Even if you can’t help you can make a difference by sharing this wide and high! Please share on your social or send to a friend who might be interested in the film! 
 

Hi! I’m John Yakovou, a Denver-based documentary filmmaker and yes… a Deadhead. For the past 9 months, I have been working on a feature length documentary film that is both about a subculture and a culture war. The synopsis is this: after the Tennessee State Legislature passed a bill banning drag from any public area, a group of Nashville Musicians decided to do a benefit concert to raise money for local LGBTQ+ charities. The twist? It was a Grateful Dead cover band, but in drag! 

Their first show went viral and now they’re on their very first tour, supporting local LGBTQ+ charities wherever they play. This doc is about a band, BERTHA: Grateful Drag, the Queer & Allied Deadheads who love them, the fights against anti-LGBTQ+ laws being passed around the nation, and the strange but beautiful nexus of the Grateful Dead and Drag communities coming together to foster change. It’s heartfelt and joyous, focusing on community and inclusion while using beloved music and subculture as a gateway of advocacy for the cause. 

In the documentary, we meet Drag Artists who encounter the Deadhead community for the first time, Deadheads who get in drag for the first time, and even some working Drag Queens, aged 22 to 70 who have always been Deadheads. 

I have been self-funding the initial stages of this doc, but things are moving quickly for BERTHA (with performances at the Kennedy Center, and tours in Colorado and California coming up) and we need to cover costs to capture not just BERTHA the band, but also her most impacted fans, and the state of advocacy around the shows they play. Filmmaking is EXPENSIVE!  The total budget is far more, but our crowdfunding goal is to raise $100,000 from small donors and fans. EVERY contribution, no matter how small, helps make this a reality and fosters a change in the conversation from one of fear and hate to inclusion, joy and compassion! 

SUGGESTED DONATION LEVELS: we’ll give shout outs to all donors on the FB and IG pages!

DELILAH LEVEL: $10 – $100

MARY SHELLY  LEVEL:    $100 – $500

ALTHEA LEVEL: $500- $1000

SCARLET LEVEL $1000- $10,000