Netflix's DAUGHTERS Documentary Filmmakers Interview! Natalie Rae, Angela Patton, Chad Morris

Natalie Chad and Angela how are the three of you today wonderful how you doing good good good to see the three of you I thought this documentary was so beautiful and so moving so congratulations to the three of you first of all I truly can't wait for audiences especially audiences here in the DMV area to see it yeah we're excited so soon I particularly of course loved the moment when we see all of the daughters dressed up walking down the hall and all of the emotions that are running through all of the fathers and all of the daughters all ranging from like younger kids to teenagers I loved that take me back to filming that day were the nerves high for all of you and what was it like Natalie just to kind of be able to experience that and film that particular day yeah definitely one of the most poignant experiences um I've ever been through and the the weight of um uh telling that and giving it the the the Justice it deserves it was a lot of responsibility and a lot of prep one into it um we decided to shoot it on film on 16 mimer film which um was risky considering you have to reload cameras and everything like that but also just I felt that having those moments just on Celluloid in the most pure form and allowing it the feeling to be as Timeless and human as possible in an environment where you know you can't control anything and you want to give give everyone their space so that was a big Choice going into it and my cinematographer um Michael Cambio Fernandez he had a parent that was incarcerated when he was growing up so he said we weren't allowed to film some of the security and going in but he was like I know what it feels like to be dehumanized and go through these metal detectors so he was like stealing shots of that and then when the girls came down the hallway everyone was of course just so emotional it was so powerful and he turned to me afterwards and he was like I don't know if anything's going to be in focus cuz I the iris was just full of tears the whole time and um it was just so overwhelming for for everybody but um really thankful that you know we were able to capture what we did and um Angela always reassured us you don't need to try it's going to be there like you know she'd seen it so many times so yeah yeah look I love that you shot it on film I love that you made that choice Angela what was the experience like for you that particular day well they always are emotional for me um but I just wanted to say that I was um grateful that Natalie um trusted me with that because I I understand that you know protecting the film was my first priority but and that means that I have to also protect the dance and this um experience that I want for the girls and because I've done them so many times and you know they're not going to go back and forth we're not casting we're not like cut let's go back and try that again I'm like you all have to get this and believe me you know it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen um because I have seen it so many times before and she trusted me and understood what she needed to do to capture that moment and allowed herself to let that go and um I was appreciative of that and then I was able to still just be in tune with the dance because it's also important to me to always remind myself of the why that we do this right we do this because the girl ask for it I did not do this because I wanted to to be actresses I did this for them to bond and strengthen with their fathers and so a lot of Letting Go um when you are telling this story through a doc is something that actually um was important to me and I believe that Natalie partnered with me well to make sure that that happened absolutely I know it looks stunning Chad last question for you have you followed up with any of the family since filming I'm curious yes so um several of the families well several of the fathers and the families you have fathers who are out in the world that actively engaging their children several of them the ones you see in the film highlighted uh with the exception of Keith and Alonzo they are not they're still incarcerated but there's several of the men about seven or eight of them that are out that are thriving that are that are um doing work for themselves we got a some some successful entrepreneurs we have a few entrepreneurs that are um but buting entrepreneurs but most importantly each one of the men that's out is still actively working on the relationship with their children uh because of the fact that it's not easy the film is not a culminating um event it doesn't stop with the cameras going off they're the brand new parent of a brand new child every day but you've got a lot of these dads that are really thriving and the ones you see featured that are out they're they're doing they're doing the doing the work they definitely are I love that you the three of you are really the true heroes in this world and thank you so much for making this beautiful documentary I cannot wait for everyone to see it and I love that everyone is like thriving still and I think that this will change a lot of lives I I appreciate your time so much today thank you so much for that