The 2008 Academy Awards boasted a rare yet distinct LGBT flavour when the Oscar went to lesbian-themed short documentary Freeheld.  This beautiful story, now available on DVD (http://www.freeheld.com/orderdvd.html), and screened at the 17th Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2008, has already captured hearts and minds across the world with its heartrending real-life account of love and strength in the face of adversity.

The film chronicles the final year in the life of Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester of the New Jersey Police Department who is facing death from cancer while fighting a policy that will not allow her to transfer her pension to the woman she loves – her domestic partner, Stacie Andree.  With the support of local residents and campaigning groups, Stacie was finally granted Laurel’s pension, but only after a long and painful battle that ended just weeks before Laurel passed away. 

Visibly overjoyed to receive their Oscar awards, director Cynthia Wade and producer Vanessa Roth delivered moving speeches which aroused a mixture of praise and controversy from all corners of the globe.

Cynthia Wade: “Thank you.  It was Lieutenant Laurel Hester’s dying wish that her fight against discrimination would make a difference for all the same-sex couples across the country that face discrimination every day – discrimination that I don’t face as a married woman.”

Vanessa Roth: “And [thank you] to all our supporters and families who believe that even a 38 minute movie could change minds and lives, and our children who remind us about what’s really important.”

Freeheld publicity poster

Director and cinematographer Cynthia Wade

Amongst Wade’s many achievements, most notable is the award-winning HBO documentary Shelter Dogs (2004), a film that explores pro-euthanasia ethics. Shelter Dogs garnered tremendous critical praise and was broadcast in seven countries.  Wade is also known for her account of the effects of divorce on her own family in Grist for the Mill (1999), a short documentary that was broadcast on Cinemax.  She runs her own video production company and teaches digital cinematography at The New School in New York City.

Wade’s husband, Matthew Syrett, has a personal love of Japan and has served as vice-president for Rakuten, a Japanese company.  His background in marketing and statistics made him an invaluable resource in marketing Freeheld.

In March 2008, prior to attending a private Oscar party in celebration of Freeheld’s win, we were honoured to be invited to Wade and Syrett’s home in Brooklyn, New York.  In this exclusive interview, they reveal the marketing strategy behind Freeheld, their magical Oscar experience, their hope that the film will promote LGBT issues worldwide, and their concerns about “coming out” as a straight couple.

Cynthia Wade and Matthew Syrett

2008 Oscar-winning director Cynthia Wade

What was your marketing strategy for Freeheld as a festival film?

When I met Cynthia, I soon found myself as part of her documentary filmmaking crew.  I think my greatest contribution to Freeheld, beyond taking care of the kids so Cynthia could go off and shoot it, was the marketing.  It can be a complex game, because I work in conjunction with film festivals, publicists, and sometimes broadcast networks.

 

I started tracking films on the festival circuit, seeing what makes a good festival film, which festivals play what kind of films, and trying to understand the mechanics.  I’m right now tracking around 7000 films.

Freeheld is difficult as a festival film because of its length – It’s 38 minutes long, but festivals tend to prefer them under 25 minutes, and 15 minutes is probably best.  The festival will either place a short in front of a feature film, so it mustn’t be too long.  Or, it’s placed in a program together with other shorts, but a short of 40 minutes would dominate the program so it’s not fair to other shorts.  However, if a 40 minute short does well at a major festival such as Tribeca, Sundance, Toronto or Cannes, it will dominate the festival circuit for the rest of the year.  So, we knew it would be very hard to initially get into a film festival, but we hoped one of the big film festivals would pick us up.   We decided on 38 minutes for one practical reason – we only had 10 weeks filming Laurel before she died.  In other films we’ve done, we would have had 5 times this amount of footage.  Since there was only a limited time with her, we had to decide whether to make a shorter “feature length” film or a longer “short”.  We didn’t think a “feature length” would do well, so we decided to make a short.

Was Freeheld also marketed with a strong educational purpose in mind?

Absolutely.  Another reason to make a 38 minute short was that it gave us the opportunity to do a lot of social outreach.  For example, it’s perfect for screening at companies during lunch hour, where human resource teams want their employees to learn about diversity in the workplace.

