Q&A: Celebrating Pride Month With Quickplay’s Paul Pastor
Paul Pastor is Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Quickplay, an OTT cloud transformation company for the sports, media, and entertainment (SME) sector that delivers OTT solutions for MVPDs, telcos, and direct-to-consumer services. “We sit at the intersection of technology, data and experiences—continually enabling our clients to deliver against their greatest ambitions,” Quickplay states. “We’re reimagining the OTT experience to drive rich, engaging OTT services that can power long-term consumer loyalty and value.”
The company recently developed an AI-based Quickplay Media Companion chatbot that helps users search for content using a voice-based natural language interface. And Quickplay made Streaming Media’s Trendsetting Products and Services of 2024 list for its Media Orchestrator product for simplifying content ingestion organization, planning, versioning, packaging, reporting, and more.
Pastor has been using his platform as an out gay executive to advocate for more authentic and positive LGBTQ+ representation and inclusion in the tech world. Quickplay has been part of this effort. For example, the company launched LGBTQ+ Happy Hours in 2023, which are held annually at industry events such as CES, NAB, and, in 2024, IBC.
Paul Pastor and friends (at left: Robert Ambrose, Co-Founder and CEO of Caretta Research)
In this Q&A, Pastor shares how he feels about the progress that’s been made in LBTQ+ inclusion, why it’s important to be your authentic self at work, what streaming media can do to engage in allyship, and how Quickplay is showing up for LGBTQ+ people, and more.
Brandi Scardilli: Happy Pride! I’d like to start by acknowledging that there are two parts to the idea of increasing visibility and amplifying LGBTQ+ voices in the tech industry—the company culture and the streaming content. I have questions about both, along with questions about the state of support and advocacy.
I’d like to know about your experiences as an out gay executive; I’m curious about the progress or lack thereof you’ve seen since you started your career. In what ways have attitudes and support changed?
Paul Pastor: I think there’s been tremendous progress. Part of why I’ve always loved being in the media business is because it’s often been a driver of social change—those shared experiences we all have around the living room. I still remember watching The Real World season 2 and seeing Pedro Zamora, a gay man living with HIV, on screen. That was the first time a conversation like that came into my living room, and it was all thanks to MTV.
This then led to shows like Will & Grace and Modern Family, which showed storytelling from an LGBTQ+ viewpoint. And then more recently Pose, which told a story through the lens of a transgender community in the 1980s and yet it still felt like a typical family drama. These shows reflected the arc of what audiences are willing to accept, and I’ve been a beneficiary of that change. It’s gone from whispering “I have a boyfriend” in a select company of people you felt comfortable with to being able to walk into any room and comfortably say “my husband” or “my partner” and it’s part of the lexicon, it’s accepted and understood. That’s showing real social normalization nationally and internationally.
Now, let’s look at it from corporate experience. There are certain leaders like my mentor and friend of many years, Rich Ross at Disney, who were trailblazers—he was one of the top “out” executives and really paved the way for broader community acceptance. Today, it’s increasingly common to see diversity of voices, including LGBTQ+, in executive teams or in boardrooms. That said, in media there has been a much greater presence of women, people of different ethnicities, and LGBTQ+ community than, let’s say, in tech, so I still feel a level of responsibility to make sure there’s a safe space and a voice for those communities, which is why we do some of the events that we do. I feel responsible for giving back, making sure those communities have pathways forward and that as a company we are respecting that diversity of voices.
I often tell the story about my view of why it is important to have greater representation both at the board level and throughout a company well beyond just LGBTQ+. It’s again about having a diversity of voices. At Disney, that was intentional—they understood that challenging thought through diverse representation led to better strategy and business decisions. In contrast, at my next company, there wasn’t a single female person on the board in 2015 when I arrived. And I think that lack of diverse voices led to more limited progress. Any board’s purpose is to challenge the executive team, challenge assumptions and help the company make better strategic choices. Different perspectives are mandatory to avoid groupthink and to reflect your audience more truthfully. I think more companies as a whole now value and understand that truth.
BS: Why was being out at work important to you specifically?
PP: A few years back, there was a push to “bring your authentic self to work,” and I’ve always believed in that. You do your best work when you’re honest about who you are. That’s just part of my nature—I tend to share personal and professional experiences openly.
Being out at work grounds how others understand me, my perspective, and even my biases. When people see the complete me, not just a singular view, it makes for more honest working relationships. It also prevents there being just a singular view of me, which in essence negates part of my identity.
