Exclusive: Director Dawn Porter On Bringing “John Lewis: Good Trouble” To Homes and Theaters

Currently in Drive-In theaters and on demand from Magnolia Pictures is the extraordinary documentary ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble,’ directed by Dawn Porter.

Using interviews and rare archival footage, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE chronicles Lewis’ 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. Using present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family and his fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. In addition to her interviews with Lewis and his family, Porter’s primarily cinéma verité film also includes interviews with political leaders, Congressional colleagues, and other people who figure prominently in his life.

For Porter, she’s a veteran in the documentary world. This is her 4th film as a director. Her previous films were Gideon’s Army, Spies of Mississippi, and Trapped.

BlackFilmandTV recently spoke with Ms. Porter on her experience working with John Lewis and telling his story.

When did you decide you wanted to do a documentary on John Lewis?

Dawn Porter: I'd always been thinking about it. But really what happened is the executives of CNN came to me and asked if I would be interested and I just jumped at the chance. They had a lot of success with their movie about Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg. I think they were looking for another 80 year old to continue the streak. They came to me with the request and then I was really, really happy to dive into it.

There’s been other projects on John Lewis. What aspects of his life did you want to go over?

Dawn Porter: I think that there are some aspects of his life that are well publicized. There was so much more to tell. For example, where most people are familiar with those moments on the Selma bridge, but I don't think people understand how much training and preparation, and how much marching and protesting went into those months and years before that moment on the bridge. I know that people hadn't seen a lot of the video of training footage of the Congressman, and how he prepared for all of his marches and protests. There were so much footage that we found that we've that he hasn't even seen. It was really an exciting opportunity to be able to do that. And then I think of his personal quieter side, which I think is less well known. You don’t know the congressman. Most people don't know that he's an avid art collector. They might have seen him on the viral dance video, but he has an extensive collection of African American artists. It's just breathtaking. I wanted to share some of those personnel sides of the congressman as well.

As you were preparing to put his life on film, did you know how much time you would spend on certain parts of his life or did you wait till was filming was complete and edit from there?

Dawn Porter: No, I think you always have to let the footage speak to you, whatever is the strongest. So for me, it was seeing John Lewis as a young man, agonizing with his friend, Bernard Lafayette that their parents didn't understand what they were doing. Teenagers, from time in memorial have said, “My parents just don't understand." We have this view that all black people were in support of the civil rights movement. That's really not the case. People were legitimately afraid. Like John Lewis, his mother said, "Don't get in the way. Don't get in trouble." You have to remember John Lewis grew up at the time of Emmett Till, when a black boy looking at a white woman could get you killed. He really had to be prepared to die. I don't think his mother shared his views. It took quite a lot for him to step out into the public the way he did and understanding that all of the choices he made were far from easy. He did not make them lately. He made them deliberately. And that is why he is so honored today.

How much time did you devote to footage and an actual testimony from people you're talking to?

Dawn Porter: We filmed over the course of a year. We started right before the 2018 congressional elections. With budget and schedule constraints, you only have so many days that you can film. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with the congressman. We allocated most of our shoot days to time with him. We took him back to Troy, Alabama. We spent time with him at his homes in DC and in in Atlanta. He let us film him while he was in Congress meeting with the staff. We got a really a good solid amount of time with him. We set up to two days of interviews in Congress, where we were filming with the congressional representatives. We just had to work really hard to schedule around their schedules. They were all happy to do it. It was just a matter of time to line everything up, which wasn't easy. I have a great, great supervising producer, Summer Demon, and she just is magic and she made it all work. That was a big challenge. And also tell you the truth, it was a real challenge keeping up a John Lewis. Tony Hardman is a great cinematographer who I shot with when we were filming with him while John was campaigning. The congressman, at 79, went to five churches on a Sunday morning, black churches. We were racing through town. We were part of a big motorcade, trying to keep up with him. It was fun, but it was really fun to see him in action. He just never took a break.

Can you talk about working with Mr. Lewis and shadowing him throughout the production?

Dawn Porter: He's really nice. I really just tried not to get in his way. Sometimes he would come over and say, “How's it going?" He would tease his staff and say, “Don't let them to give you any trouble." He appreciated that we respect him so much and we respected that he had a job to do. He's really funny. He's a sweet person, but he's really funny. I actually really had a good time being around him. I really looked forward to it. He always had like a big smile. He was happy that we were around, Sometimes the staff was like, "Can y'all leave?" He just never said no. I would ask "Can we go to Troy?" He's like, "Yes, we can.” I would ask, "Can I come to your house at 8am, on a Saturday morning?”  "Yes, you can,” he would reply. I think he was ready to tell his story. He appreciated that we just were going to give him the time that the story needed. Having the support of a CNN and Participant, we have the time to spend with him. Now that he's dealing with his cancer diagnosis, I'm just so grateful for that time with him. There's very few civil rights leaders like Mr. Lewis, who are still living. To be able to spend the better part of a year with him was really remarkable.

One of the highlights of the doc is that we get to see the “Happy” video where he dancing to the song. We don’t get to see that side of him often?

Dawn Porter: And he loves that. One thing I love about John Lewis is he doesn't lecture the youth about what they should do. He still remembers a flame thrower in his teens. He is looking forward to see what the young people do next. When you see him down at the Black Lives Matter Art Installation in front of the White House in DC, he's proud of the activists that have come after him. He looks forward to seeing what kind of change they can make. John Lewis never has tried to be the only person in the room. He thinks that the world has room for many different voices.

The film is currently playing on Demand and in select Drive-Ins. Have you seen it with an audience at a Drive-In?

John Lewis Good Trouble Drive-In Theater photo by Stephanie Frederic

Dawn Porter: I am going to see it with an audience at a drive in tomorrow night. I am really excited. It's sold out really quickly, which is also gratifying. It is not easy to release any movie in a pandemic, let alone a documentary. I just so appreciate you. People getting the word out. For people who are still stuck at home, this is something you can watch with your family. It's fun. It's something to be proud of in our history. We could all use a little good news. What I love is that we can watch the harder scenes, his activism and what he did, but it all worked out.

What's your takeaway, as a filmmaker, that when you do these documentaries, and you're done, what do you walk away with that you can take on to your next project?

Dawn Porter: That is a really good question. I try and learn from every film and every experience. One thing I always do take away is you really have to seize the moment. If you have the opportunity to speak to somebody, you should really take that opportunity because you know that is you can't always get it back. If you have somebody you want to speak to, you really have to kind of go for it. Because nothing is guaranteed to any of us.