Austin Nunes and David Brumfield aka Lagoona Bloo Talk Into the Bloo

It may run just a brief 15 minutes, but the documentary short film Into the Bloo manages to touch on themes of loss, triumph, identity, and performance in ways that are both profound and touching. Its setting is simple: in it, drag musician Lagoona Bloo (David Brumfield) prepares for the biggest performance of her life and reflects on her past, present, and future in the intimate confines of her dressing room.

Known for catchy hooks and a three-octave range, Lagoona Bloo first made waves in 2021 with her debut single, “Greedy With My Love,” and EP AQUA. Since then, her music—including hits like “Sticky Sweet” (featuring Lemon) and her Vengaboys cover with Alaska—has garnered over two million Spotify streams. Currently, she stars as Tuna Turner in the Off-Broadway hit Drag: The Musical, a role she originated in 2022 and reprises in the studio cast recording.

Austin Nunes is the film’s director. Having filmed rehearsals, fittings, and studio sessions, aiming to reveal the artistry behind creating a live pop show, he has focused Into the Bloo on a single in-depth interview in which she opened up about how the sudden loss of both parents shaped her identity as an artist. A queer filmmaker from Berlin, Connecticut, Nunes has built his career collaborating with queer publications like Out Magazine and The Advocate as well as projects featuring Aquaria, Bob The Drag Queen, Yvie Oddly, Rosé, Sienna Miller, Troye Sivan, and Colman Domingo.

Into the Bloo premiered at Out On Film: Atlanta’s LGBTQ Festival. Nunes and Brumfield spoke with Film Obsessive’s J Paul Johnson about their friendship and collaboration. The transcript below the video has been edited for space and clarity.

Film Obsessive: It’s great to meet you both. I really enjoyed the opportunity to see your film. Austin, can I have you start us off just by describing the film in your own words?

Austin Nunes: Sure. Into the Bloo is a 15-minute short documentary that shows David getting ready for a really big show. At the time, it was I think, probably the biggest act that you were doing. So it’s like on the precipice of this big moment for her as an artist. But at the same time, she’s recollecting her childhood and coming to terms with her relationship with her family who had such an influence on her, both good and bad. I think that’s the duality of life. And it’s about her reckoning with both the trauma that they inflicted onto her and how that influenced her as an artist, but also the gifts that they gave her.

Her dad was very musical and music was always a big thing in the family, and her mom was a beacon of femininity, which, of course, contributes to drag. So it’s kind of like an extended monologue, like a single point of view. It’s all from Lagoona’s perspective, and it takes into account a lot of childhood footage that I think acts as the proof to what she’s speaking about because there’s some really tough stories to listen to and there. And what’s crazy is that some of it is on tape from just her dad recording every single memory that they had in childhood. There was over 50 hours of footage that we sifted through.

There’s so much in there that I want to ask you. When did you decide that you wanted to make a film about Lagoona and her life centered in this moment? You’d known her for some time, right?

Austin Nunes: Yeah. In 2019, it was Pride kickoff, New York was hosting World Pride. And Lagoona and a couple of other drag performers, Rose and Jan, or drag sisters, were performing the National Anthem to kick off Pride. And their manager connected me with them and was like, we’d love to film this moment. It’s a big moment. And that was the day I met Lagoona. And from there, we became friends and collaborated on different projects. I was a videographer; she’s a drag queen—a match made in heaven!

And then I happened to go to a show of Lagoona’s where she announced that she was doing her biggest show, yeah, opening for another queer artist Vincent at Irving Plaza here in New York City. And I was at a time when—I’m a freelance filmmaker, so there’s periods of really slow work and periods where I’m just completely overwhelmed, but this was a slow period. I was very inspired that Lagoona was about to do something big with her career. And I had always been a fan of music documentaries, and I so badly wanted to document this process because I know how much goes into it, making costumes, choreography, the arrangements, dance rehearsals. I didn’t know what it was going to be. I just know that I wanted to be there and capture it and see what it snowballed into, which is Into the Bloo.

