Studio One Forever: A Tribute to the Legacy of Studio One
As a community, it’s crucial that we know our history. We can’t afford to forget the spaces that sheltered us, the people who cleared the path, and the milestones that brought us from survival to pride. Our history isn’t just something to be studied, it’s something we carry with us. It reminds us of who we are, where we’ve been, and how far we’ve come. Studio One Forever is a powerful reminder of that.
Directed by Marc Saltarelli, this documentary takes us back to Studio One, a groundbreaking gay nightclub that stood at the heart of West Hollywood back in the ’80s. But Studio One Forever doesn’t just invite us to look back—it urges us to remember, to honor, and to understand the importance of preserving vital pieces of queer history.
Operating from 1974 to 1993, Studio One wasn’t just a nightclub tucked away in West Hollywood, it was a lifeline. At a time when our community was still hiding in the shadows, Studio One was a beacon. Through archival footage, emotional interviews, and a deep sense of urgency, Saltarelli paints a vivid portrait of a place that served as both sanctuary and stage.
As we discover early on in the film, in 2019 the club’s building was approved for demolition, so this journey through the past unfolds with a very real threat looming overhead. There’s something gut-wrenching about watching people fight to preserve a space that meant so much while knowing its physical form may not survive.
Through the voices of past patrons, employees, performers, and especially the activists who are fighting to save the club’s legacy—Lloyd Coleman, Gary Mortimer, Gary Steinberg, Ron Hamill, and John Duran, to name a few—Studio One Forever becomes much more than a nostalgic look back. It’s a love letter to a place where people found their tribe, their chosen families.
Because Studio One, and its adjoining live music venue The Backlot, offered something rare: freedom. When the outside world was cruel and closeted, the inside of Studio One was electric. Entering those doors meant stepping into a space where you could be unapologetically yourself, a place where you could be exactly who you were, even if just for one night.
For some, walking through Studio One’s doors was an entry into queer life itself. Sure, the nights were wild—full of music, substances, and sweat—but at its core, the space offered acceptance. Whether you were drunk, high, stoned, or stone-cold sober, Studio One said, you belong here. And that sense of belonging turned it into a cultural touchstone. It wasn’t long before the rest of the world took notice.
In 1975, just a year after its grand opening, Studio One hosted the afterparty for the premiere of the film Tommy, welcoming stars like Elton John, Diana Ross, Ann-Margret, and Pete Townshend. Celebrities flocked to the club, and the Backlot’s stage became a launchpad for legends like Chita Rivera and Eartha Kitt, and up-and-comers like Roseanne Barr and Rosie O’Donnell. The Backlot quickly became one of the most important venues for rising talent.
Studio One was the place to be in West Hollywood—a glittering epicenter of nightlife, liberation, and queer joy. But as the club’s popularity soared, a darker reality began to emerge. The very space that offered sanctuary and celebration for some began to cast shadows over others. Racist and sexist door policies, favoring white, blond, cisgender men, started to eclipse the inclusive spirit the club seemed to represent.
It’s an uncomfortable truth, but one that the documentary doesn’t shy away from. It reminds us how even our own sanctuaries haven’t always been safe for all of us and that these spaces can replicate the very systems they’re trying to escape. Liberation, after all, must be intersectional, or it’s not liberation at all. But that’s a topic for another day.
The club’s troubled policies were not the only challenge this place faced during its prime. Then came the AIDS epidemic, which devastated our community and struck right at the heart of spaces like Studio One. As misinformation spread and fear took hold, the dance floor grew emptier. People stopped coming not just because of illness or grief, but because of fear. The friends they once danced with were suddenly gone.
One of the film’s most moving moments recounts how Joan Rivers hosted one of the first major AIDS fundraisers there in 1984. The backlash was swift and vicious, the threats so severe that her daughter, Melissa, had to be escorted to school by bodyguards. But Joan didn’t back down. Her bravery in standing with the community when few dared to speaks volumes, and it’s remembered here with the reverence it deserves.
As attendance dwindled and grief took over, the magic of Studio One began to fade. By the early ’90s, the space had lost much of what made it thrive, and in 1993, it closed its doors for good. This part of the documentary hits especially hard. It reminds us of how fragile our safe spaces can be and why we must fight for them.
Because this is about more than one nightclub. It’s about the lives that were shaped on those dance floors, the chosen families that formed in those corners, the sense of freedom that many of us now enjoy thanks to the spaces built before us. Studio One Forever shows us that history isn’t just something we read in books, it lives in buildings, in stories, in people.
Yes, there’s still work to be done. We’re living through another moment where LGBTQ+ rights are under attack, especially in the U.S. But thanks to places like Studio One and the people who made them possible, we’re entering the fight with more visibility, more power, and more love than ever before.
Saltarelli has gifted us more than a documentary. He’s given us a beautifully crafted time capsule. Through firsthand accounts and rich historical context, Studio One Forever shows us exactly what it meant to be part of this community when being out was an act of defiance. It honors a space that shaped lives, launched careers, and helped define a generation of queer joy.
Though the efforts to stop the development where Studio One once stood weren’t entirely successful, they did manage to save the building. It was carefully dismantled and will be integrated into the new complex that will rise in its place, so the spirit of Studio One will live on.
And maybe that’s the most powerful message of all. We may lose buildings, spaces, people—but we don’t lose our stories. Not if we keep telling them. Not if we remember.
Studio One Forever is available for streaming on various digital platforms, including Apple TV, Prime Video, and Roku Channel. Additionally, Blu-ray and DVD editions are available for those interested in bonus content and physical media. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!
Featured Image: Photo Courtesy of Natalie Garcia. Studio One Productions LLC. Kaleidoscope Film Distribution.
