A Juicy Saga…

My name’s Omar Mouallem. I’m an award-winning author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker—and I’m the son of a Baron… 

A Burger Baron.

My parents ran one of those quirky small-town diners you’ll find all around Alberta. But, as anyone who’s dined there and any other Burger Baron probably knows, our Burger Baron looked nothing like the Burger Baron one town over, which looked nothing like the next Burger Baron.

It wasn’t until my twenties that I finally asked, “What’s up with that?” With some gumshoe reporting, I learned that the fast-food franchise isn’t a franchise at all—it’s a meme.  The only commonalities between these restaurants are their name and two iconic burgers (the Baron and mushroom).

Oh—and the fact that all of them are owned by Lebanese–Canadians like my family.

Are you wondering how a loose network of Arab immigrants became a cabal of burger impresarios? That’s the story of The Last Baron, a feature documentary following up on a shorter TV-version of the film premiering on CBC and CBC Gem this month.

We’re expanding the film because there’s simply so much more to this story than we could tell in 45 minutes, including tales of imposters, sibling rivalries, harrowing escapes from war, and a generation of new Barons trying to wrestle control of the trademarks once and for all.

That’s why I’m asking for your help to back a 90-minute version that we can take to film festivals around the world, indie movie theatres, and eventually streaming services like Netflix and Prime.

A Meaty Vision

Making good documentaries is expensive! On top of crew and travel expenses, there are the costs of archival footage and pictures, animation, graphics, editing, mixing—and we haven’t even gotten to the legal stage of clearing everything I just mentioned and more.

That’s why I’ve set four milestones to help my creative team finish telling the greatest story ever told about hamburgers.

• Goal #1 – $15,000: Finish the feature with what we already have and more archival footage related to the Burger Barons’ epic saga
• Goal #2 – $30,000: Send out our crews in Alberta, Saskatchewan, California, and Lebanon to expand the story, and hire a researcher and lawyer to clear everything in the footage
• Goal #3 – $55,000: Get our animation team to re-imagine key moments from the Burger Baron’s storied history, and shoot some 1950s reenactments on 16mm film
• Goal #4 – $75,000: Give the documentary a proper roll-out with funds for a publicist, website, festival submissions, and a promotional music video

Tasty Perks

Every dollar you donate will help us tell this funny, heart-warming, and truly one-of-a-kind story in full.

We’re offering plenty of perks for modest and premium-level donations,* from opportunities for Burger Baron super-fans to be in the movie to attending our TV-version pre-screening party and panel in Edmonton on Sept. 16th.**

And if everyone pulls together to help us reach our last goal of $75,000, we’ll even include that legendary mushroom burger recipe.

* Please note that premium perks are not available to anyone closely connected with documentary subjects or has stake in any current Burger Barons. Any funds over $200 will be returned to them to avoid conflicts of interest.

** Due to COVID restrictions, the event requires attendees to be masked at all times and to provide proof of double vaccination or a negative test result from the previous 48 hours.

Extra Sauce

The Last Baron feature film will expose a beloved Canadian institution to the rest of the world and share a part of Alberta’s cultural soul so often eclipsed by cowboy stereotypes. It infuses Alberta’s unique Arab heritage with broader insights into Lebanese culture and western culinary history. And it celebrates working-class patrons who’ve kept the chain alive in one region of North America while it disappeared everywhere else.

Help us explore the migration of people and ideas, the politics of food and proprietorship, with a team of majority Arab artists, including the writer, director, cinematographers, motion graphics animator, and music composer.

I hope you’ll back our feature documentary today and help make it a reality. Thank you!

Where’s the Beef?

Every dollar will help us finish the film, even if we don’t hit our first goal. We will spend every contribution on getting closer to the goal, while exploring other financial avenues through the private sector and public institutions.

And if you can’t contribute money, that’s okay! There are other ways you can help us:

• Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
• Spread the word on your own social media
• Watch the TV version on CBC Gem when it premieres Fri., Sept. 17th!
• Go eat a mushroom burger!

Thank you to the Downtown Business Association for supporting our pre-screening with a small-events grant, and to the Edmonton Arts Council and Edmonton Heritage Council for their financial support of the feature film thus far.