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“From Day One, Andrea Was All-in” | Ryan White, Come See Me in the Good Light
Still from Come See Me in the Good Light. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why?
Day one. I had never met Andrea before—they came out to the driveway and gave me a hug and said, “So you’re gonna be with me when I die,” and then they invited us inside. Usually Day one (and often Month one) of a documentary is just a warm-up in building trust and getting to know each other. But from day one, Andrea was all-in and ready to go deep, even though we were still essentially strangers. One of our best scenes—a very heavy and sad dinner table scene where the conversation takes an abrupt turn to explicit lesbian sex—happened on the first night of shooting. I remember thinking, “Is this really happening on day one?” I knew immediately Andrea was going to be a very special documentary subject.
See all responses to our annual Sundance Question here.
