The late, great The Vivienne the first-ever crowned winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK who competed in the all-winners edition of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars years later has had her origin story, drag evolution, and joyous message encapsulated in a new documentary, Dear Viv, being released today on the WOW Presents Plus streaming service.Sign up for the Out Newsletter to keep up with what's new in LGBTQ+ culture and entertainment delivered three times a week straight (well) to your inbox!In the lead-up to this moving and heartwarming documentary feature which was entirely filmed, assembled, and released in the span of eight months Out spoke with World of Wonder cofounder Fenton Bailey. Throughout our conversation, Bailey recalled fond memories of getting to know The Vivienne and her family, discussed the process of making Dear Viv, and shared a message of joy and resistance that he hopes can inspire the LGBTQ+ community during challenging times.Out: You're from Portsmouth, England. Do you feel a special connection to the U.K. queens, and The Vivienne specifically, being from England as well?Fenton Bailey: The Vivienne was that sort of preeminent star of British drag, which is so different to U.S. drag. So, in that sense, there was a kinship; I've always understood British drag. But it was interesting how that didn't really apply to The Vivienne. She was this incredible artist of perfection.Fans often talk about this big aesthetic difference among the queens competing in seasons 1 and 2 of Drag Race UK, and how people like The Vivienne, and Blu Hydrangea, really pushed the U.K. queens in future seasons to look more polished.That is one part of The Vivienne's legacy for sure, in terms of upping the game. The Vivienne was the ambassador of Drag Race UK before the show was even commissioned. A cable channel in the U.K. was showing the U.S. show and wanted to find someone to represent the brand. And, of course, that was The Vivienne.The Vivienne was incredible on Drag Race UK season 1, as well as in the all-winners season even going toe-to-toe with Jinkx Monsoon. And then, in the West End, we started to see her making these pretty big moves. She was involved in a few productions in the West End while the queens in the U.S. were also taking over Broadway. It felt like she was on track to so much more success. And then, from a production standpoint, DragCon in the U.K. was happening right after she passed. What was it like, on your end, to receive the news and adjust to it?I was just thinking that you mentioned Jinkx on Broadway. I'm going to go see Jinkx in Oh, Mary!, and just to think about The Vivienne, too, playing the Wicked Witch of the West in [a West End theater production of The Wizard of Oz], it felt like there was this whole Not another career, but this extension and continuation of a career that was on this sort of rocket path. So it's just so sudden, and shocking. She was so young. It was also just five days before DragCon [in the U.K.], and everybody was like, 'What do we do?'DragCon is a big celebration. It just felt so weird. The idea of having a booth and letting people express their feelings by signing a book and writing on the wall That was such a great idea, in hindsight. I don't think we anticipated the outpouring of grief and sentiment, which then led us to say, 'Well, we should document this for other people to experience it; people who aren't going to DragCon.' In the course of that, Randy [Barbato] had the idea of actually, 'You know what? We should make a film about The Viv.' It was a great idea, and it was sort of a therapeutic thing to do, because it was very recent, very raw, and very fresh.At the same time, it was great that we could all just get on board and do the documentary. It didn't feel sentimental; it didn't feel moribund. It felt like we were also responding, and doing something useful, and contributing. Everybody at World of Wonder worked on the film. Pete Williams, and many of the people at World of Wonder We've all been together for years, but he's also produced Trixie and Katya for many years. He's in the family, and he stepped up to direct this. It was emotional, but it was also really good. It felt like we were spending time with Viv, especially going through all the archives, and all the interviews, and all the videos that we do when we shoot Drag Race. A lot of them don't get used in the final show just because there isn't enough time and space, so it was great to be able to find that material, and use it, and put it in the documentary, so people can get to know Viv.See on InstagramWatching the documentary, it felt like a 'group therapy' session for The Vivienne's loved ones, and for the other queens who knew her well. Did you feel similarly, as a producer?It did. It did for me and for Randy, too, and for everyone at World of Wonder. For the family, though, it must have been incredibly hard because it was so A loss like that is not something you get over quickly, or even ever get over. For