The reason why Laurel Hester wanted this film to be out there was to tell her story so that people would become aware of it.  I think one of our strategies in cutting and designing the film was that we didn’t want to preach to the choir.  A lot of advocacy films tend to be aimed at people who are already engaged in the issue, in this case LGBT persons.  However, our strategy with Freeheld was to create a film that would appeal to a broader audience so we would have a chance of making more of a difference.  The film speaks to people who would not normally watch this type of film.  In the US right now, there is a political spectrum where the Left wants to give these rights to LGBT persons, while the Right worries that granting these rights would be equal to promoting “gay marriage” which is a no-no in the States.  We wanted Freeheld to sidestep that polarization and, thankfully, Laurel’s story was perfectly made for that.  Her story was not about gay marriage, she wanted to fight for the right to give your pension over to whomever you choose.  She was a police officer, a very conservative role in the US, so she was the type of person that appeals to conservative America.  And her story is simple: She’s a police officer, she served for more than 20 years and she kept her town safe, so she should have her rights.

Yes.  There is still quite a punitive assumption in the documentary film world that you can’t think about marketing, that it’s really supposed to be just volunteer work, and you make a social issue film because you want to make the world a better place.  However, your film is only as potent as the audience that you reach, so you can make the most amazing social issue film, but if you don’t reach the right audience, what’s the point?  It’s like a tree falling in the forest and nobody hears it.  So, with all of my films, I had to think about my marketing plan from the beginning.  Each film has its own path and audience, and there are specific demographics for every film, because there is no such thing as a general audience.

In the case of Freeheld, my approach was different from my previous films, because typically I make feature-length documentaries.  This time I took a “less is more” strategy, just showing the facts in a very straightforward style, since it would have more potency than if we tried to pad it.  The footage was limited with Laurel, but I felt there was an opportunity to give audiences a feature-length experience in a very short amount of time, because there was a very strong narrative arc.  38 minutes was the ideal educational length.  For festivals, it allowed us to have panel discussions or Q&As afterwards.  Also, it can be shown in classrooms, followed by discussion, although we have to wait for it to be broadcast on television before we can show it in schools. 

How did you choose your target areas in the US for marketing Freeheld?

In order to qualify a film for Oscar consideration, you have to rent theatres around the country, which can be very costly for independent filmmakers particularly of short films.  We had to find theatres in cities that would cut us a deal.  We tried to target places where there would be opportunity for discussion and education, so we chose unexpected cities – not New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco – like Kansas City, Missouri, where there’s a gay population, but not a lot of support.  Then we had panel discussion about what the rights are for employees in that city.  We took the film to Salt Lake City, Utah, which is a heavily Mormon city, a very conservative, republican state.  But there is a progressive streak in Salt Lake City, and the city employees there have really struggled for their own domestic partnership benefit rights, so it was very potent for them.  We even went to Seattle, which is a fairly progressive city, but Washington State still has a far way to go in terms of equal rights.  There was a huge case of a lesbian there who was working out of her basement office in her house, when there was a flood.  A wall crashed in and killed her, and her partner could not receive any benefits.

What networking did you do with the LGBT community, and how has this helped with marketing Freeheld? 

In early March 2007, about 6 weeks after Sundance, I was invited to a conference where wealthy gay and lesbian Americans go to this undisclosed location, where they spend 5 days talking about where they should invest their money.  I was lucky enough to be invited to that, and it was an incredible educational experience.  I got to show my film, and people gave me money for the film.  Actually Salt Lake City came out of that, because I met a lesbian woman, a former Mormon wife and mother, who said to me, “I’ll pay for you to show your film in Salt Lake City.  I’ll fly you out and do all the publicity.”  And now we can now identify the States where there’s going to be significant LGBT legislation this November for the national elections, so we’re raising money to target those States where there’s the greatest opportunity for change.

How has the LGBT community reacted to your being a straight couple having made a film about a lesbian couple?

Our initial concern was how our being straight was going to be received.  We thought a lot about how “out of the closet” we should be.

It’s true.  Before Sundance, I said to Matt, “Should I take my rings off?” because I was really afraid of being judged by the gay and lesbian community as an outsider.  I thought, “Come on, I can pass [as lesbian]!  I can take off my rings!”  But, I didn’t and I’m really glad I didn’t, because it’s actually really helped to strengthen the dialogue about this issue.  Through Freeheld, these male macho cops that normally wouldn’t be gay activists were able to talk to straight America.  And for heterosexual unexpected allies like Dane Wells, Laurel’s first police partner, who suddenly became a gay activist, it became very personal for him.  So in that way I think it’s actually been a benefit that we’re coming from a different perspective.  Being “out” straight has definitely helped to promote the film.

