun.”
Credit: Leon Bennett
Atlanta resident and series fan Mykel Fisher was introduced to “Noah’s Arc” through a friend’s DVD collection in 2008. He said he appreciated seeing Black queer characters having joy and not being affected by trauma in every story arc.
“I was excited to see men of color being represented in a series that explored the complexities of romantic relationships while maintaining lifelong friendships in a world that can invalidate your existence at times,” Fisher said.
“The show definitely became a rite of passage for storytelling in our community, and I’m excited that Patrik-Ian Polk is giving us another iteration of the story.”
Polk is currently working on an adaptation of E. Lynn Harris’ 1991 novel “Invisible Life.” He’s proud that audiences continue to connect with his show 20 years after its release.
“It’s had amazing legs, so I hope people will never lose their enthusiasm for the show and always remember love,” Polk said.
About the Author
Christopher A. Daniel is a Black Culture reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is an Atlanta-based, award-winning journalist, cultural critic and ethnomusicologist. He previously taught courses at Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and Georgia State University.
