Studio One Forever

Sent directly from the West Hollywood Gays that called the disco home, Studio One Forever is an incredibly detailed account of the glittering and star-studded history of the iconic venue, and the efforts to prevent its teardown.

Before Studio 54, there was Studio One — a place that brought a New York party scene to the desert of Los Angeles, through both its famous disco floor and its music venue, the Backlot.

The documentary spares no corner — it starts at the beginning, long before it was called Studio One, and through first-hand accounting — an immense feat considering so many of the patrons were lost to AIDS — it leaves no stone unturned as it chronicles the mid-70’s Disco craze, the sanctuary it gave to the Gay men of Hollywood, and every important inflection in the history of the Backlot performances, including the first-ever AIDS Benefit hosted by Joan Rivers.

There are threads of some exclusion — one of which being the measures put in place to keep the club as unmixed as possible, on both race and gender lines, despite the venue being partially founded by a black gay man. The film covers this briefly, as part of its thorough exploration. It seems that POC were welcomed more as performers and stars than patrons in general, which at the time would not have been a problem unique to Studio One.

The entire film is framed by the fight by members of West Hollywood’s board, former patrons of the venue, to preserve this history from being demolished by developers. Though they sort of get their win in the end, where the documentary storytelling shines is in its granular detail, covering every aspect of every piece of information it manages to find - every story, photo, archivist, and anyone with information is given their time to talk and divulge.

This is a true and complete oral accounting of some vital cultural history that would have otherwise been lost to time, and a very fun watch if you can find it. Add to your watchlist if you’ve never heard of Studio One before, you are interested and invested in Disco culture, or enjoy the sonic stylings of Sylvester.

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