5Q's w/Cheryl Bookout & Cheri Gaulke "Inside the Beauty Bubble" Directors, Writers, Producers

QUESTION#1: Can you describe your film in one sentence?

Enter a pastel dreamland of 3,000 vintage beauty artifacts in the desert community of Joshua Tree, California and meet “America’s hair-storian” Jeff Hafler as he struggles to keep his roadside attraction afloat during a remarkable year that changes his life and the lives of his husband and son.

QUESTION#2: What would you like the BSFF audience to know about your film that they wouldn't consider from it's title?

The Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum is a real place, the magical and kitsch-filled brainchild of Jeff Hafler. Since COVID, “bubble” has a new meaning. Our film takes you inside Jeff’s bubbles to reveal more than vintage hair dryers. We also take you into Jeff’s family which is gay (two dads), bi-racial, and adoptive. Sharing this loving family is what really drew us to Jeff’s story and made us want to make this film.

QUESTION#3: Can you tell us about yourself and your filmmaking career?

From Cheri: My first exposure to the moving image was in 1974, making video art pieces with the Sony Portapak. As a creator I have worked in many mediums over the years, from performance art to public art (for example, a Metro-Rail station and a Filipino World War II Veterans Memorial). All of my work, whether art or film, makes visible stories of under-recognized people and places. I have made close to 30 works in film/video including video installations, experimental narratives, and documentaries. I am now working full-time as a filmmaker and am in production on my first feature documentary. I’m proud to say this is my fifth film selected for the Borrego Springs Film Festival.

From Cheryl: I took filmmaking at a college in the San Fernando Valley and later in Orange County, California, but dropped out before I graduated to go to work full-time in the garment industry. It was many years before my dream of being a hands-on filmmaker became a reality. The common thread in my life is art making. I am a visual artist working in a vast array of mediums with a history of having my art exhibited in galleries and museums across the US. My first filmmaking experience was with Cheri Gaulke when she was commissioned by the nonprofit arts organization I was working for at the time to make a short film that gave voice to survivors of domestic violence called I AM BE, which screened at the 2018 Borrego Springs Art Festival.

QUESTION#4: What have you learned in the process of making your film?

Making a documentary is always a process of discovery. It's real life. You think you know what the story is and then sh*t happens and it changes. Our film was supposed to be a year in the life of a beauty salon owner leading up to a major museum exhibition of his collection of vintage beauty artifacts. We started filming in December 2019. When we returned to film in the Spring of 2020, the world had shut down due to COVID, his business was closed and his very survival was tenuous. Although a tragedy for everyone involved, this turn of events shifted our story and in many ways made it better. Audiences get to see the resilience of our film's subject, Jeff Hafler, as he problem-solves and re-invents himself.

This film is collaboratively written, produced and directed by Cheryl Bookout and Cheri Gaulke. Co-directing is not a common approach but we found that we work well together. Both of us have backgrounds in the visual arts and we bring those sensibilities to filmmaking resulting in lots of fun visuals like animated jackrabbits and flying hair dryers. Because of our collaboration, this film is better than either of us might have made on our own.

QUESTION#5: What's does the future hold for this film and you?

The film is still in its film festival journey. It has been in 30+ festivals and won almost as many awards. We'd like to see it travel internationally to festivals as well as beauty conventions. We'd love for it to be streaming as we feel that's the best way to share our message of resilience and inclusivity. We would even consider developing a series (any producers out there?).

Meanwhile we are both working on other projects. Cheri is directing her first feature documentary called ACTING LIKE WOMEN, about feminist performance art in 1970s-80s Los Angeles. Cheryl is one of its producers and is in production for a short narrative film called JUST A FRIEND. Her TV pilot WOMEN OF STEEL has won awards in several prestigious script writing competitions.

Instagram: @cherigaulke, @jcherylbookout, @insidethebeautybubblefilm Facebook: @cherigaulke, @cherylbookout, @insidethebeautybubblefilm Twitter: @insidethebeautybubblefilm