Private Project

Dear Doris

A raucous love letter to Doris Fish – the pioneering, DIY queen from Down Under and creative force behind 1991 queer cult classic Vegas in Space (VIS). Fueled by her visionary band of misfits and boundary breaking views beyond the gender identity, DEAR DORIS chronicles this unsung hero’s whirlwind rise to drag icon in San Francisco.

  • Scott Braucht
    Director
    Mel & Kate
  • Janique Robillard
    Producer
    Death By Numbers, From There to Here, The Fix
  • Kanani Koster
    Producer
    Any Oregon Sunday, Li HiNG MUi
  • Jess Mills
    Producer
    No One Asked You
  • Phillip R. Ford
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Vegas In Space
  • Miss X
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Vegas In Space
  • Joshua Grannell
    Key Cast
    "Self, Peaches Christ"
    All About Evil
  • Bob Hawk
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    The Times of Harvey Milk, Vito, Chasing Amy
  • Cynthia Kane
    Executive Producers
    Us Kids, Dilemma of Desire, Life and Life, The Ants and the Grasshopper
  • Lori Cheatle
    Executive Producers
    Dreaming Walls, Us Kids, M.I.A., Kiki
  • Zackary Drucker
    Board of Advisors
    This is Me, The Lady and the Dale, Queenmaker, The Stroll
  • Jenny Kincaid
    Animation
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    queer, lgbtqiaplus, lgbt, history, queerhistory, drag, dragqueen, humor, drama, filmwithinafilm, diy, documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 5, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    350,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia, France, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • FORUM: Doc Edge Pitch

    New Zealand
Director Biography - Scott Braucht

DIRECTOR / EDITOR: SCOTT BRAUCHT is an Oregon-based queer filmmaker, whose creative endeavors were sparked when he got his hands on a VHS camera at the age of eight. He is creatively driven and strives to cultivate daring stories for voices not as visible in mainstream media, particularly with his debut feature documentary DEAR DORIS. For this in progress film Scott has been awarded two RACC Grants, a Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence grant, the 2023 Seattle Pride Artist Residency, and the Sou-wester Artist Residency along with a pride month exhibition in their theater. In 2023, he co-founded “I Saw That: Queer Movie Club,” as a space for monthly screenings in the Portland area. His commitment to stories centering the LGBTQ2ia+ community is evidenced in prior work, including his short MEL & KATE that was an official selection at Newfest in 2011 and his experimental short CUBICLES & COWGIRLS that screened at multiple queer film festivals. Scott recently received a RACC Grant for the pilot of his series LULU’S CLUBHOUSE, highlighting businesses owned by marginalized community members impacted during Covid, hosted by drag queen Lulu Luscious. In addition to his directorial pursuits, Scott art directs narrative films and music videos for artists including Cake, The Shins, and Lara Gibson and freelances as an assistant editor. He earned a Certificate in Filmmaking from the NW Film Center and is passionate about volunteering with numerous film and art venues in Portland’s vibrant arts community.

CREATIVE PRODUCER: JANIQUE L ROBILLARD is an independent creative producer based in Brooklyn, NY. Her freelance work spans many categories – live action and animated content, music videos, and commercial work for major brands like Google and Nike – but her passion has always been in celebrating the everyday extraordinary through documentary storytelling. Janique actively seeks opportunities to elevate womxn’s voices and marginalized communities in film, evidenced in her work on 1000 Times (a women’s MMA short documentary) which was awarded the Women In Film Vision Grant and her on-going collaboration with the Free Body Project series, which includes their short FROM THERE TO HERE (currently in educational distribution) which was supported by the Fulbright Foreign Student Program and a Dance Films Association Production Grant. She has produced work for acclaimed directors including Kim A Snyder (THE LIBRARIANS and UNTITLED 1214 PROJECT now in production) and Jeremiah Zagar (THE FIX docu-series on Roku), and developed documentary projects for both directors and clients including Netflix. Janique completed her B.S. in Journalism and Finance at Syracuse University and earned her M.F.A. in Filmmaking at Maryland Institute College of Art, where she continues to teach Film Branding workshops.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

In the 1980s, Doris Fish served as a newscaster for San Francisco’s Gay Cable Network. During this time, when drag queens were relegated to the lowest rung of the LGBT community – many gay viewers harassed the network for this. In response Philip said, “Who are rights for if they’re not for everyone? If they’re not for the misfits among us what do rights mean?”

Fast forward 40 years and this fundamental belief that Doris stood fiercely behind, is something the LGBTQia+ community must still fight for. While there have been undeniable victories since Doris’ life was cut short by AIDS in 1991, the NYT recently reported that anti-LGBTQ bills are now being enshrined into law at alarming rates. Harkening back to Anita Bryant’s “Save Our Children” campaign – the queer community now faces laws like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” making Doris’ story more critical than ever.

Documentaries like DEAR DORIS have proven they have the power to create more gender-affirming and inclusive spaces if given the support they need to reach an audience. It was a film, after all, that fostered the creative outlet and sense of community that saved Doris and her friends in a time where drag queens were reviled outside of the sacred clubs and venues where they reigned.

In retracing the life’s work of Philip Mills aka Doris Fish, we showcase not only a positive portrait of an unsung icon, but a deeper exploration of true inclusion at the intersection of cultural battles that were fought then and now – to destigmatize and decriminalize sex work and gender fluidity, and create better access to care for HIV/AIDS.

When envisioning the final film, we want it to drip with the same campy, vivacious, and larger than life personality that Doris donned throughout her life and injected into her creative work. No two wigs, set of false eyelashes, or costumes were the same – everything was one of a kind and screamed Doris. We feel that by pushing the boundaries of mixed formats and creative treatments for our animation, still photography, and trove of archival footage we can craft something unique and that pays homage to Doris.