Naturally, I'm so proud of what we've all been able to achieve with this movie, but it's also all icing on the cake at this point. A year ago I wasn't even sure if my premiere in the Monarch was going to be feasible. So, to now have all of these festival stories from the last 4 months, it's broadened the scope of this entire experience.
Most commonly, I've been asked why I think this film has been picked up at so many international festivals and resonated with so many 'seemingly' different audiences over these months. I think it's actually really simple. It's like if I had made a movie about video stores and released it in 2005. People are aware change is on the horizon, but it's not gone yet. There's this communal desire to save something, and everyone's wondering what this experience that the documentary is about might look like in just the next 10 years.
The Monarch is currently a rare success story in a sea of downsizing, closures, and adaptation. That uncertainty has played into the emotional component of all of this and it's actually a feel good story. I think that positive twist has made all the difference.
