00:00Things happen for a reason, you know, as time went on.
00:04We were so excited about getting this movie out and helping the world to see where we
00:09are, who we are as a people.
00:11We are cool, fun, deaf people to begin with.
00:21So I first learned the story of Deaf President Now when I was in second grade, and my mom
00:26told me this story, actually.
00:28My mom is also deaf, and my entire family had known this history.
00:33You know, this is a story that's been passed down generation to generation.
00:37Not so much an oral history, if you will, but sort of one on the hands.
00:41And the protest is incredibly well known within our world, but the hearing world doesn't know
00:46anything about the most important civil rights moment in our history.
00:50And this protest really is about four incredible student leaders sat with me here who led the
00:57way.
00:58You know, Gallaudet University had finally received a deaf president after 124 years
01:04of hearing paternalism due to their efforts.
01:07It's surprising that I didn't know about it, because I grew up in Washington, D.C., miles
01:12away from Gallaudet.
01:13I knew about Gallaudet, but I never knew about the protests.
01:17And so when Niall brought the idea to my company, I was like, oh, that's incredible.
01:24And we have to tell this story to the world, because these four people were teenagers.
01:32And in this moment where it could have gone good or bad, it was these four teenagers who
01:40said we believe in collective action, and we're going to fight for our rights.
01:46It was actually quite easy to convince them.
01:48I'm incredibly lucky.
01:50You know, when approaching them about this story, you know, I certainly was not the first.
01:54They had been approached many times before me.
01:57But when I was able to reach out to them, you know, they all told me, you're the first
02:01deaf person to ask us to make a film about this.
02:03And I think that's what made it much easier for them to say yes.
02:06Thank God.
02:07And anything for Niall.
02:09Right, right.
02:10He's a model.
02:11Honestly.
02:12A model citizen.
02:13We wanted authenticity.
02:14We wanted to make sure that it was very clear.
02:15Also, we wanted to make it clear that we did not want our characters or our, we didn't
02:29want any movie drama or anything altered from this.
02:33We wanted to stick straight to the story.
02:36And it was like, wow, I'm so impressed that they did it.
02:40So we've been waiting for this moment to happen and wondering, he'd come to us, you
02:48know, after about 30 years of the protest having happened, but then opportunities had
02:53fallen through previous to this.
02:55But when Niall came to me first, I knew that Niall would be able to pull things together
03:02and make it happen.
03:03And he did.
03:04We believed in him.
03:06And we had a successful delivery of this story.
03:09And like Jerry said, we wanted the story to be told as accurately as possible without
03:13a lot of twisting or dramatization.
03:17And the story has been told really as accurate as our personal experiences were.
03:22Different groups over these years have come to us to propose maybe having a film.
03:27Dolly Parton's company, oh, I forget it, Sand Dollar Company approached us, but that didn't
03:33work out.
03:34And, you know, like many other films, sometimes it doesn't work out.
03:39But, you know, back in the day, they said, well, maybe we will create this, you know,
03:42pointing to me, having me, you know, having sex with a police officer during the protest
03:48and then making someone else be a druggie and then we could get busted and things like
03:52that.
03:53And at that time, we said, wait a minute.
03:54No, no, no, no.
03:55You know, we hadn't even started our profession working as career professionals.
03:58We were in our 20s and we were we did not want that to happen.
04:02So, you know, over the years, we wanted a documentary, you know, we've always said we
04:07want to tell our story, but just didn't have the opportunity until now.
04:11And, you know, with Niall, it's just he's the perfect person.
04:14You know, he was the perfect person to be born on Earth and make this happen for us
04:18and for our film.
04:19Davis.
04:22He was relentless, just kept asking questions, asking questions to try to pull things out
04:27of me, because some things I had kind of forgotten.
04:31We're talking about 34 years ago.
04:34So I was like, wow.
04:35So I was really impressed that now watching the movie, I'm like, wow, that really.
04:39Yeah, he really did pull a lot out of me.
04:41I remember that and seeing the other three, you know, they did amazing as well.
04:48Parts of the story were surprising.
04:52So how naive I was and looking back, I really was a kid, but then realizing how I made it
05:00through without any handler at the time, you know, and it worked out.
05:05So I think that we recognized what we thought of each other at the time as well.
05:11And like, oh, that was a reminder that what we thought of each other at the time, there
05:18were little everyday nuances that at the moment we set aside for the bigger and greater
05:23work, the greater cause that we were unified for.
05:26Deaf President now is representative of deaf people in the fact that we have diversity
05:32within our community.
05:33We have a whole ecosystem of people.
05:35We have greater goals, though, that join us together.
05:38And those little disagreements, what we think of each other, those little dislikes can be
05:44set aside for us to come together as a community for one cause.
05:47The story of Deaf President now, I feel, is so much for the deaf community.
05:52I think it's very important for us to get this history correct.
05:56You know, I want this story to be told in the most authentic light.
06:00And while it's something that most deaf people know and have experienced, it's something
06:05that is important for us to respect.
06:07But at the same time, I want this to re-inspire my community.
06:11That's very key.
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