FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Christie Herring & Marc Smolowitz, Campaign Productions
415-290-5812; CampaignDoc@gmail.com
Campaign Productions Announces Southeast Premiere of THE CAMPAIGN,
screening at Carolina Theater as part of North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2013
– Saturday August 10th at 2:50 PM and Thursday August 15th at 7:15 PM –
ITVS-funded Documentary Details the Campaign to Defeat California’s
Wildly Controversial Proposition 8, Banning Gay Marriage and Igniting a National Movement.
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(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – August 1, 2013) – Campaign Productions is pleased to announce that its recently completed documentary – THE CAMPAIGN – will have its Southeast Premiere at the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on Saturday August 10. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Christie Herring and produced by Herring and her Academy Award nominated producer Marc Smolowitz, the film takes a heartbreaking and inspiring look at California’s No-on-8 Campaign to defend same-sex marriage, which unfolded in 2008.
With the recent changes on both Proposition 8 and DOMA, a Southeast Premiere for a film on marriage equality is timely for North Carolina audiences. North Carolina passed a law similar to Proposition 8 in May 2012 – Amendment One – a Constitutional Amendment at the ballot box, which passed by 61% to 39%. Filmmaker Christie Herring is a graduate of Duke University (’96) where she studied film. She also grew up in Mississippi, and the Southeast Premiere has special resonance for her. “I kept a close eye on the Amendment One election, as I still have many friends in North Carolina. I am so pleased to bring the film to a place I once called home and where the issues are so recently and directly relevant.”
Through an intimate ensemble approach, “The Campaign” unfolds as a human drama that follows five ordinary people compelled by a passionate belief in equality. Early on, we meet Holli, Claudia, Richard, Anne and Alison — an unstoppable group of activists, volunteers and campaign workers whose stories are the heart of the film. Their collective experiences in real time provide a window into a timeless story — what inspires everyday people to opt in for something bigger than themselves — win or lose.
Five years in the making, “The Campaign” marks the long-form directorial debut Herring, who studied documentary at Stanford University and began the journey of making this film in May 2008 as a volunteer on the No-on-8 campaign herself. She reflects, “When Prop 8 landed on the ballot, I was shocked that my rights were about to be voted on. I signed up to volunteer, and the moment I walked through the doors of the “No on Prop 8” campaign headquarters in San Francisco, I knew I had walked into a film I had to make.” She adds, “I quickly gained exclusive access to insider moments from the campaign that no news outlets would every carry. It became apparent that my contribution to the Prop 8 political firestorm would be to document it.”
As Herring helps viewers develop a level of closeness with her contemporary characters, she also chooses to place them inside a larger 50-year national story that explores the battle for recognition of same-sex relationships since the 1950s. Lushly edited archival sections bring together rare and unseen footage of gay life with seminal broadcast clips and political ads that help put a human face on the marriage debate over time. Key events establish an historical timeline with common themes recurring on both sides.
When Herring’s story lands squarely back in 2008, just days before the election, California’s Proposition 8 takes center stage, ready to take its place in Herring’s timeline of important events. From this point forward, the film returns to its characters — the mixed-emotions they feel with unfolding family relationships; their self-empowerment through activism; the struggles they navigate in deciding how much of oneself to sacrifice for the cause. In the end, characters drive the story of “The Campaign,” from their initial confidence that Prop 8 will be defeated, through their frustrating experiences of unfavorable polling numbers, to their heart breaking 52-to-48-percent defeat on election night, and the turmoil beyond. We see the lives of real people in the balance, not polished representatives.
“The Campaign” is a co-production of Campaign Productions, LLC and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). It runs a public television hour and is both directed and produced by Christie Herring; produced by Marc Smolowitz (The Weather Underground); and produced by Brook Holston. Academy Award nominated Sari Gilman (Kings Point) is the editor. Original score is composed by Jacob Garchik and recorded by the Kronos Quartet. Original Animations were done by Christopher Gaal, Crazybrige. For more information about “The Campaign,” go to www.TheCampaignDocumentary.com. To arrange for interviews, call 415-290-5812.
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EVENT DETAILS – THE CAMPAIGN
**FILM SCREENING: THE CAMPAIGN – Southeast Premiere – Screening at NCGLFF 2013
Date and Time: Saturday, August 10, 2013 at 2:50 PM
Thursday, August 15, 2013 at 7:15 PM
Location: Carolina Theater, 309 West Morgan Street, Durham, NC 27701
Tix & Information: http://www.carolinatheatre.org/ncglff/films/campaign
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