Meet Me at The Gershwin

Logline:
The Gershwin was the epicenter of ‘90s-’00s bohemian Manhattan; a gallery/hostel/club founded by Warhol proteges. This feature documentary explores never-before-seen archives from the groundbreaking artists that called it home.

Synopsis:
The feature documentary “Meet Me at The Gershwin” tells the story of 1990s/2000s New York City, bohemian and offbeat, as it developed at one Manhattan hotel. A punched-up hostel, artists' residence, and mecca for proteges of Andy Warhol (who launched the careers of many artists who lived there), The Gershwin Hotel existed as a sanctuary for the different, alienated, and queer. It welcomed celebrities, students, lifelong New Yorkers, freshly-minted immigrants, and anyone looking to create and share art.

The Gershwin and its motley community serve as a window into the cultural shifts of the era: the aftermath of the AIDS crisis, the rise of the internet, the increased influence of Wall Street, 9/11—and how artists adapt and persevere.

Using never-before-seen archival footage and modern-day interviews, this documentary will capture the reunion of all the artists at a new retrospective exhibit recognizing The Gershwin as an epicenter of 90s art, fashion, and queer alternative community. By following the artists preparing for the show and reminiscing, the film will capture the essence of a unique time and place — late 20th century bohemian New York — and show how it paved the way for much of today’s art and culture. Subjects will include conventionally significant and underground artists alike, showing how they experienced this time and place, using The Gershwin Hotel as a common thread.

The exhibit will also introduce Gershwin art to a new generation, paralleling the hotel’s focus on pairing up-and-coming artists with all-star Warhol mentors. Our filmmaking team also emulates that spirit of artistic partnership across lines of age and experience. Meet Me at The Gershwin started as a student film. By pairing the raw, uncut talent of its younger filmmakers with the seasoned storytelling of award-winning documentarians, this film will celebrate the mentorship and passing-the-torch vibes of the artistic cauldron that was The Gershwin Hotel.

We’ve built out our initial team of award-winning directors and producers, in a collaboration between two documentary production companies that have worked together in the past — Colada and Optimist. The project began as a student short documentary from Director Ben Schwaeber and Creative Producer Ansley Queen, who have been working with the subjects for well over a year.