“Connectedness. One thing leads to another. Often in unexpected ways.” ― Holly Goldberg Sloan
One never knows what will happen when you cross the threshold of a bar, take a seat on a barstool, and engage in conversation with the friendly bartender. After a couple of drinks, you might find yourself sharing your life story. Bartenders, by their very nature and skill set, are proxy confessors, stand-ins for our spiritual leaders and moral authorities. Sometimes, a bartender in turn, will reveal details about their own life. This is one of those stories.
For my followers on social media and readers of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! you’re already aware of the web series project that I’m developing as the creator, producer, and director of Hotel Bar. The story is a Twilight Zone-inspired treatment of St. Peter and the Pearly Gates and the traditional afterlife, the Roman Catholic view of Heaven, Hell, and Limbo. Instead of an angel at the Gates of Heaven who reviews the big book record of an individual’s life and decides the newly-dead person’s eternal destination, it’s a warm and welcoming bartender in a hotel bar, The Pearly Gates. It’s a satirical and poignant take on how our lives are judged.
Unsuspecting travelers, who have just died, believe they are on a journey somewhere and have temporarily stopped off at this hotel and bar for a drink and some conversation before they are on their way. Little do they know that the innocent conversation they are about to have with a friendly bartender will determine their ultimate fate for eternity. The stories are presented as a dramedy, using humor to help broach serious themes and answer the question of how do we judge a life? It’s never simply black and white, good or bad, we live in the gray areas and make choices throughout our life which create our legacy. The series tagline: “We don’t get to decide how, or when we die, but we do get to decide how to live!” — St. Peter
How I Met the Bartender (on a return trip to the Hotel Bar)
This is where the quote at the beginning of this essay comes in to play. As a member of the Madison Independent Filmmakers, and an admitted novice filmmaker, I’ve been employing social media tools, primarily Facebook, the Madison Indie Filmmakers FB group, and Meetup, to promote the Hotel Bar web series project and recruit pre- and post-production team members.
Recently, after the pilot script was finalized and we began planning for auditions and casting, I joined a new Facebook group, Mad City Actors. I posted the following message with the photo that I found when I googled “images of bartenders.” The bartender I selected embodied how I envisioned St. Peter to look as he tended bar at The Pearly Gates, and conducted exit interviews of the newly departed on their journey to their afterlife destination.
“Looking forward to working with Madison actors. Soon, I will be posting auditions for a web series I’m producing and directing, Hotel Bar, a Madison Indie Filmmakers, and Full of Myself Productions”.
Shortly afterwards, a member of Mad City Actors posted this comment, “Where did you get this picture? This is my brother’s former coworker!” This began a conversation. My response, “I googled images of bartenders and selected this photo to represent the project. There was no copyright on the image, only a credit, Christian Seel, which I will include in future usages since I researched the source of the image. I would be happy to send Charles Joly a photo release if you have contact info for him. Here’s the link to the article in which the image appeared.
Photo Credit: Christian Seel for The Aviary
The Mad City Actor and I took our conversation off-line, limiting it to Messenger. If I could obtain Charles Joly’s contact info, I’d send him a photo release. A few days later with Joly’s email address in hand, I sent him an email. Following are excerpts:
First, let me introduce myself.
I’m the creator, producer, and director of a web series in development entitled, Hotel Bar. It is a co-production of Madison Independent Filmmakers, from Madison, Wisconsin. It’s a fictionalized dramedy about the afterlife and features St. Peter as a bartender (see attached series synopsis). I’m a novice/emerging filmmaker. When I began recruiting team members for the project I googled “images of bartenders”. I was looking for a photo of a bartender to represent my vision of St. Peter.
That’s how I stumbled upon your photo, taken by Christian Seel, from an article in The Daily Meal, America’s 25 Best Bartenders. When I first downloaded the image to use, I didn’t see any copyrights attached to it, so I assumed I was free to use it. I was not immediately aware of the article in which the photo appeared…I requested your email address so I could contact you to seek your permission to continue to use the photo, however, we will soon be replacing your photo with the actor who is cast as St. Peter in the bar that we will be using as our primary location.
Charles Joly graciously took time from his busy schedule (more about that later) to respond to my email. Excerpts follow:
Linda, Thanks for reaching out on this. I don’t care if you use this image while you are shopping your script.
[Your] series sounds like a unique and entertaining idea. As bartenders, we play every role imaginable for our guests. When a guest has questioned how much they were sharing with me, I’ve always said “I’m a bartender, we don’t judge” – the irony of this series is not lost on me 🙂
Best of luck with the project!
Charles
As a final follow-up and thank you, I invited Charles to contact me if he ever stopped in Madison, and proposed a couple of marketing and promotional tie-ins he could consider if he was interested. I’d be willing to contact his agent (yes, his agent, keep reading). One example, perhaps writing the introduction to a Hotel Bar Mixology Guide or designing a Pearly Gates-themed drink.
Here’s where the story becomes even more interesting. It turns out, in addition to being named in the top four of 2012’s American Bartender of the Year while working at The Aviary in Chicago, in 2013 Joly emerged victorious, taking home top honors in the American Bartender of the Year category and the following year, he earned the title of Global Bartending Champion at the 2014 World Class competition, where he bested bartenders from more than 50 countries to become the first American to hold the title. Lastly, in 2017, Charles Joly created the signature cocktail for the Emmy Awards after-party.
The take-away from this story for me is that it pays to get to know your bartender. Their job is to take care of you, the guest, when you visit their establishment. However, if you are also a good listener you may learn just as much about the bartender’s personal story, especially if you buy them a drink and leave a good tip.
Again, I reference the quote that introduced Another Trip to the Hotel Bar.
“Connectedness. One thing leads to another. Often in unexpected ways.”
Thanks, Charles, I enjoyed getting to know you. I look forward to meeting you in person, here, or in the afterlife!
To learn more about how you can become a member of the Hotel Bar Creative & Production Team, and other film projects, join the Madison Indie Filmmakers Facebook group.
Related Reading from Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!
Great story! This is what happens when we advance confidently in the direction of our dreams despite the nagging fear that we may be in a bit over our heads. You have become a great role model for indie filmmakers in the Madison area as I’m sure you will be everywhere your story is told. Keep up the great work.
Thanks, Rick. Your support, mentoring, and leadership has meant a lot to me. I’m reminded how important it is to learn by doing, and by collaborating with other creative people who share similar passions.