DOCUMENTARY

Description

This hilarious and touching documentary tells the story of how three older, gay, "bears" working in Hollywood, tired of having their gay-themed ideas rejected by the mainstream, decided to self-produce their own web series. Against all odds, the comedy featuring three bear roommates like "The Golden Girls" solving crimes ala "Murder, She Wrote," became a sensation online and one of the most successful web shows of all time. The documentary examines ageism, body-shaming, sex-positivity, the creative process and how friendship and community can ultimately create something beloved all over the world..

Eduardo Aquino

Written & Directed by

Eduardo Aquino is a Brazilian filmmaker from São Paulo. Eduardo started expressing his creativity through editing films and television shows in 2008. Since then his work has been featured on platforms such as Netflix, HBO, NatGeo, Indiewire, Globo, and movie theaters all over the world. A BIG GAY HAIRY HIT! WHERE THE BEARS ARE, THE DOCUMENTARY is his debut as a director.

Directors statement

Much like several people interviewed for this film, I came across Where The Bears Are through an intriguing (perhaps sketchy?) Craigslist Ad. At the time I was a Brazilian twink trying to make my way into the LA film industry, and helping some bears shoot a web series for no money somehow made sense with my plan. I was there from day one, first as a crew member and then as their editor for all seasons of the show. During all these years, I was extremely impressed by how the creators of the show managed to bypass the gatekeepers of an unadventurous film industry to create an alternative model of distribution that included the bear community in all parts of the process. The web show was a real case-study of what people will do to see themselves represented on screen. For this reason and many others, I approached them with the idea to make a documentary about the whole process, and I'm happy they allowed me to tell their story.