We saw that there is a shift occurring in terms of how outreach is being done.  And quite frankly it is advocates in the straight community who are the most valuable right now.  Those are the people that gay advocacy groups should be speaking and connecting to.  So, we became comfortable with being “out”, and it’s actually been a blessing to be straight in this.

So, was that your motivation to “come out” in your Oscar speech?

Actually, two major gay and lesbian equality organizations asked me if I won the Academy Award to tell America that I’m a straight woman and I have a husband and took care of our two kids at home.  I was really thinking of people in Arkansas, Mississippi, Iowa, places where gay rights are struggling.  At least I just wanted to make them think, “What?  What is she saying?”

Cynthia, how does the issue of gay rights touch you personally?

These issues are not being talked enough about by any of our presidential candidates.  I’m embarrassed as a married woman when I hear my fellow heterosexual married people say marriage is between a man and a woman.   I feel like saying, “Don’t tell me what my marriage is!  My marriage is based on respect and loyalty and monogamy and support, the same way Laurel and Stacie’s relationship was.  There’s no difference!”  I wouldn’t call myself a political person, but that issue really gets under my skin.  I have always felt that way.  I remember when I was about 12, it came out that Billy Jean King was lesbian, and I said to my parents at the dinner table, “Well, who cares?!  It doesn’t matter, she’s a really great tennis player.  Who cares?!”

 

Oscar statuette won by Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth for Freeheld at the 80th Academy Awards 2008

 

 

Close-ups of the Oscar statuette

 

 

Engraving

 

You delayed the release date of Freeheld.   Was that a marketing strategy to coincide with the US presidential election and the 2008 Oscars race?

Yes.  Freeheld could have ended up on television in 2007, but then it would not have qualified for an Academy Award.  It was a huge gamble, and some people questioned our strategy.  But, we’re in this election year where the demand for this film is so much greater, so I’m glad we took the risk.

Delaying helped increase the impact of the film.  When we showed Freeheld once, someone made the comment that LGBT rights are really the last frontier for civil rights in the US, that it’s really the unspeakable frontier.  If you take a look right now, we have an African-American and a woman running for election, both with a really good shot.  That’s a real indication of how far we’ve come in the movement against racism and the women’s movement.  But, we still can’t talk about LGBT rights on a political forum.  In this election, people are shying away from it as a topic and that’s not a good thing.  On the other hand, we took a real risk by not selling the rights out for the film.  It was scary, but at least it gave us creative and economic control…

Debt!  You call economic control “debt”?  We’re still very much in the red for the film… The hard cost of the film was about 300,000 dollars, and 500,000 dollars including deferred salaries and other costs.

In terms of social impact, do you think the film will have a strong impact on LGBT visibility in the States?

Absolutely.  We can actually say that by us going to the Oscars and Cynthia’s speech, we became the number 2 googled term that day.

And number 1 that night!  Instantaneously, just from my speech, we had 11,000 unique visitors from 78 countries and all 50 States. 

That’s “impact”!

So, the social impact is actually spreading internationally, not just nationally?

Yes.  The repeat broadcast of my speech was banned in Singapore by MediaCorp Channel 5.  Finally, they released a statement a couple of weeks ago saying, “Miss Wade’s speech could be interpreted as endorsing same-sex relationships.”  My reaction was, “Yeah… Hello, that was the point!”  It’s good there are some very angry people and groups there.  Now we’re going to try to get the film into theatres in Singapore, so we have to go up against a board of censors.  And it looks like the film will air on television in Israel.

How was the public reaction to your Oscar speech?  Did you receive any homophobic messages?

After the Academy Awards, we got way more play than the winning Feature Length Documentary on blogs and media reporting, because it was a very emotional moment for us and we made one of the few political statements of the evening.  I received very few homophobic messages.  I’m actually surprised that I didn’t get more.  But, on the way to the Awards, there are all these security checkpoints where they’re looking under the limos and you need to show your ID.  As we were going along, there were protestors with huge signs, not against the film but against Hollywood.  One sign said “atheist fornicating gay.”  I was sitting in the limo with my borrowed 200,000 dollar diamonds for the night and thinking, “Oh no…”  And there were just a few blogs where people said, “Some actress is up there talking about gay rights!”  They thought I was an actress… they weren’t even paying attention.

