The Donn Of Tiki

description

The incredulous story of Donn Beach, creator of the Tiki Bar, and perhaps the most important influencer of modern-day cocktails and bar aesthetics.

Better known as "Don the Beachcomber," Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt was an American maverick famous for telling entertaining, if unverifiable, stories about his life. There are slivers of truth to his tales – a youth spent in Jamaica, running rum during prohibition, hunting down cigars and liquor for troops in World War II, and bringing the first commercial l??au to Hawai’i. By combining audio from a 1986 interview with stop-motion animation reminiscent of a 1960s Christmas special, Donn comes to life. As we learn about Donn's travels through The South Seas, bootlegging in 1920s Hollywood, scavenging for liquor in Europe during WWII, and creating authentic travel experiences in Hawaii in the 1950s, we begin to understand who he was as a person, what drove him to do the things he did, and how his influence is still felt today.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Florida Film Festival 2024
SF Documentary Festival 2024
Dances With Films Festival 2024
Chagrin Documentary Film Festival 2024
Twin Cities Film Festival 2024
Newport Beach Film Festival 2024

DIRECTOR'S BIO
Alex is a graduate of Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in Orange, California. He won best Student Editor at the 2007 Eddie Awards. After starting Surf Monkey Films, he has produced and directed commercials, music videos for Weezer, Frank Turner, Nicky Romero, and content for Ask The Storybots, on Netflix. He has worked in post-production on several television shows including THE MAGICIANS, CIPHER, THE BOLD TYPE, and CHUCKY, as well as documentaries such as CHEVOLUTION. Alex's passion for storytelling is rivaled only by his love for the history and current resurgence of Tiki culture.

DIRECTOR'S BIO
After attending film school at Chapman University, Max has worked extensively in documentaries, including projects for the National Park Service, The Smithsonian, American Battle Monuments Commission, and various state parks and museums. Some of his most memorable work has been shooting interviews with Pearl Harbor survivors and Tuskegee airmen. Recent work includes stop-motion animation, toy commercials. Forever a student of the craft of filmmaking, he is always looking for new ways to tell a story visually.