And Lagoona, what was your take on that at the moment? Did you ever imagine when you had those initial conversations with Austin that it would result in a film that came out like Into the Bloo has?

David Brumfield aka Lagoona Bloo: I mean, I definitely didn’t expect it to be what it is now. I will say that, but I’m just so excited. I mean, I was such a big fan of Austin. I remember the first time I’d ever heard of Austin was through a friend of mine, Lemon. And they together created something called a video portrait. I just remember being so flabbergasted and so amazed at this, like, beautiful one-minute representation of this artist. This was at a time before video media was really, really hitting the Internet and blew up before the pandemic. I was just really blown away at this, and at Austin in general. And so when we started talking about it and working together, I don’t know. It was just really exciting.

I didn’t expect it to be as in depth in my life as it became because it was first, supposed to be all about the music and this experience and this opportunity and this performance. But as we started working on it, and as we started building the world around my world, it evolved into this really heart wrenching and beautiful short about what it’s like to take your trauma and really, really make  lemonade out of lemons. But actually, but now I feel like, yes, I can’t wait till we do a feature film. You know, I can’t wait ’til we do the whole thing!

I’m going to cycle back to that! But I wonder, what it was like for you to go through all of the memories that were preserved on VHS from your childhood? Were those things that you’d seen recently, had you been through them? Were they kind of new to you once again? And did you have any trepidation about bringing those into the film?

David Brumfield aka Lagoona Bloo: Well, I don’t think I had any trepidation going in because both of my parents are gone now. And I think whenever I was I used to be really cautious about talking about my past and talking about my family because I always had a fear that they would find out. I have had many of opportunities in my life where I’ve had to they asked me about my past, and I’ve always really struggled talking about my family. And then when we started revisiting this and started retelling the story, actually, there was this little bit of peace because it felt like I could finally tell it in the way that it was supposed to be told and I could tell the truth and I could really be honest about how brutal things were for me growing up.

But that being said, we were always in front of the camera. My dad was obsessed with his VHS recorder, and he loved capturing memories in that way. So we were very used to it. And at every holiday, my dad would just play all of our home videos from the year. So it was kind of like something that was very part of my life. My dad was also a performer and also a singer. So my dad would also record himself singing. I’m sure Austin, you probably saw many, many hours. So my dad just like playing the guitar and singing to himself or singing to me as a baby, so it was always a huge part of my life.

When we started talking about it and when we started exploring it as part as Into the Bloo, it just made sense because A, there was so much of it and B, like echoing what Austin said, it really shows [what I went through].

I appreciate it that it’s there, and I appreciate your candor in bringing it in there. And I also appreciate from a filmmaker’s perspective what a challenge it is actually to be able to work that material into a narrative without slowing it down or losing track of it. So I’d like just ask Austin about your work as a filmmaker here to create a narrative that feels so complete, even while it’s set in a specific moment, but going backwards in time and also forwards.

Austin Nunes: Even before I talk about that, just to give some context, when we were filming this and we had done the interview, that is, you know, the meat and potatoes of the film. I know that Lagoona’s dad had recently passed. I think it was within the year. And his house was being cleared out and your sister found all the tapes. And we were in the middle of making all of this, and I don’t know how it came to be, but essentially, she shipped up the tapes to New York and I took them to get digitized for the film. And it really was an enormous act of trust on Lagoona’s part. To allow me to handle that and then also be the first one to really see the footage and sift through it. I mean, I remember the moment I plugged in that hard drive, it felt like a sacred moment, and Lagoona really did trust me so much and I’m so grateful for that.

