Making The Girl Who Wore Freedom: The Podcast Diary

Where it all started: how I got my start in filmmaking, why a good team matters, and how being a mom helped me as a producer.

At my lowest point, I ran out of money while finishing the edit in Tennessee. Donors came through on the day we were going to end the project.

An update after screening the film for veterans in Mississippi, with dramatically moving results.

What it takes to run focus group screenings: eleven of them in Normandy, and feedback from the 500 people who had seen the film.

All those focus groups left a long list of fixes. The goal: picture lock by February 6 so we could submit to film festivals.

What surprised me at the Sundance Film Festival, and what I figured out not to do next time.

Why finishing a documentary feels a lot like giving birth.

About to complete my first documentary, for the eighth time. Finalizing a film with so many moving parts is very difficult.

Composer Jeff Kurtenacker and I won awards at film festivals. What it feels like to be selected, nominated and finally win.

The festival run begins, and the unglamorous part first: deliverables, file types, posters and Blu-ray discs.

Everything that happened at the Chagrin Doc Fest: new awards, press and distribution deals.

Film deliverables explained, plus the financial side of film festivals.

The film is out on iTunes and other services. Reviews, the grassroots marketing plan, and what it’s like to release a film online.

Distribution tips and a look back at how far we’d come.

A very disappointing development for The Girl Who Wore Freedom: my distributor stopped paying, so I ended the deal.

The start of a limited series on distribution.

The last episode of the distribution series, where I reveal my new distributor, new agreements and contracts.

Off to Normandy with 30 WWII veterans to film our next project.

The Girl Who Wore Freedom heads to streaming services, thanks to Virgil Films.

With David Paterson: the first theatrical release of The Girl Who Wore Freedom, why we chose a limited release, and reaching out to mom-and-pop theaters.

The team that released the film in theaters for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 2024, reunites to talk about how they did it.

Part 2 of the Dream Team conversation.

Part 3 of the Dream Team conversation.