Juicy news for fans of our very own Jinkx Monsoon, beloved local drag star/actor/actress and winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Five AND for her ongoing web series “Drag Becomes Him” filmed by our very own Alex Berry. Over the course of the last couple years, the pair have produced and released five episodes in the series focusing on Jinkx’s career and rise from local drag darling to internationally beloved mega drag star. Monsoon aka Jerick Hoffer and Berry are teaming up with DualPower Productions and producer Basil Shadid, (best known for the feature films, “heart breaks open and “R/Evolve”) to turn the popular series into a full length feature film with additional footage and a new edit. The target date to release the film will be Summer of 2014.
And, if you want to SUPPORT the making of the film, a Kickstarter campaign to fund it will happen after the first of the year. A website and Facebook page for the project go live today…go HERE for the website and HERE for the Facebook.
Here’s the original first episode of “Drag Becomes Him” made LONG before Jinkx’s appearance on “Drag Race”.
And/And, we have to say we’re THRILLED about this project because we’ve loved the series since day one AND because it features many of our favorite artists in town…AND, to toot our own horn, we’ve been WHINING at all of them for months to make this happen….so, YAY that it is actually becoming a reality!
Here’s the press release for the project. Can’t wait to see it all come together.
Seattle, WA – Originally released as a five-part web series, Drag Becomes Him is slated to become a feature-length documentary in summer 2014, thanks to Jinkx Monsoon, filmmaker Alex Berry, Basil Shadid and DualPower Productions, and a crowd of supporters cultivated through a Kickstarter campaign to begin in the new year.
Drag Becomes Him is a behind-the-scenes foray into the personality and passion of entertainer Jerick Hoffer, also known as Jinkx Monsoon, a drag queen Seattle’s The Stranger dubs “the best f**king performer in Seattle.” The cherished original series will be expanded to include additional footage and an entirely new edit, offering an even deeper glimpse into the life of this charming, Gregory Award-winning, off-Broadway-performing, RuPaul’s Drag Race-winning, all-around lovable drag superstar.
Jerick Hoffer (aka Jinkx Monsoon) is a seasoned Portland-born entertainer and graduate of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. As early as 2006, he appeared as the lead dancer in the world’s largest drag queen chorus line, which made the Guinness Book of World Records. By 2012, he had advanced to roles in Seattle theatres, playing Moritz in Spring Awakening (Balagan Theatre) and Angel in RENT (5th Avenue Theatre). After starring in the critically acclaimed original run of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Balagan Theatre / Seattle Theatre Group), Hoffer’s winning run on RuPaul’s Drag Race began airing on LOGOtv.
As “America’s next drag superstar,” Hoffer has performed as Jinkx Monsoon for adoring fans across the country and around the world; co-starred with Richard Andriessen (aka Major Scales) in a critically acclaimed off-Broadway run of the original cabaret comedy, The Vaudevillians; performed as Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray in Concert (5th Avenue Theatre); and co-starred with Peaches Christ in the much-buzzed-about “Return to Grey Gardens.” After an encore performance of his award-winning star turn in Seattle’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hoffer in the next six months will release his first full-length live studio album, be featured in a full-length documentary of the web series Drag Becomes Him, and perform in the international premiere of The Vaudevillians in Australia.
Alex Berry is a filmmaker living in Seattle. In addition to the original Drag Becomes Him web mini-series, Berry has made several music videos, as well as online commercials for local companies, fashion designers, and dance clubs. His work, described as “engrossing” and “beautifully filmed,” has also appeared on The Huffington Post, NewNowNext, and City Arts.
Dual Power Productions is an entertainment company in Seattle that produces serious, fun, thought-
provoking, educational, and absurd media that promotes understanding, critical thinking, personal development, and social change.