But really, I was skimming and scrubbing through all of the footage for all the proof I needed essentially of what she had already talked about. In the interview, she talks about how she was always called “fat” as a kid by her own parents, and then I’m going through the footage and I find a clip of her dad calling her “fat” on camera. You know, I was just I was looking for those moments that represented the stories that she was telling. And there’s like so much footage of Lagoona’s mom because her dad was recording most of the time. So that allowed me to create a really nice montage to honor her life, you know, after the first act of the film. So really, I was just looking for moments that spoke to the stories that Lagoona was telling.

I think that allowing the film to take place in the dressing room, pre-performance, where the makeup, the transformation is underway but not complete speaks to both sides of the personality, and we have Lagoona looking into the mirror, but you also take the opportunity to go both backwards and forwards. And it feels very intimate and spontaneous.

Austin Nunes: Well, I mean, we have a built in friendship, and so there’s a built-in trust. So I think Lagoona’s walls were naturally down. I also don’t think either of us knew what it was going to become. I just sat down to ask questions about the show. And then I was like, Oh, how’d you start as a singer as an artist? And then, you know, Lagoona starts talking about karaoke nights with her family, and then I’m like, Okay, tell me more about your family. And then it just kind of evolved from there. And so there was this trust and we just kept talking and it kept evolving and it really comes to a head in that moment where Lagoona talks about losing her mother and those last moments with her.

And none of it felt too planned. It all just felt very effortless and very vulnerable. And she’s in her dressing room, you know, doing what she does every day, like, getting into drag. So I think it was a very comfortable environment for her. Whenever I do documentary work, I like to film interviews of people in spaces that are comfortable to them. So her dressing room felt very natural. Paris is Burning is a template for, you know, a drag interview. It lends itself to that as well. It felt very safe and natural for the both of us. I didn’t have any crew with me. It was me with the camera and a mic, you know, so I think that kind of intimacy, also, just kind of like locked in her dressing room. I think also fact that it was Lagoona, you getting ready for such a big moment, like it felt special. And so maybe you were more apt to be vulnerable in that moment, too.

I’d like your perspective on that, Lagoona.

David Brumfield aka Lagoona Bloo: I’m a storyteller. It’s what I am. I’ve always been fascinated. I think that’s a huge part of my job. I’ve always been really fascinated with acting and with theater and with music and all things of the arts. And I had an ex who used to, we would get into arguments, and I would say my side of the story and I would deliver this speech of how I’m feeling. Every time, he would always be like and the Academy Award goes to, you know, but that’s just who I am. I’m a storyteller, and I’ve experienced a lot. I’ve had a really hard life, and honestly, I didn’t realize that I hadn’t healed from a lot of the things that I talked about in this film.

And for a long time I couldn’t watch it. It was really hard for me to watch because it was like, when you know your stuff, when you know your story, It’s almost like I remember even saying this. It’s like we’re all the stars of our own movies. So we don’t talk about the things that we all know because we feel like everybody knows them. And so in sharing these, it was obviously Austin created a very safe space for me.

But yeah, I was really interesting to dig deep into all of into my life like this and share so openly. I wasn’t it wasn’t difficult to see it or difficult to share it. It’s never difficult for me to share it. The hardest part is for me to watch it and to listen to it back. Because I remember the first time I listened to the story about my dad and what he did to me. And, you know, that and I remember listening back for the first time and I was like, you know, I I was shocked because it felt like a horror film. I was like, Oh, my God, like, no way that And it almost sounds fake. Like it almost sounds like a lie. It almost sounds like a script. Like I wrote it. But that was that happened to me.

So it it was actually in the process of afterwards, once we were finished and once we started submitting [it to festivals] and all that. It used to be a 45-minute long film and then to cut it down. So I watched many iterations of it. And it was really difficult, but it felt very important to share this story or my story, because I know that I’m not the only person who has dealt with that. There are so there are so many my story is multifaceted in the ways that I am. And I know that there are so many things to relate to. You know, there’s there’s there’s everyone has experienced trauma or experienced family issues or body image issues or a connection to a disconnection from a parent or losing a parent. Like there’s so many things that I have been through. But I loved making it.