them to let us in, and give their support, and say, 'Tell this story.' It's such an honor; it really is. And they've seen the film, and I'm just relieved that they love it as much as we love it.What incredible parents, they are. How great to have a mum, and dad, and a sister like that. Many in our community are not so lucky, and that was another reason I found it really heartwarming.World of Wonder has done plenty of documentaries, but this project was still a very quick turnaround. What was that experience like, to put together something so delicate in such a short period of time?It was possible because we didn't hang around. And it was intense, but I actually think that it speaks to something else that's happening in our industry. We're seeing how linear and cable TV are giving way to other models, and other ways of doing things. We're so lucky that we have a service like WOW Presents Plus because you don't have to spend weeks and months writing a treatment, going out, and pitching this. We can just do it. We can just pull the trigger and do it. Being able to do that is so important today.In Viv's particular case, it was really crucial. It's always challenging to have to go out and convince someone else that something is worth making. We were just like, 'Nope. We know what we're doing. We know what we've got to do, and this will be a good thing.' And it's great. The BBC came on board as partners later in the process But in the meantime, before that, we were able just to get on with it, and do it, and oh my goodness. It just makes a difference. It really does.While watching Dear Viv, I thought to myself how in just this one platform WOW Presents Plus a fan could watch the documentary, and then see her season of Drag Race UK, and also see her Morning T&T series with Baga Chipz. That is a pretty unique, and interesting, user experience.It feels really good. And I think, by the way, that the Morning T&T series with Baga and The Viv is so priceless, and funny, but also really pointed and telling. It's the kind of humor that strikes at the very core of the self-important, self-appointed, repressive forces. It does so in a really charming and funny way, but it is no less deadly and incisive. And that was The Viv all the way.So even though this film is kind of a memorial, it doesn't feel Oh, I don't know. I think everybody was happy when we were making it. It feels very much like the film that she would've wanted to make. The only thing I could say is that she might make a better film [laughs], but I still think it's pretty good considering she wasn't around to guide us.We're at this weird point of supposedly a regime that would want to silence us. But we've all been so invisible, for so long, that there's actually no going back now. We all just have to stick with it and have the courage of our convictions. Whatever's happening now It doesn't really reflect who people are and how they think. It is undoubtedly a regressive step, and it's appalling to see massive media empires bending the knee and accommodating this nonsense. But I'm confident that it won't last.I'm also excited that we today have a culture of not just World of Wonder, but I think very much inspired by drag queens and drag that's about getting out there, and doing it, and making it yourself, and just putting it. It's kind of a punk aesthetic. And whether it's Ru or many other queens, it's always been about, 'Just do it. It doesn't matter how small the stage is It doesn't matter what the network is. You just do it.' There's no real substitute for that. It's really important to stick with that right now, and to not give up.I love watching the Night Fever episodes where you and James St. James discuss queer culture and nightlife in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. But it's interesting to me how, suddenly, these stories and concerns of other eras started to sound quite familiar. As someone who's lived through those moments and discussed those periods of time at length, what's your advice to younger people who are going through something like that for the first time?Oh my god, that's a great question. It's funny, I hadn't really thought of it until you put it this way; that we're actually seeing a repeat of something that we went through. Because even Reagan and AIDS, as awful as it was, it didn't feel to me quite as extensive or potentially terminal. But I look at Ru's TikTok, and he's doing these fabulous videos. [We both start giggling.] You know, Ru's on set! He just goes out and does this. There's no budget. There's no crew. He just does it.And I think that is the message: That we should not lose our sense of humor. We should not lose our joy or our ability to entertain people. Those things, perhaps more than anything else, will change hearts and minds to the extent that they can be changed. The best defiance, and the best resistance, to me, is creativity. So I'd say, 'Just don't stop. Don't become invisible. Don't fall silent. Fuck them.'Dear Viv premieres Thursday, August 28 on WOW Presents Plus.