Meet Erica Rose | Film Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erica Rose and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, how do you think about risk?
Being in the film industry, my entire career is predicated on risk. There’s nothing guaranteed in this work, except your own perseverance and dedication to the craft. Even though I can make something that doesn’t have the desired impact or outcome, the risk of not even trying feels even more devastating. I want to look back at my life and be able to say that at least I put myself out there; at least I tried. Sometimes it can feel paralyzing and terrifying to forge on ahead without a clear path or a clear timeline, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work is deeply personal and reflective of the communities I’m in and the communities I love. I like to say I make work that’s character focused, queer, saucy and political – across many different genres and platforms.

I worked as a director’s assistant and producer’s assistant and then produced documentaries and docuseries for streamers. Along the way, I was making my own work, but always as a side hustle. When the pandemic hit, I decided to focus solely on my directing work.

In March of 2020, as we all can collectively remember, COVID hit New York City, hard and fast. My industry, the entertainment industry, screeched to a violent halt. This was like other industries: theatre, concerts, live events, and particularly restaurants and bars.

During this uncertain, frightening, and unprecedented moment of history, I spent a lot of time walking the hour long walk from my apartment in Sunset Park to my girlfriend’s apartment in Carroll Gardens. During these walks, I would call my friend Elina Street, another queer NY based director. We spent hours processing and chatting and forming an even deeper friendship. As the weeks dredged on and the concept of time slipped away, we realized that the last time we were able to see each other in person was at the Lesbian Bar Ginger’s in Park Slope. This coincided with an article published by NBC OUT stating that, at the time, there were only 16 Lesbian Bars left in the United States. The pandemic presented the very real, very upsetting possibility of complete Lesbian Bar extinction. Elina and I considered ourselves relatively ingrained in the queer community and we didn’t even realize the national numbers were so bad. These bars are not just bars, they are vital safe spaces that were tremendously formative to our queer identities. We couldn’t let these spaces perish. So, we did what we do best, probably the only thing I know how to do – we conceptualized The Lesbian Bar Project documentary endeavor and began telling the stories of these bars.

We started small, with a 90-second PSA, interactive website, and crowdfunding campaign. With the help of two wonderful producers, Elina and I called every single bar owner in the country and got to know them on a personal level. We teamed up with Executive Producers Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black) and The Katz Company and received monetary brand support from Jägermeister. We launched the project in October of 2020, and to our delight, we raised over $117,000 for the bars. 100% of the proceeds went directly to the bars. Because of this, many were able to keep their lights on, pay their staff, and rebuild from the devastation of the pandemic.

We weren’t done yet. In 2021, we shot a 20-minute documentary, which focused on some of the bars in New York, D.C., and Alabama. We continued our relationship with Jägermeister and launched another crowdfunding campaign for the bars and raised over $150,000. The short film won a Tribeca X Award, two ANA awards, and we had the immense privilege to be invited guests of the Congressional Equity Caucus and screen the film at the Library of Congress with speakers Senator Tammy Baldwin and Representative Sharice Davids who gave opening remarks.

The short film served as a proof-of-concept for the docuseries Elina, and I always dreamt of making. In 2022, we partnered with Roku Brand Studio and Jägermeister to create a three-part episodic docuseries. The goal was to tell the stories of the human beings behind the bars and the communities they serve. We did an episode in Houston, Phoenix, and New York. In Houston, owner Julie Mabry fought alcoholism and the Texas Deep Freeze to keep Pearl Bar alive. Affectionately dubbed “Saint Julie” Julie does anything for her community and Pearl Bar is her salvation. In Phoenix Boycott Bar owner, Audrey Corley overcame personal tragedy and hate crimes to form a sanctuary for the queer Latinx community. In New York, Lisa Cannistraci never wanted to own a bar. But, for the past 37 years, she’s found herself at the helm of one of the longest running lesbian and queer women spaces in the country, Henrietta Hudson. ‘Hens’ is more than a bar – it’s an institution and Lisa has subsequently become a legend and trailblazer in the community bearing witness to the monumental shifts and challenges the queer community has faced for the past four decades.

Our series received various honors, including an Emmy and GLAAD award and selection to Brand Storytelling at Sundance. Our project has received 1 billion impressions worldwide with features in The New York Times, NBC, ABC News, Bloomberg, The Today Show, CNN, The Cut, PBS, Huffington Post, LA Times, Forbes, Washington Post, Axios, Paper Mag, Billboard, them.us and over 100 other publications. Since we launched the project in 2020, 8 new Lesbian Bars have opened in the United States.

The Lesbian Bar Project has told the story of Lesbian Bars, the owners, and the communities they serve, in the United States. since 2020. And yet, Lesbian Bars are rapidly changing worldwide. We have a new hour-long special called The Lesbian Bar Project: FLINTA slated to premiere Spring 2024. Germany is the heartbeat of nightlife in the world. Despite Lesbian Bars disappearing in Germany, there’s an adjacent movement that crystalizes this intangible evolution of queer culture. Organizers, politicians, musicians, artists, and activists are not waiting for space to be given to them: they are creating it themselves. Subjects include Boize Bar owner Payman Neziri, comedian Ricarda Hofmann, human rights activist Anbid Zaman, politician Tessa Ganserer, and party collectives Bebex and Girlstown.

The Lesbian Bar Project was built from queer friendship, a queer friendship between me and Elina formed in the bars and on those long walks. We have a mutual love of these spaces that helped us become the unabashed, unapologetic, people we are today. This project has given us the gift of life-long friendships all around the world and the ability to amplify the stories of a community so often sidelined, marginalized, and forgotten.

Now, I have various other scripted and unscripted projects in development, including my first feature TITTERS – my co-writer Ali Clayton and I combined our experiences as millennial queer women and created a “wet & wild” story that is a celebration of two best friends, their love for one another, and the age-old journey of learning to love yourself… oh and titty slaps. We’re hoping to go into production sometime this year.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned in this journey is to make and invest in the stories that you believe in. The audience will follow. A lot of the work we do is spec or for free until someone buys it. You will be dedicating years of your life to these projects. If you don’t love it or believe in it, no one else will.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Pearl Bar!!!

Truth BBQ

B&B Butchers & Restaurant

But mostly Pearl Bar, the most magical Lesbian Bar in the entire world.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people to thank. I’ve had incredible mentors who helped me get where I am today; Debbie Reinisch, Carly Hugo, Amy Kaufman, and Matt Parker to name a few. Filmmakers are no one without their key collaborators. I have too many to thank, but I have to give shoutouts to Elina Street, Stephanie Roush, Ali Clayton, Charlotte Arnoux, Emily McCann Lesser, Jess Jacobs, Lisa Norman, Melissa Adeyemo, Olivia Levine, Nicole Payson, Katie Schiller, Madeline Leach, Charles Hayes, Maddie Wall, Lily Ali-Oshatz, Olivia O’Leary and so many others.

And like any true filmmaker, I have to thank my manager Chenoa Estrada and my lawyer!

And… my girlfriend Leah. Your support is the most beautiful act of love I could have ever asked for.

Website: www.ericarosefilms.com

Instagram: ear360

Other: www.lesbianbarproject.com