Whatever Gigi wants, Gigi gets… and what Gigi wanted was more time to make her documentary “This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous.”
Speaking in front of an audience at TheWrap’s Emmy Screening Series Wednesday night, director Barbara Kopple whispered in Gorgeous’ ear, asking if she should share a story about how they convinced the suits at YouTube Red to give them more time to make their film.
“Ohhh! Yes, oh my god, so good,” said Gorgeous, as she recalled the moment.
YouTube had asked Kopple to turn the film around in two months for a November launch after wrapping production in September, 2016. And Kopple, an Oscar-winning documentarian, was adamant that wasn’t going to work. But she had an ace up her sleeve.
“She’d say, ‘You need to fight for me,’” Gorgeous said. “Girl, I got you. This is my film, are you joking? Anything you need, Barbara!”
Kopple asked YouTube if she could get more time to work on the film if she got it into the Sundance Film Festival. The executives speculated that they wouldn’t find out until October or November, and that would already be too late. But astonishingly, Kopple had already been accepted.
“I had the invitation in my purse, I gave it to them, and they said, ‘Take the time that you need,’” Kopple said.
“This is Everything” went on to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and has since been nominated for an MTV Movie + TV Award for Best Documentary. You can stream the film now on YouTube Red.
Watch the clip of Kopple and Gorgeous’ story at about the 30-minute mark.