“Where the Bears Are” was never supposed to be a huge hit.
For Rick Copp, Joe Dietl, and Ben Zook, the web series was really meant to be a sort of creative reprieve. They had gotten sick of Hollywood, and wanted to produce something where they didn’t have to worry about what would sell, or what anyone else thought – just something that they thought was funny.
“Where the Bears Are” started in 2012 as a sort of cross between “The Golden Girls” and “Murder, She Wrote.” Focusing on three best friends who must solve a murder, the show also takes a closer look at bears – in gay culture, a larger, hairier man who projects a more masculine image.
What started out as a pet project, however, quickly gained popularity and became somewhat of an internet phenomenon, racking up millions and millions of views over its seven-season run. Now, a documentary focusing on the show’s rise in popularity and its place in LGBTQ+ culture will play at the Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ film festival.
Directed by Eduardo Aquino, “A Big, Gay Hairy Hit! Where the Bears Are: The Documentary” will have its world premiere at Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema on Sept. 23 at 8:15 p.m. Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with Aquino about the making of the film ahead of the screening.
“I’m very happy that I’m going to get to be there,” Aquino said. “I’ve never been to Atlanta, and I heard the festival was amazing. I can’t wait to connect with everyone there.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I would love to start with a little bit about you. Where are you from, and how did you first develop an interest in film?
Eduardo Aquino: I’m from Brazil. I was born and raised here in a city near São Paulo. I was always interested in journalism at first, and that’s what I always wanted to do as a kid. Then I watched a film called “Dancer in the Dark,” by Lars von Trier, and I was very impressed by it – by what films could accomplish. Until then, I think I was only watching a certain type of film, you know – more popular films, I guess, and commercial films. Then when I saw [“Dancer in the Dark”], I was very, very impressed. I changed my mind and I decided that I wanted to go into filmmaking. I went to school for film at the [University of São Paulo], and I fell in love with editing right away. That’s how I got involved with filmmaking, because I started working with editing right on after [my] second year of college, I think.
This is the first film I’ve ever directed.
I was going to ask you about that. What drew you to this topic, “Where the Bears Are,” in particular?
Aquino: Well, a couple of things. I think as an editor, it’s kind of natural to develop an interest in directing. I think it’s the part of filmmaking that sees the film more as a whole, aside from directing, because you have to see framing, you have to see acting, you have to see music, you know. It’s all of it at the same time. So I think it’s natural for editors to become interested in directing. That’s the first thing.
I was looking for a subject to make a documentary about for some time, that I was interested in. What happened was, I was editing “Where the Bears Are” the show – I was their editor for seven years. When they were about to shoot season seven, which was the last one, I approached them and said, “Why don’t we do a documentary about you guys, and I would direct it?”
They were very excited about it. But what drew me to the film … At the same time that I was working for them, I was extremely impressed at what they accomplished. It’s insane to think that they gathered their own community to create content for them, and how well received it was and how happy people were with the product they created. That’s what drew me specifically to direct this film.
Do you remember how you came across that job, or do you have any favorite memories of your time with “Where the Bears Are?”
Aquino: You know, in the film when people see the Craigslist ad? That’s the same thing that happened to me. I was in L.A. – I had arrived there I think five months prior to this, because my husband was getting his master’s degree in L.A. in screenwriting – and I was looking for things to get involved in and trying to meet people. Then I came across the ad on Craigslist. They were looking for crew people, and I started doing sound for them – They only had like, someone who would hold a microphone. That’s what I did. I had previous experience with sound because I studied it in college as well. So I started doing sound for them, and then they said we’re going to need someone to edit this. And I said, oh – well, I’m an editor, I can do this.
At first they were kind of skeptical, I think. But then I started cutting some stuff for them, and they were like – oh! Okay! [Laughs] And it was all for free, because I liked them and all. But then after some time, I told them – look, I love you guys, but I need to find a real job. [Laughs] One that pays money. And they were like, okay we’re going to find you some money and we’re going to pay you. That started a collaboration that lasted for seven years – all seven years, and now the documentary. For the first and second years, I was in L.A. Then I moved back to Brazil, and then we did everything remotely.
