World of Wonder cofounder Fenton Bailey, known for his provocative films The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Party Monster, and Inside Deep Throat, visits best-selling author Josh Sabarra's Porn Again: The Podcast to talk about his latest revealing documentary, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, and undeniable pop culture juggernaut RuPaul's Drag Race.
During the podcast Bailey fondly looks back at the first time he met drag icon RuPaul. He explains, "There's no 'discovering RuPaul.' I'll tell you who discovered RuPaul -- RuPaul! The very first time we saw him, he knew he was a star. It was really just a question of waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. We really totally believed in him."
Bailey and longtime business partner Randy Barbato have taken their media empire to the next level with RuPaul's DragCon 2016, May 7-8 in Los Angeles. Bailey conveys his excitement about the second-annual event: "People watch RuPaul's Drag Race as a family or en masse; it's a community/feel-good thing. As we have less and less contact, with everything getting so digital and virtual with social media -- as we have less and less contact with each other -- real contact becomes an amazing thing to have. I think that's why a lot of these cons do so well, because your tribe can get together and really be in the same room together and have this experience. It's like a fun fair."
Bailey also chats about his critically acclaimed documentary, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, now showing on HBO. "The film is Robert's [Mapplethorpe] story in Robert's own words; it's his voice you hear more than anyone else's in the film. A lot of people have had a lot to say about Robert Mapplethorpe over the years, but the one person we haven't heard from is Robert Mapplethorpe -- and here he is."
Listen to "Fenton Bailey: Mapplethorpe & World of Wonder" below.
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Best-selling author Josh Sabarra will be signing copies of Porn Again: A Memoir at RuPaul's DragCon 2016, May 7-8, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Tickets are available at RuPaulsDragCon.com.
