We believed in our hearts that these three had that quality. And there are many, many performers - whether you’re a drag performer or not a drag performer - that don’t have that quality. The most important characteristic we knew we needed to have, in addition to being wildly talented, was empathy. “We never talked to any other performers. “From the beginning, Johnnie and I wanted these three drag queens,” says Warren. We’re Here: Shangela, Eureka, and Bob the Drag Queen - Photo: Johnnie Ingram It coaxes deep, eloquent humanity from all three queens, and their compassion and caring grows stronger with each new episode.įlorida Student Says School Officials are Censoring Graduation Speech The level of heartfelt sincerity that emanates from its three glimmering stars - Shangela Laquifa Wadley, Eureka O’Hara, and Bob the Drag Queen - is profound, poignant, and potent. We’re Here is far from a frivolous makeover series. It also packs in a remarkable amount of empathy. The series, which deals with three transformations per episode, packs a remarkable amount of narrative into each hour.
Each episode follows a basic structure, but subtle variation and slight nuances are introduced to keep episodes from feeling cookie-cutter stamped.
The rich balance of entertainment and sentiment is achieved with careful precision by director Peter LoGreco and a talented crew of cinematographers and editors. Each episode plays out like a mini-documentary and is as potently dramatic as it is vibrantly entertaining. While We’re Here borrows elements found in many current shows that fall into the makeover genre - most notably the transformation of a person’s sense of self and mindset - it raises the bar considerably. She has literally trusted us, along with Casey Bloys, and never looked back.” “It’s been a really, really special experience.” Says Warren, “Nina Rosenstein is the most capable and loving executive I have ever encountered - and I have encountered a lot of executives over my career. “HBO have been great creative partners,” adds Ingram. Could I send it to her?’ And it was done, just like that.” Read our interview with Shangela, Eureka and Bob the Drag Queen here
Toward the end, I told him about our idea and he goes, ‘I want it! There’s a woman in New York who runs our unscripted division who has wanted to do something like this for years. “We were just having lunch because we’re friends and we do business together. “Basically a week after we conceived of the show, I had a lunch scheduled with the head of HBO,” recalls Warren. Getting HBO on board with the show turned out to be easier than either man could have envisioned.
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We wanted towns that were reflective of the American experience in different ways.” The six-episode HBO series kicks off with Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and then bounces around the country, going from Branson, Missouri to Twin Falls, Idaho to Shiprock, New Mexico. “When Johnnie and I conceived of the show,” says Warren, “we knew we wanted to feature towns that were small enough so that it feels like a community that’s tight-knit, yet big enough so that there’s enough people to choose from. Warren, a co-chair of GLAAD for several years, has worked as an entertainment lawyer for three decades, while Ingram served as an advertising creative director and has been the driving force behind several notable socially conscious ad campaigns.īoth men hail from small-town upbringings - Ingram from the relatively tiny Morristown, Tennessee, and Warren from the slightly larger Rochester, New York. It’s the couple’s first foray into television production, though they’re no strangers to the creative arts. Ingram, with his husband, Stephen Warren, created and executive produces We’re Here. And we are bringing this new version of drag, which is finally getting respect as an art form it deserves, to these small towns.” “They’re born from reality television, a thing that is part of pop culture now. “Our queens are reality stars,” says Johnnie Ingram.