Actually, there was a little bit more [criticism] on lesbian blogs saying, “Why does she have to mention her husband?  Is she homophobic?”  I think they hadn’t got that I was targeting a particular straight audience - I’m going for that guy in Arkansas! 

Did you actually anticipate winning the Oscar? 

There were things in our favour, but you never know.  The lineup for the Documentary Short category was incredibly strong this year.  A couple of voting members said to me this was the strongest lineup they’d ever seen in the history of the Academy Awards.  Freeheld stood out in that we were the only domestic film about an issue in an election year, we weren’t subtitled, and we had a really strong narrative arc.  It was a drama unfolding in the moment. Also, we had an early release and had already done the festival circuit, so we already had something like 12 or 13 awards under our belt. 

Yes, one of our competitors did Tribeca, but they didn’t really pick up speed until late fall.  So in many ways, we had a lot more momentum out of the market place.  But the Oscar could have gone to anyone.  We were just thinking, “We are so happy to have this nomination”. 

Cynthia Wade at the 80th Academy Awards, 24 February, 2008

Cynthia Wade and Stacie Andree at the 80th Academy Awards

Cynthia Wade and Matthew Syrett at the 80th Academy Awards

How did you react when Freeheld was announced? 

Actually I was a little shocked.  I was sitting next to Cynthia.  There was a two second delay, then I said, “Hey, they said Freeheld!” 

You screamed!  I was very calm during the ceremony, because we had to wait 3 hours.  But then suddenly you yelled, and the cameras were following me!  I was so aware that there were about 35 million people watching me.  So when I got up on the stage, my knees were shaking.  And that clock was clicking down.  It was a very overwhelming moment. 

Cynthia, what was going through your mind on stage?  You seemed very impassioned to talk about Laurel. 

Yeah, we made a tactical decision to not do a whole line of Thank Yous, because they’d be forgotten.  I sent out an email to our biggest funders and supporters a few days before saying, “If we’re lucky enough to get up on stage, you’re not going to hear your name.  We’re going to talk about the issue.  Because if there’s a chance to have somebody learn about Laurel Hester across the world, let’s not waste the moment.”  And they were all in agreement for that.  Also, the Academy sent us a DVD of how to make an acceptance speech, which coincidentally is a DVD hosted by Tom Hanks.  It’s funny because in the DVD, he’s saying, “Every heart’s going to be pounding in the Kodak Theatre, including your own!  Now, here are some ways to make your speech more memorable.”  So, I really took that to heart.  I wrote things down, we edited it and practiced it.

When you’re up there, you’re very aware that the orchestra’s about to play, and there’s a huge clock in the audience.  I just remember the number 17 which meant there were 17 seconds left and Vanessa wanted to say something but still hadn’t spoken, so I tried to hurry up.  I also knew there was a party of about 100 or 200 people happening in New Jersey where people were watching the film.  There were parties all over.  We had people film themselves in Denver and Kansas who were watching the ceremony, to add to the DVD extras.  But also I was aware there were people watching who were really hoping for another film to win.  It’s this feeling of just feeling raw and exposed and there’s no time to think.  And you’re terrified you’re going to slip!

It was an amazing moment, with all these people in the Kodak Theatre.  And then Tom Hanks said to me, “Come on up here, kiddo.  It’s your moment!”  He and I were the only ones who heard that as I was coming up these stairs.  He was genuinely so thrilled for us, even though I think he didn’t even know what the film was about.  And it was this moment I think that allowed me to get up on stage and face the lights.

It was like this perfect little moment, because it happened to be Tom Hanks, and Laurel loved Forrest Gump.

Yeah, she named her dog Lieutenant Dan, and her cat Forrest.  

Brooklyn streets, on the way to private Freeheld Oscar party, March 2008

More scenes of Brooklyn

Brooklyn, New York

Venue for private Freeheld Oscar party

Cynthia Wade holding her Oscar

Cynthia Wade and Matthew Syrett

Freeheld poster exhibited at the party

Freeheld, now “ACADEMY AWARD WINNER!”

