NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) -A documentary honoring Mardi Gras Guide founder Arthur Hardy was shown Wednesday night at WYES, celebrating the man who created the iconic carnival publication with his wife Sue in the 1970s.
The feature, titled “Arthur Hardy: Our Mardi Gras Guide,” comes during Hardy’s final year overseeing the magazine before retirement. The documentary premieres Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. on WYES-TV.
“I think we were more stubborn than smart. We stuck with it,” Arthur Hardy said.
The Hardys never expected their side business to last five decades.
“We never dreamed that it would last 50 years, never,” Sue Hardy said.
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Documentary production
Dennis Woltering served as narrator, producer, editor and writer for the documentary. WYES approached Hardy about the idea three months ago.
“It was about three months ago that the folks at WYES approached me and said we want to do a documentary on my life, and I said, ‘You got to be kidding,’ and he said, ‘No, we really do,’ and I said, ‘Okay, that’s great,’” Hardy said.
Woltering said he was inspired by Hardy’s story after learning more about the magazine’s origins.
“It was a side hustle, and because they hustled so much and were so smart in the way they did it, they built this into something that’s indispensable for a lot of people at Mardi Gras,” Woltering said.
Retirement plans
The Hardys sold the magazine to The Times-Picayune three years ago and plan to retire on Ash Wednesday. Arthur Hardy said he looks forward to the opportunities he missed while producing the annual guide.
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“We could never make that New England trip to see the leaves turn because we were doing Mardi Gras in October, but now, we’ll have those opportunities, and it’s not bittersweet. It’s all sweet,” Hardy said.
WYES Chief Operating Officer Dominic Massa said honoring Hardy through the documentary was an obvious choice.
“What he’s done in education at Brother Martin as a band director, in business with his magazine and then just in Carnival, in the Carnival world and all he’s done for one of our biggest exports... Carnival... to put all that together into one program, felt (natural) to us,” Massa said.
Woltering said the magazine has served as more than a guide over its five-decade run.
“That magazine over 50 years has told us a lot about ourselves,” Woltering said.
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