'Stormy' filmmakers say they wanted to show how the justice system failed Daniels

Carr: We live in such a sex-negative culture. Anytime you’ve done sex work, in a lot of the eyes of the American public, you’re tarnished in some way … that’s insanely laughable that somebody with a profession that is as old as time is designated as nonhuman to people and (you hear her critics) saying, “Oh, you know, she’s just a person that did it for attention. She’s just looking to capitalize on the sex she had with Trump.” We’re hoping when people have a knee-jerk reaction to a woman asking for attention — when they think, “Oh, she did it for attention” — show the tweets.

Q. What do you want audiences to take away from this documentary?

Gibson: It was about humanizing her and going through this crazy time in her life with her as an audience, and not agreeing with a lot of the choices she made, but still having great empathy for her and an awareness that this woman should not be living in fear with her daughter in this country. She has the right to feel safe. She also has the right to a fair legal process, and we really wanted to shine a light on the legal system not working for her.

Carr: We tried to create a loving, intimate portrait of Stormy, but also to show the predators that were around her. That includes people and the men in her life that have taken from her and exploited her. She says, “The only thing I’m addicted to is wanting people to love me back” … that’s what she wanted. She wanted to be loved. She wanted to be protected after an impoverished, difficult childhood. Perhaps, we think, there’s some universality to that.

Q. Do you have any plans to keep following her as she continues to go through the legal process?

Gibson: She and I talked today about the fact that she’s documenting herself … being a filmmaker (herself), she’s so smart. She was documenting herself back in 2018 — a lot of the film is her setting up a GoPro or setting up her cellphone and filming herself. She is doing that again right now.

Carr: We won’t kiss and tell in this particular case.

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