Getting into the party spirit in celebration of Freeheld’s victory: novelty Oscar snacks

Freeheld supporters, couple Barb Heinel and Rosanne “Roe” Manghisi (retired Captain, New Jersey State Police)

Domestic partners Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree, relaxing in their backyard with Lieutenant Dan

Laurel and Stacie

In the Freeheld story, what do you think was the turning point in Laurel’s fight?

I think it was the governor’s phone call.  The governor of New Jersey at the time John Corzine called one of the freeholders at home and said something like, “Take care of this now.  This is an embarrassment.  Clean it up now.  You’re not in your Ocean County bubble anymore.  This is being watched internationally.”  I think there were a lot of forces conspiring, including the media, but I think ultimately his phone call pushed it over the edge.

The freeholders made a mistake of thinking this was an isolated issue and they could just deal with it locally.  But it took on a life of its own, much beyond things happening in Ocean County and much beyond just Laurel Hester’s and Stacie Andree’s story.  I don’t think they realized that, and once they had painted themselves into a corner, they couldn’t resolve it.

Cynthia Wade shooting Ocean County Freeholder meetings

When you began filming Freeheld, you had no idea what the outcome would be for Laurel and Stacie.  Were you aware that the story could have taken a completely different direction?

Yes, we actually thought she was going to die before it was resolved.  Laurel was fading fast.  I never met Laurel because of taking care of the kids, but when Cynthia came home with the outtakes, it was shocking to see how Laurel slipped just a little bit more every time.  Near the end, we were trying to think about how to wrap the ending, because we were convinced it was not going to be a happy ending.  I don’t think it’s a happy ending necessarily right now, but at least there’s a positive outcome, she won and she was able to take care of her loved one.

I thought at most there would be a card at the end saying that after Laurel’s death Stacie was awarded the pension.  I really thought it would be the most depressing film with no real ending.  She died 3 weeks after they voted to grant the pension rights.

Laurel Hester supporters at Freeholder meetings, holding placards: “Don’t let officer Laurel Hester die like this.  Have compassion.”

Laurel Hester supporter: “Thank you for doing the right thing!”

Ocean County Freeholders grant pension benefits to Stacie Andree

Do you believe only a female filmmaker could have captured Laurel’s story?

Yes.  There’s no way Laurel and Stacie would have allowed a male cameraman and director into their home when he was going to live there and sleep there.  That absolutely would not have happened.  They felt safe with me because I was a woman.  Sometimes I had an assistant or a small crew in the house, but most of the time I was lighting and shooting alone.  In the nights, particularly early on in that December, there was a night where I was so tired, I didn’t want to drive alone back to Brooklyn.  It’s a long and scary drive actually, because you have to go through Staten Island and then be on some bad roads here.  And they said, “No, no, spend the night!  We have a guest room.”  Laurel said, “You can wear my sweats!” and Stacie put them in the dryer and said, “I’ll make them nice and toasty for you!”  It felt very communal and almost like a girls’ dorm.  It would not have happened with a man.

Also, in terms of style, this is not a film that would be made by a man.  A lot of male directors like their central characters to be male and they are not so subtle with social nuance.  One thing I love about this film is there’s a lot of social nuance to it – it’s very subtle and very real.  I think most men are typically not as elegant in describing that.

What other factors helped you to build a close relationship of trust with Laurel and Stacie?

I think Laurel and I bonded in the beginning because she was very no-nonsense and all about the work.  She wanted to write a book about her experiences but couldn’t because of the rapidly advancing cancer.  So the film began to take its place in her mind, it revived her a little bit and gave her a sense of purpose.  In some ways I think Laurel and I shared personality traits, because she’s also very detailed in her work.  She could see I was the same with documentary making.  There were some reporters in the courtroom who would stick a microphone in her face after a really intense meeting and say, “How much longer do you have to live?”  And she would answer so diplomatically, “Well, it’s the kind of thing where you take it day by day.”  Then they’d say, “Yeah but how much longer?”  I didn’t work that way.  I wanted to know about her work, so I think that helped.  Also, Laurel and Stacie saw my film Shelter Dogs on HBO because it was airing on HBO when I met them, and this may have helped because they’re dog people.

So at the beginning, Laurel was already saying, “This is Cynthia, our filmmaker.  She’s going to tell our story.”  She was almost proprietary, and once said to me, “You’re ours, you’re our filmmaker”.  Stacie was a little bit surprised but accepted it.  She’s a much more private person, she didn’t want to be in this political battle and she didn’t want to be noticed.  But, as Laurel got less verbal and sicker, Stacie and I actually became much closer, and by the end I knew Stacie a lot better than I ever knew Laurel.   

