Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has just released THE BIG JOHNSON, a documentary detailing the amazing life and tragic death of LGBTQ+ pioneer Dean Johnson. THE BIG JOHNSON played in over 20 festivals and won “Special Jury Prize” at Doc’n Roll Film Festival in London, “Best Feature” at LES Film Festival, “Best first time doc director” at Berlin Indie Film Festival, “Best doc” at LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival and “Best LGBTQ filmmaker” at IndieFEST Film Awards. THE BIG JOHNSON will be available to rent/own on North American digital HD internet, cable, DVD and satellite platforms on February 27, 2026.
Featuring interviews with LGBTQ+ community celebrities Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat, Sherry Vine and Taylor Mac, THE BIG JOHNSON tells the story of Dean Johnson — drag queen, rock star, sex-positive LGBTQ+ activist, junkie, escort, and eventually John Doe. How does someone so famous in New York end up unidentified for a week in a D.C. morgue? Dean Johnson was a force of nature, standing seven-feet-tall in high heels. Bald, with hoop earrings, alien sunglasses, and a tiny black dress, he screamed for equality with his groundbreaking bands, Dean and the Weenies and The Velvet Mafia, refusing to be in the closet in the 1980s at the height of the AIDS crisis. Dean and the Weenies’ hit song “F-ck You” became an anthem for queer liberation. Dean’s Rock ’n’ Roll Fag Bar parties and Homocorps, the only queer party ever held at the legendary rock club CBGB, mixed punk rock, sex, and activism. Through drugs, HIV, massive personal loss, and poverty, Dean always lifted up the community around him. We may never solve the mystery of his untimely death, but what we do know is that Dean and “the Big Johnson” changed New York City and everyone who knew him forever.
Written and directed by Lola Rocknrolla, THE BIG JOHNSON was produced by Rocknrolla, Patty Lovemore, Beth Johnson and Mitch del Monico. Featured interview subjects include: Alice O’Malley, Basil Rodericks, Beth Johnson, Cara Buckley, Ceyenne Doroshow, Chi Chi Valenti, Chris Hook, Dale Corvino, Daniel Nardicio, David Ilku, Dee Finley, Dirty Martini, Dixie the Orlando Crack Whore, DJ Tennessee, Eunice Holland, Greg “G-Spot” Siebel, Heather Litteer, Jack Curious, Jackie Beat, Joan Jett Blakk, Jim Hubbard, Josh Atkins, Kathena Bryant, Kevin Aviance, Lady Bunny, Lloyd Goldberg, Mario Diaz, Mary Feaster, Melissa Tiers, Michael Musto, Mike Albo, Miss Guy, Nora Burns, Pamela Page, Penny Arcade, Perry Masco, Scott Ewalt, Sherry Vine, Stephanie Madden, Stuart Klinger, Stuart Shapiro, Susanne Hassenstein, Taylor Mac, Thomas Celan, Viva Ruiz, World Famous Bob, and Legs Malone (‘Narrator’).
“THE BIG JOHNSON explores what it was like to be unabashedly gay in New York City’s East Village during the late 1980s in the middle of the AIDS crisis,” filmmaker Lola Rocknrolla commented “Dean Johnson flew naked–literally, into the face of homophobia, drug addiction and that fickle mistress fame–throwing parties that celebrated queerness, community, and gay sexuality. This is a very personal story from someone who knew and loved him.”
Freestyle Digital Media negotiated a deal to acquire THE BIG JOHNSON directly with the filmmakers and Glen Reynolds of Circus Road Films.