The scene: a quaint yet funky bistro on Perron Street on a packed Thursday evening. There are a lot of familiar faces in the crowd, and even more famous faces on the walls and much of the furniture. This is A Boutique Gallery Bar by Gracie Jane and the hostess herself — the thoroughly artistic Gracie Jane Genereux — has quite a story to tell.
That place, that person, and that story are exactly what Rob LeLacheur is after with a new documentary he is undertaking. The former Saint City News publisher is now head of marketing content creation company Road 55.
“This is the first film project for our team at Road 55. For five years, our videos are at the top of the food chain of content that we create for a multitude of clients. This is just approaching it from a little different twist,” he explained.
A twist is the perfect approach for a feature documentary on Gracie Jane. One step inside her bar at 31A Perron St. will dispel any other notion. A devout fan of pop culture, the painter has put the likenesses of celebrities on the walls and on the tabletops and beyond. Her extensive background in bartending must have played a large role in her decision to open up a lounge all on her own in 2016.
Shortly thereafter, a bout with cancer took her off the scene but she had already developed such a fan base that volunteers worked in her stead to keep the bar going. Now in the all-clear, she’s back on the scene and hasn’t looked back with her business success or her art. It’s a heartwarming story of human triumph over adversity with art being one of its saving graces.
That’s one of the angles LeLacheur and Road 55 will pursue with the project due to start production next month. He has set up an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign aimed at $30,000 to finance the film. To entice donors, Genereux has offered limited edition signed art prints as part of the levels of perks being offered.
Some of those perks include invitations to two VIP filming nights — one on April 24 and the other on May 15 — along with tickets to the premiere of the film this fall. LeLacheur hopes to get the film into various festivals as well.
Road 55 brings its lead production head Trevor Cousineau, who was a producer on Canadian Idol and other film and TV projects. This documentary also marks the start of a new line of operations for the company.
"We want to do a specialty project if you will each year that probably has a bit more artsy look to it but not so corporate-y. And this is it. This is one that we 1,000 per cent felt there was a story to tell. Gracie's story was the one we wanted to tell.
"She loves the city and talk about an amazing community she's built around herself. Boy, there's a lot of people who love Gracie."