Fellow officers pay their respects to Laurel Hester at her memorial service, March 4, 2006

Laurel Hester’s partner Stacie Andree takes a quiet moment at Laurel’s memorial service

Lieutenant Laurel Hester who served as a New Jersey Police Detective for 25 years.  Her heroic fight to win justice for the woman she loves will not be forgotten

Cynthia Wade directed Freeheld which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short at the 80th Academy Awards 2008

Freeheld brought international attention to the current state of gay rights in the US, through its heartrending account of a woman’s battle to win justice for her partner

Cynthia, why do you think you become so attached to the characters in your films and absorbed in their stories?

It’s because of my relationship with the characters.  I had a very deep, intimate, emotional relationship with both Laurel and Stacie (from Freeheld), and also with Sue Sternberg (from Shelter Dogs).  It reminds me of the film Adaptation, where Meryl Streep is a writer for the New Yorker who becomes obsessed with a story in Florida.  She goes to literary parties and has this nice moneyed life in New York, but the pursuit of a crazy character in Florida becomes more real and passionate to her temporarily than her life in New York.  It’s not always easy, but my relationship with those characters in the moments of shooting them become temporarily more real and deeply intimate than my relationship with Matt in some ways…  Because, when I get back from shooting, my relationship with Matt is more about the logistics of how we keep the bills paid and the kids fed.  It’s the only way, because if you’re going to follow something that has no funding, no necessary path and no potential happy ending, you have to be in love with it, because otherwise why would you do it?  And it’s not about being in love with the people, it’s about being in love with the situation, the drama, the scene.

What is your motivation to choose such hard-hitting topics for your films?

Well, somebody once said to me, and I didn’t like this, that I put myself in these really traumatic situations because I’m seeking to re-traumatize myself.  It’s totally disturbing if that’s true, and maybe there’s some truth to it.  I don’t know what I’m trying to resolve though…

I think that we all have our emotional baggage in this world that we carry with us, and you’re working through some things, as all of us need to.  I think you are attracted to tough stories and they’re closer to your story than my story, which is no accident.  Even though you’re not Laurel Hester, you’re not Sue Sternberg, I think you’re attracted to people who share some traits with you – you’re attracted to people who are passionate about things.  I think you connect and relate with women characters because you’re a woman, and maybe there is some sort of therapy involved.

Wade explores pro-euthanasia ethics in her award-winning HBO documentary Shelter Dogs (2004)

Wade’s personal documentary Grist for the Mill (“A woman in search of a life”) (1999) chronicles the effects of divorce on her family

Wade’s earlier work Almost Home (1996) documents the lives of children in a Bronx homeless shelter

You related to Laurel Hester in that you both worked in a man’s world.  Do you feel that female documentary filmmakers have a hard time being taken seriously?

Yes, definitely.  If I get called for a job, they don’t say, “I’m really looking for someone with 20 years experience, who has a Masters degree in documentary film, who can shoot really beautifully.  I’ve seen one of your films and you’re the cinematographer I want.”  They call me and say, “I’m looking for a woman cinematographer, because I have to go film in a bra shop,” or “I’m looking for a women cinematographer, because a bride is trying on a dress and we need someone in the dressing room.”  So, there’s sexism right there, because if they’re looking for a cinematographer without even thinking about it, they tend to be looking for a man.  It’s only when a woman is attached to the project that they say, “Let’s call Cynthia Wade!”  It’s frustrating that I could be doing this for 20 years, consistently getting things on HBO, going to Sundance, getting an Academy Award, and would still not be celebrated.  But one man can make just one film that’s a popular success, and even if there’re aspects of it that are really sloppy, he’s celebrated like an icon in a way that I would never be.  Suddenly he’s on the cover of some film magazine.  It may be partly because of the style of films I make, but I think there’s still culturally a knee-jerk reaction for people to celebrate the male independent filmmaker in a way that women are not celebrated.  If a man had made Freeheld, I think maybe the level of [public] awareness of the film would have been much higher.

Women are always viewed at the periphery of this industry.  They can do wonderful things, but they’re marginalized.  Unfortunately, despite what anyone will tell you, the film does not exist in isolation from the marketing around it.  And part of the marketing is the filmmaker, and you can’t separate the two.

