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Media/Press
The documentary film ...
Audience with the Queens |
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Samantha, Sushi,
Robbie Hopcraft (producer/director), Gugi and Gassy Winds
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Key West filmmaker to show film
at DocMiami Film Festival
May 29
Florida Keys Travel Examiner
Jill Zima BorskiRobbie
Hopcraft’s documentary film, Audience with the Queens, is to be
included in the City of Doral’s DocMiami film festival which
runs May 28-30 in Miami-Dade. Hopcraft recently added more
material to his fascinating film about the drag queens of 801
Cabaret on Duval Street in Key West, making it almost an hour
long. His film is set to air Saturday, May 29 at 2:10 p.m.
click here to read more... |
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Being Queer & a Queen… Makes
Commoving Cinema
The Weekly Newspaper
By Josie Koler
Apr 14, 2010Grab a retro
can of Aqua-net and a Virginia Slim 120 for the viewing of this
flick full of fashion, big hair, and bitches!
Independent filmmaker Robbie Hopcraft has a jewel in his
collection of documentaries every resident, and visitor should
eyeball and enjoy, “Audience with the Queens.”
click here to read more... |
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Unusual occupation
highlighted in Audience with the Queens: A film review
Florida Keys Travel Examiner
Jill Zima Borski
April 10
The star of “Audience with the Queens” has been a drag queen for
25 years, since the age of 17. Gary Marion possesses the desire
to perform, the creativity to design and sew costumes and
choreograph an entertaining show, and the business sense of
knowing there is no successful show without ceaseless promotion.
Filmmaker Robbie Hopcraft is a straight man who has seen the
endless wonder of drag queens in Key West. He is familiar with
their numerous charitable projects and performances every year
in the Southernmost City, and appreciates the remarkable freedom
in the Florida Keys to be who you are.
click here to read more... |
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Solares Hill Soundings
by Mark Howell
2/21/2010
Gassy Winds (J.B. McLendon), Sushi
(Gary Marion) and Samantha (Neil Carter) share the limelight
with director Robbie Hopcraft at the sold-out premiere of
‘Audience with the Queens’ at the Tropic last week. Playing
through Friday, the docudrama takes a hot look at Key West’s
coolest trannies and comes up with the sweetest subtext: It’s
the mothers of these guys who make it all happen (Sushi’s mom is
the inimitable Nobi, who lives here). Their lives together give
new and vital meaning to the reality of family — heteros should
be so lucky.
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Sold-out film on drag queens in
Key West is back for more showings
February 19
Florida Keys Travel Examiner - Jill Zima Borski
Back by popular demand, the 2009
Winner of the New York Independent International Film and Video
Festival for Best Alternative Lifestyle Documentary is showing
for a week from Friday through Thursday, Feb. 19-25, at the
Tropic Cinema in Key West.
click here to read more... |
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Provocative film about drag
queens Feb. 17 in Key West.
February 9
Florida Keys Travel Examiner - Jill Zima Borski
Fresh from a successful screening
at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, the
documentary film “Audience with the Queens” will have its
premiere local screening at the Tropic Cinema on Wednesday, Feb
17, at 7 p.m.
When a straight guy like Robbie
Hopcraft takes a look at the lives and experiences of drag
queens, onstage and off, he comes up with an eye-opener that’s
both informative and entertaining, regardless of where it’s
showing.
click here to read more... |
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“Audience with the Queens “
An exciting and provocative film about the lives of Drag Queen
Performers.
Key West, Florida--The documentary film, “Audience with the
Queens,”
features a diverse group of drag queens who perform at the 801
Cabaret Club in Key West, Florida. And when a straight guy like
Robbie Hopcraft takes a look at the lives and experiences of
drag queens, onstage and off, he comes up with an eye-opener
that’s both informative and entertaining.
This is Robbie Hopcraft’s first-ever entry into professional
filmmaking. It has been accepted into the Fort Lauderdale
International Film Festival and will be screened at the Cinema
Paradiso on Fri. November 6th. at 9:15 pm.
Hopcraft produced, directed, and did all the cinematography on
the film. After spending hours in the editing room he said: “I
sat with my editor through every minute of every scene we put
into the film, and that’s tedious work on a project that existed
only in my head. He didn’t know the product I wanted, but he did
a great job helping me produce the vision.”
Nevertheless, Hopcraft says he’s “extremely nervous about how it
will be accepted by the public. Although I’ve lived in Key West
16 years, until I began filming I didn’t have any idea what Drag
Queens were all about, but I sure do now,” he said. “I hope it
will give the viewers a greater understanding and acceptance of
what it’s like to be labeled ‘different’ by our society.”
By gaining the trust of the Drag Queens, Hopcraft was allowed
into the inner sanctum—the back-stage dressing room—where
everyone is transformed into each Queen’s unique personae.
Hopcraft’s film production company, Key West Unplugged,
www.keywestunplugged.com is based in Key West, Florida.