BS: As someone who’s co-founded multiple companies and has been a vocal LGBTQ+ advocate, how do you feel about setting this example for the next generation of M&E/tech/streaming entrepreneurs?
PP: I touched on my responsibility to create paths for younger generations in the community with our events. But to add, I see this as one of the many ways I stay connected to my community. I hope that visibility encourages others to reach out, ask questions, and explore entrepreneurship, whether in media, entertainment, or tech.
But just to be clear, it’s not about exclusivity—it’s about being a resource for anyone, while also making space for LGBTQ+ professionals who may need a path or a voice.
BS: Quickplay says it offers advanced personalization capabilities for customers so they can provide content for a variety of user interests. What kind of LGBTQ+ content do Quickplay’s customers want to promote? Do you see them offering special collections or content for Pride Month?
PP: Yes, absolutely. From what I’ve seen, companies like Hulu, Netflix, and others do a great job promoting Pride-related content. I see it either because their algorithm aligns with my profile or because they genuinely want to elevate diverse stories. It’s similar to how they highlight content for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month or Black History Month.
But here’s the flip side—algorithms and personalization can create content bubbles. My concern is that we’re losing the shared cultural moments—where everyone was watching the same show and the conversations on television could be a medium for social change, inviting those conversations into the living room. My biggest fear is that we are actually losing those shared experiences and we risk isolating people from diverse perspectives by overly tailoring their content feeds.
That’s the tension: personalization versus the kind of exposure that drives social understanding. Shows like Modern Family helped normalize LGBTQ+ families by inviting them into everyone’s homes. I worry we’re losing that cross-exposure in today’s algorithm-driven world.
BS: Related to that tension, with both movies and TV seeing disappointing declines in representation, how can streaming companies encourage their customers to prioritize inclusive content all year?
PP: There’s strong data showing that diverse casts and crews lead to broader appeal and better ROI. So, the business case of having more inclusive storytelling and casting talent is really already there. Whether or not representation is in decline, companies need leadership—especially at the board level—that understands this value and prioritizes it.
Clearly, we are in an era where DEI’s mission and purpose are being challenged and re-evaluated and likely reshaped as a function, but that doesn’t change the fact that the hard data still shows that the best ROI comes from a diversity of voices.
If boards and executive teams don’t reflect that diversity, it’s harder for those values to trickle down and be embedded across storytelling, casting, and decision-making. It’s not just about putting a gay character in every show and playing to a stereotype. It’s about telling our real stories and sharing the diversity of stories from the LGBTQ+ community. It’s hard to know the exact statistics, but I can say it’s important to represent the diversity of the community, humanizing us versus subscribing to the stereotypes.
BS: Tell me about starting the LGBTQ+ Happy Hours, now at multiple conferences. What have you learned as they’ve grown in popularity? What are your plans for their future?
PP: There’s real strength in allyship. Even though LGBTQ+ professionals are still a small part of the tech space, allies show up—whether they’re coworkers, friends, or family—and that’s powerful. We witness that at our event. That’s number one.
Number two is really about us sharing with the broader community. I’m always surprised when someone says, “I’ve been coming to this conference for 20 years and never found a space like this.” That’s why we do it—to help people connect, especially those who may not have had that chance before, and to create that allyship for others.
As for the future, I’d love to build more mentorship opportunities. Everyone needs a “personal board”—a group of voices to help guide your career. I had that at Disney, and I’d love to pass it forward by helping others find their own.
BS: Based on Quickplay’s approach, what advice do you have for other streaming industry companies that want to implement support for LGBTQ+ people within their own teams?
PP: Every company has a different culture, but it really has to start at the top. When support for LGBTQ+ inclusion is a core value among executives, it filters through the whole organization. Representation at the top sets the tone.
BS: What do you think are the current challenges and opportunities, as well as resources, for LGBTQ+ advocacy in the streaming industry as a whole?
PP: The biggest challenge is still the small size of the LGBTQ+ community within the M&E tech space. But the opportunity lies in more mentorship, more open discussions, and ensuring those diverse voices are represented at decision-making levels like boards and leadership teams.
BS: To close, just for fun, what has been some of your favorite recent LGBTQ+ media? I binged Overcompensating and loved it, and A Nice Indian Boy is my favorite rom-com of the past year. I’m also very glad to have The Buccaneers back this month. What can you recommend?
PP: I recently watched The Four Seasons, and I thought it was a great adaptation that included a gay couple in a way that felt completely organic—it didn’t have to expand the story line to reach the goal or provide meaning. It just worked as part of the story. This fits with my idea of inclusion.
Photos courtesy of Quickplay
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