The film is clearly going to be one way of communicating those very thoughts, right? And I assume that in a way your stage act is a part of that as well. Can you talk a little bit about your work as a performer just outside the context of this film?

David Brumfield aka Lagoona Bloo: Oh, yeah. I mean, Drag is like my everything. I’m Lagoona Bloo. I’m the Mermaid Pop Star. I have worked really hard to create a name for myself as a singer and a songwriter and a recording artist. I’ve been doing drag for about eight years now. Drag was the thing that really changed my life. And everything that I had always wanted for myself as an artist, started became sort of a reality because of Drag. I wanted to make music, and I wanted to sing, and it opened doors for me to do things that I always told that I wasn’t allowed to do.

For me, Drag is a celebration of all of the things that queer people are shamed for by society. It is, when you’re in drag, you’re making a very loud stance against the social norms and what society has to say for us. All of my life, I used to hate myself because obviously because of how I was raised, but also just everything that I thought was beautiful was bad, And Drag helped me realize that all those things that I used to hate myself for are the best parts about me. So it’s been a really life-altering, life-changing experience to really dive deep into an art and make it my life and my career because it has been a huge journey of self-discovery and self-exploration, but also self acceptance and self-love.

And I think that is the message of this film as well is that, despite the obstacles that life serves us, there is light and there is love. And I think one of the greatest gifts that I’ve experienced is understanding how valuable I am and how worthy I am. Be coming from a world like I came from, you know, I thought it wasn’t worth anything. I didn’t love myself at all. I didn’t think I thought it was a piece of shit. That’s what I was taught. And so, yeah, it’s been a really, like, it’s been a tumultuous adventurous, you know, journey, but I’m grateful for it.

Well, I’m so pleased to hear you talk about it. I know parts of it have been painful, parts have been very immensely pleasurable, but I’m so pleased to hear you talk about it, for us at Film Obsessive, and for us to get to see the film. And I hope many audiences do. Austin, what is next for the film?

Austin Nunes: We’re looking at festivals for 2025. So we’re looking to get a New York screening because we have such a insular community of New York queer people who would love to see it. So we’re just looking forward to sending it throughout the festival circuit this coming year. But we’re really grateful and happy about the fact that it got to premiere at Atlanta Out on Film. It’s such a great festival. So I think we have a great start. But yeah, just can’t wait to share it with more people.

And correct me if I’m wrong, but did I hear earlier Lagoona intimate that there might be something bigger in store for it or broader in store in the future?

David Brumfield aka Lagoona Bloo: Oh, I mean, listen, I’m all about speaking things into existence. We’re pinging investors at this part [laughs]. Yeah, we need investors. I mean, I think that my story is so beautiful. I think that, you know, I believe that I was put on the Earth to do Drag and to share my story. And I think that every I believe that all of us, we’re all beautifully and wonderfully made and constructed of the things that happened to us and how we’re raised and how we’re loved and how we’ve grown, you know? So I think I would love to take an even more deep dive into my life and share it on an even grander scale, with more music and, more experiences and more stories, and more growth.

The reality is that we filmed that in 2021. So I have changed so much and grown so much. All of this interview was before therapy, was before, you know, those wounds were very fresh. I was fresh out of a breakup. I was like, I’m in a totally different place now. So I would love to take that story. And if, you know, it ends very triumphantly. But what’s crazy is to see how much my life has changed now and how many more things I’ve accomplished and how many things I’ve let go and how much I’ve grown. And I would like it to be even more triumphant.

Congratulations to you, Lagoona, on those triumphs, and congratulations to you, Austin on the completion of the film. It does a remarkable amount in its short 15 minutes. I’d just like to thank you both for taking the time with us for Film Obsessive today. And best of luck to you both on the festival circuit and all that comes next.

Austin Nunes: My pleasure.

David Brumfield aka Lagoona Bloo: Thank you so much.