'Thanks, Charlie'—The Amazing Story of a Barbershop + Recovery
Recently, we’ve come into contact with an amazing filmmaker, Thea Maichle Golden, whom does a lot for recovery and mental health out in her native California. When we heard about the film, Thanks Charlie, we knew we had to share with everyone—enjoy.
About the film:
There’s a saying in meetings that if you hang around the barber shop, you’re going to get a haircut. Charlie the Barber helped make that saying a literal lifesaver by unknowingly creating a safe space for people in recovery, one haircut at a time. Over the years, his Richmond barber shop changed from a place where no one talked about addiction to a place of connection and acceptance, and for that, so many people in recovery say “Thanks, Charlie”.
About the team:
Thea Maichle Golden—Producer/Director
With a producer's unwavering persistence and an advocate's altruistic spirit, Thea conquers the unique challenges of documentary film-making with finesse. She learned the ropes working on A&E's prime-time docu-series, Random 1, and went on to produce the series-inspired feature documentary Lost in Woonsocket with director John Chester. After Lost in Woonsocket’s premiere at SXSW, Thea hopped in an RV and organized a three-month cross country tour spreading a message of hope and recovery. She continued working with John and produced Rock Prophecies in 2010. It won three audience awards for best documentary feature and was distributed nationally on PBS.
Since then, Thea's been found filming with police officers in the streets of Chicago, cavemen on the top of Mt. Baldy, and recovery advocates in a barbershop in Richmond. Her biggest production to date has been becoming a wife and mom. Not only does her family keep her grounded, but they've also trained her to become a master of logistics, snack time, and patience - skills that translate well when out in the field.
Meredith Raithel Perry—Director/Editor
Meredith has been directing and editing film for 14 years. She is known for her work on multiple documentary feature films such as The Milky Way and Jambo Jumbo. Her most recent project, the The Hacker Wars is available on Prime Video. Based in Los Angeles, Meredith has worked for Rabbit Bandini, Maker Studios, Vitagraph and Relativity Media.