For more information on the Drag Queen film go to
www.audiencewiththequeens.com or
www.keywestdragqueens.com |
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Robbie Hopcraft (left) at the
New York International
Independent Film & Video Festival
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STEVE ROTHAUS of
the Miami Herald writes:
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
AUDIENCE WITH THE QUEENS (Unrated) * * ˝
Made in Key West by straight, first-time filmmaker Robbie
Hopcraft, Audience with the Queens follows the Duval Street
adventures of six working girls at the 801 Bourbon Bar: drag
queens RV Beaumont, Destiny (who died last year during the film
shooting), Gugi, Samantha, Gassy Winds and star Sushi, who's
known nationally for dropping in a giant red shoe during
Anderson Cooper's annual New Year's Eve special on CNN. The
30-minute film is a proposed pilot for a TV series. |
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Read the
Independent Film Quarterly
Interview |
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Show Business Weekly writes:
AUDIENCE WITH THE QUEENS
"A fascinating glimpse into the lives of drag queens. When a
straight guy takes a look at the other side, he unearths an
eye-opening film about the lives and experiences of drag
queens, onstage and off. But these are not just any drag
queens; in Robbie Hopcraft’s new documentary “Audience with
the Queens,” he features a very talented and diverse group
of cross-dressing queens who perform at the 801 Cabaret Club
in Key West, Florida." |
Festival Founder
Stuart Alson
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The New York International
Independent Film and Video Festival Reviews |
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'Audience with the Queens '
An exciting and provocative film about...
PRWeb, October 17, 2009,
topix.net
- The documentary film, 'Audience with the Queens,' features a
diverse group of drag queens who perform at the 801 Cabaret Club
in Key West, Florida. And when a straight guy like Robbie
Hopcraft takes a look at the lives and experiences of drag
queens, onstage and off, he comes up with an eye-opener that's
both informative and entertaining.
This is Robbie Hopcraft's first-ever entry into professional
filmmaking. It has been accepted into the Fort Lauderdale
International Film Festival and will be screened at the Cinema
Paradiso on Fri. November 6th. at 9:15 pm.
Hopcraft produced, directed, and did all the cinematography on
the film. After spending hours in the editing room he said: 'I
sat with my editor through every minute of every scene we put
into the film, and that's tedious work on a project that existed
only in my head. He didn't know the product I wanted, but he did
a great job helping me produce the vision.'
Nevertheless, Hopcraft says he's 'extremely nervous about how it
will be accepted by the public. Although I've lived in Key West
16 years, until I began filming I didn't have any idea what Drag
Queens were all about. I sure do now,' he said. 'I hope it will
give the viewers a greater understanding and acceptance of what
it's like to be labeled 'different' by our society.'
By gaining the trust of the Drag Queens, Hopcraft was allowed
into the inner sanctum--the back-stage dressing room--where
everyone is transformed into each Queen's unique personae.
Hopcraft's film production company, Key West Unplugged,
www.keywestunplugged.com is based in Key West, Florida.
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James von Scholz, Gotham Artists Agency, NY:
"AUDIENCE WITH THE QUEENS is
hilariously humorous and insightful as it delves into the lives
of the men who transform themselves into some of the best "Drag
Queens" at the 801 Club in Key West, Florida and their positive
influence on the tourist trade and Key West life. Produced under
the watchful eye of
Robbie Hopcraft who's attention to detail is
keen and truth-telling, the pacing resembles something out of
Weimar Republic Germany (Think Kander/Ebb's"Cabaret" but
without Joel Grey). With energy abounding around every
corner, he juxtaposes the men in one scene in their street
clothes hanging out at the bar (you'd never guess what they
do if you saw them on the street) and in the next scene
getting "all dolled up" for the show that evening. A rousing
mixture of wit, innuendo and sheer fun, bringing about
almost spontaneous combustion, "the Queens" with their
mascara, wigs and stilettos create a feeling of pure
entertainment that transcends typical audiences of this
genre and places it firmly in the mainstream... where good
entertainment isn’t gender-specific at all."
~ |
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Mark Howell of Solares
Hill writes:
"When a straight guy takes a look at the lives and experiences of
drag queens, onstage and off, it will be an eye-opener for sure.
Robbie Hopcraft’s new documentary, “Audience with the Queens,”
features the diverse group that performs at the 801 Club in Key
West. His first-ever entry into professional filmmaking,
Hopcraft’s show will be screened at The Studios of Key West, 600
White St., at 7 p.m. tonight, March 8. It has also been accepted
at the New York International Independent Film and Video
Festival, showing on March 23 at City Cinemas, Village East in
New York City. |
Mark
Howell
of Solares Hill |
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“I’m as thrilled to have it
accepted as I am nervous about the reviews,” said Hopcraft, who
has lived in Key West for 15 years. He has, he says, always been
a moviegoer and amateur videographer, but in 2006 he went ahead
and developed his own film business, Key West Unplugged. On
“Audience with the Queens” (some of which Soundings has viewed
and wildly enjoyed), he served in every role from producer to
director, cinematographer to gopher. His ultimate ambition for
the production is to turn it into a television series. “We
certainly have the characters and all the drama necessary for
that,” he said. |
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