#Crowdfunding - Saving Miss America
Saving Miss America is a documentary that explores pageant culture to broaden the perception of the experience. With first-person interviews and archived video, this film shines a light on what you don't see during the competition.
Interview with Director/Producer Mandi Reno
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I was in the midst of writing a narrative feature about my experience competing in pageants when controversy struck the Miss America Organization. Everyone who had never competed in pageants before seemed to have their own opinion about pageant culture and most of them were missing the full picture. Through this film, I want to share my experience and that of many women in the pageant community to show what people don't see in mainstream media. It has become a labor of love.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Like everyone, you likely have your own idea about pageant stereotypes. Watching this film will give you an inside look at a subculture that is often misunderstood. You might even learn a thing or two!
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
To broaden the common perception of the pageant experience, this film explores the following themes: Perfection, Beauty, Empowerment, Community and Civic duty, Identity, and Fame. These are all issues young women face into adulthood. Through first-person interviews and BTS material, the audience will experience the journey to Miss America, connecting women that competed in the '60s for many of the same reasons they compete today.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
When I first started documenting the 49 Miss Americas who spoke out in December 2017, I started thinking about my own experience competing. The more women I interviewed, the more I realized how pageants can create an identity. Initially, I thought the film would focus on documenting the current events and as I've journeyed inward to better understand why women still participate in the ritual, it evolved to an exploration of pageant culture as a whole.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Feedback from the pageant community has been overwhelming. Every day we hear from new people who want to share their unique pageant stories. On the industry side, the feedback has been very positive. There is lots of excitement for the film because the subject matter has not been explored this deeply in a documentary film before, especially by a former pageant contestant.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback from the pageant community is exciting and reinforces the fact that there is an audience for a documentary like this.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
The themes that we are exploring are universal and relatable beyond pageant culture. Visibility on WAMS allows the film to broaden our reach to an audience that might have otherwise written off pageant culture.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
All of the above! Because this project is currently being filmed, raising awareness now allows us to properly market the film for a successful release in 2021.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
My ultimate goal is to broaden people's understanding of pageant culture and show something with more substance beyond typical stereotypes. Of course, I want people to receive this warmly, but I also want them to feel entertained, excited by the competition and walk away learning something new.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Are pageants still relevant?
Would you like to add anything else?
Readers are encouraged to follow our project on Seed&Spark. It's a free and easy way to support us and help unlock in-kind donations to finish the film.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Our team is also developing a documentary surrounding the Targa New Foundland race.
Interview: July 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Saving Miss America
Saving Miss America is a documentary that explores pageant culture to broaden the perception of the experience. With first-person interviews and archived video, this film shines a light on what you don't see during the competition.
Director: Mandi Reno
Producer: The Matarrese Brothers
About the writer, director and producer:
MANDI RENO's background is in production and line producing for independent film and TV. She joined the DGA in 2016 as a UPM. Shifting focus to creative endeavors, Mandi was writing a feature script based on her childhood experiences in pageants, when controversy struck the Miss America Organization in late 2017. Seeing a community she cared about, Mandi shelved the fiction to investigate the changing times of pageant culture and is pursuing the project full time.
The Matarrese Brothers are JOE & PHILL MATARRESE, twin filmmakers from the San Francisco Bay Area. After spending 10 years lighting other people's films, they decided to start making movies of their own when they met Mandi Reno working on set in 2011. They love to shoot on film and produce and direct full time with Mandi under their company name Welcome Mat.
Key cast: Since the film isn't finished, the key cast hasn't been finalized but will include former title holders, Miss Americas, volunteers, social scientists, and pageant experts.
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, journalists, film festival directors, producers, buyers
Facebook: Saving Miss America
Instagram: @savingmissamerica
Hashtags used: #savingmissamerica #documentary
Other: Seed & Spark
Made in association with: Fiscal Sponsorship by Film Independent
Funders: Private investor in the SF Bay Area, Grant Awarded by the Alameda International Film Festival, and we are currently crowdfunding on Seed&Spark. Link.
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Anticipated release is Fall 2021, coinciding with the 100 year anniversary of the Miss America pageant.