What would you say is the key to success for female filmmakers?

For me, often when I’m making my films, it’s like walking a tightrope where you can’t look down.  If you look down and start saying to yourself, “Why am in on this tightrope?  What am I doing?  I’m going to fall.  This is really wobbly, I’m going to fall,” then you do fall.  So number 1, you have to be so myopic and single-minded to get to the other side that you block out all the distractions.  And number 2, it’s a smaller and smaller community as you rise up in the ranks, so you should always thank people.  Remember that, somewhere down the line, you may see the person you’re interacting with now in a totally different capacity, or the person working for you now will be in a position to hire you at some point.  So try to see the big picture and try not to burn any bridges.  But most important is to not worry about what’s on the other side of the fence or what other people are doing.  Stay very true to your focus and your original goals.

I think goal-setting.  Initially, a lot of filmmakers, male and female, tend to get so wrapped up in the filmmaking process that they only think about what to do with it after it’s out there.  If you take time first to think, “Where do I want to take this?  How can I get there?” you will achieve your goals.  But some people set those goals far too late, and then it’s costly to change anything after the film’s done.

Do you feel you achieved all your goals for Freeheld?

I’ve been very pleased with our ability to set a goal and to execute it.  Just the sheer fact that we were able to get a strong film together in the amount of time we did for Sundance took a phenomenal amount of focus.  There are always things you’d do differently, and you will always make incorrect assumptions about stuff.  It’s a learning process.  We were surprised to go to Sundance, and also to win.  We knew we had strong material, but Sundance is tough because around 4000 films apply.  It doesn’t take very much for your film to get knocked off the list of films there. 

We were at home, when someone called my cell from the awards ceremony and said, “I’m at Sundance.  You just won an award!”  I was like, “What?!”

Which artists have inspired you as a filmmaker?

I was always a storyteller and I was in theater a lot when I was younger.  I saw a documentary on TV when I was a sophomore in high school, and realized in the 10th grade that I wanted to do this.  In college, there was one filmmaker that was breaking the mold of documentary film, Ross McElwee.  He made a film called Sherman’s March, and I saw that as an undergraduate at Smith College.  That definitely changed my life.  It was just mind-boggling to me.

Have you decided on your next project?

I’ve been approached by a couple of different funding sources to make films that they want.  I’m making a commissioned film on immigration.  We just finished something for a children’s hospital, and there’re a couple of other funded projects.  The problem with making films like Freeheld or Shelter Dogs, is that, if you do it right, you are creatively so empty and exhausted by the end of it, because it’s taken every cell of your being to make it.  So at the end of every film, I feel completely empty and a little shattered, because it feels like that relationship which was so valuable to me has ended.  I’m not talking about my relationship with Stacie, because we are still very much in contact, it’s more about the intensity of working on the film.  So my focus right now is to make back our debt and replenish the bank accounts.  Often when I’m busy making films for someone else, I’ll stumble upon an idea for another film, but it might take a couple of years before I’m ready.

In the meantime I just need to replenish my soul and my empty heart.  I think the worst part of filmmaking is letting go of the films.  Other people really enjoy going out to the festivals and launching the film, but I just feel like, “Where did this relationship go?  I’m so sad.”  I just want quiet time with my family.  And how can I suddenly top Sundance and the Oscars?

* Since this interview, we have learned that Cynthia Wade is now developing Freeheld into a fictionalized feature film with the producers of Erin Brockovich.  Wade is currently directing a documentary for the Sundance Channel (on American television), about a school for low income, at-risk children.

Cynthia Wade

Do you have a message for SJ readers?

As a woman, a filmmaker and an artist: “Don’t take ‘No’ for an answer”.  I’m just really amazed that there were lots of people who doubted Freeheld and doubted its path.  I saw from the beginning that this could be something that could not only actually begin to change legislation, but could also inspire other communities.  If you have that kernel of idea and that vision, protect it with all your might, especially in its very early embryonic stages, because that’s the time when people can shoot it down.  Feed it, nurture it and let it grow, because eventually people will catch on and see what you’ve been seeing from the beginning.  You have to believe in the thing that keeps you awake at night, the thing that’s gnawing away at you inside.  And even if the outside world doesn’t see it, they will as soon as you begin to realize it and it grows.  That’s true of every film I’ve made.