It was always funny to me, because when we started doing the show it was so raunchy. I mean, you’ve seen it, it’s extremely raunchy. I was kind of embarrassed, because my parents would ask me, so what are you doing in L.A.? And I’m like, oh this webshow [laughs]. And they’re like, can we see it? And I’m like – eh, I guess!
Did they watch it?
Aquino: No, no, no, I guess they knew. I told them what it was, and they were like, okay fine.
We get the vibe, we don’t need to watch it.
Aquino: Yeah, exactly. [Laughs]
It’s interesting that you worked with them for so long. In making that documentary and being on that more journalistic, opposite side of the project, was there anything that you learned from stepping outside of it, or anything that surprised you?
Aquino: You mean from directing the documentary instead of just editing with them?
Yeah. Like was there anything they said during those interviews that you didn’t know about, or was there something that you realized by being able to remove yourself from it a little bit?
Aquino: Since we had been working together for a while, I’m going to say that there was something that [it] surprised me that it had never occurred to me before. And that’s something that didn’t even make it to the film. It was something that I wanted to discuss with the film, but then it ended up on the cutting room floor. I had never thought that these guys were there and experiencing the AIDS epidemic when it first happened. It had never occurred to me that they lived all through that, and they had lived through this part of LGBTQ history that I didn’t get to live [through]. It was, for me, an opportunity to ask them about how that was and how that affected them.
They mention it briefly in the film – something about being unapologetic and sex positive, that it had to do with that period of time in their lives. But it had never occurred to me that these guys had history in them. This history that they can tell us, you know? It’s a shame that it didn’t get to go into the film. It’s more like a lighthearted film, and it was very deep and sad. So it didn’t make it to the film. It changed the way I see them, in a way.
I think for people who are younger and didn’t live through it, it’s more a part of history. That must have been deep, to speak to people who actually lived through it.
Aquino: And it was a formative experience for them, you know? It never occurred to me before.
Speaking of the cutting room floor, was there anything else that you wish had made it in, but there wasn’t room or it was just the way things unfolded?
Aquino: There was a bit of darker stuff about the process of making the show, but we decided in the end to make it more positive.
In the documentary, the guys talk about the impetus for the show being a creative reset, in a way – they were stuck in the industry and feeling really down, and working on this was a way to work on something that could remind them of why they were doing this in the first place. Is that something that you’ve ever felt, or is there an example you can think of in your own career where you needed a creative reset like that?
Aquino: Yeah. I think it happens a lot, because as an editor, I work mostly freelance. The editors I know work freelance, at least here in Brazil. It’s always this balance of you need to get a job, right? And one job is ending, and you have to have the other one locked or be looking for the next job. Sometimes, you get jobs that are not creatively interesting. You just take the job, because it’s for a big company, for a streaming service, or whatever – because you need a job.
Their story connects to me because I was inspired by them to try and always be involved with projects that I really care about, instead of just being on autopilot and taking whatever jobs are in front of me. We are always more involved personally in projects that we really care about, or at least that are creatively challenging.
There’s a lot of talk about representation in this film, specifically of bear culture. But I wondered, in a broader sense, how do you think the industry has gotten better in terms of LGBT representation and what strides do you think still have to be made?
Aquino: I think it has gotten so much better. It’s unbelievable. You know, when they did the show, there wasn’t really bear representation in the mainstream. In general, now, you watch a show on Netflix and there’s people with disabilities, and LGBT people of all types, and all skin colors, religions – everything. It’s gotten so much better.
However, I think that representation – it’s still kind of nichey, I think. And usually, it’s used as bait, most of the time … You’ll see that a streaming service will do this great show with great representation, and then they will put in their catalog something that is extremely racist, or something like that. That doesn’t cut it, you know? Because you know they’re doing it just for the likes.
Kind of representation for representation’s sake?
Aquino: Yeah. It’s gotten so much better, but there’s a long way to go still.
