Hurricane Bianca

Hurricane Bianca
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Matt Kugelman
Produced by	Ash Christian
Screenplay by	Matt Kugelman
Starring	Bianca Del Rio Bianca Leigh Willam Belli Rachel Dratch Alan Cumming Shangela Laquifa Wadley Joslyn Fox
Cinematography	Austin F. Schmidt
Edited by	Scott Martin
Release date	September 23, 2016 (VOD) October 18, 2016 (DVD)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$166,889

Hurricane Bianca is an American independent comedy and LGBT film, directed and written by Matt Kugelman, an editor for CBS This Morning. The film's title derives from the starring actor, Bianca Del Rio (Roy Haylock), an American costumer and drag queen, best known for winning the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. As well as being marketed as a comedy, the film touches on serious social issues, such as the fact that it is legal for somebody to be fired from their place of work for being gay, in 29 U.S states. Speaking on the film before its release, Del Rio stated "It's a serious topic, but it's done in a funny way." Kugelman stated he hopes the film will shine a light on employment discrimination in the United States, saying "My hope is that Hurricane Bianca will change minds and bring awareness to the issue. The film deals with a serious topic in a comedic way."

The films budget was achieved mostly through extensive crowdfunding, and was introduced and announced years before Del Rio's rise to fame on RuPaul's Drag Race. After winning the show, Del Rio won a cash prize of $100,000 and garnered more attention to the movie. He was able to bring further attention to the film, with the casting of other well known Drag Race alumni; Willam Belli, Shangela Laquifa Wadley (Darius J. Pierce), Joslyn Fox (Patrick Joslyn), and Alyssa Edwards (Justin Johnson). Following a limited theatrical release, the film was released on video on demand on September 23, 2016, with a release to DVD in October 2016.

A school teacher named Richard moves from New York City to a small town in Texas, and begins work at a new school. Shortly after this, Richard gets outed by the community in this town and is consequently fired, which is legal under Texas state law. Following this, Richard feels the need to get revenge on the people that were hateful to him, so he returns as Bianca Del Rio, the drag persona of Richard, and spreads his hate and causes mayhem to those that were mean to him, who are oblivious to the fact that Del Rio is actually the previously fired Richard.