I also contacted bar owners, managers, and bartenders and used photos from their personal albums. Many of the photographs from bars had already been digitized by Archive staff and thus were searchable in the Archives’ computer system, but many were not, and instead were found amidst piles of unrelated materials, and each time it was like finding a gold nugget in a pile of hay. Many hours were spent searching through their collection of archival materials.

We also held fundraisers at local gay bars, and it was heartwarming to hear people’s excitement about the project, as everyone involved was supportive and helpful.Ī major part of creating the documentary was researching and collecting the visual evidence of historic bar culture (photos, footage, bar advertisements, etc.) and the San Diego Lambda Archives was an invaluable resource for that. My project was one of 4 chosen by KPBS for production funding out of 180 submissions.

In November 2016, I entered KPBS’ Explore San Diego program, an open competition to solicit ideas for documentaries, podcasts, and webisodes from local media content producers. I have always been interested in making films that explore the diagonal lines that run counter to the norms of society, and expand people’s perspectives.