Ryan White and Ben Cotner came together to co-direct and produce The Case Against 8, a documentary which takes an inside look at the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that overturned Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Five years in the making, the HBO Documentary Films’ release chronicles the struggle that changed history and paved the way for marriage equality battles nationwide.
Cotner and White gained access to many of the key players, including the four plaintiffs in the case who challenged the constituionality of Proposition 8–a lesbian couple (Kris Perry, Sandi Stier) whose marriage was negated by Prop 8, and two gay men (Jeff Zarrillo, Paul Katami) who want to get married in California but cannot due to the voters’ passage of the ballot measure. The documentary also goes behind the scenes with the plaintiffs' legal team opposed to Prop 8, headed by conservative attorney Ted Olson and liberal lawyer David Boies who previously faced off as opposing counsel in Bush v. Gore.
The Case Against 8 was released theatrically on June 6 in New York and Los Angeles, then expanded to other select cities on June 13. The documentary debuts June 23 on HBO, coinciding with the first anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality.
The Case Against 8 marks the directorial debut of Cotner, an industry exec who was at Paramount Pictures for 10 years and then Open Road Films, where he oversaw acquisitions and production, for nearly three. In his exec capacity, he has worked on such films as An Inconvenient Truth, American Teen, Mad Hot Ballroom, A Haunted House, Side Effects, The Grey, and End of Watch.
Meanwhile White has three documentary directing credits, the other two being Pelada, a journey through some 25 countries viewed through the perspective of pickup soccer players (co-directed with Luke Boughen, Rebekah Fergusson and Gwendolyn Oxenham); and Good Ol’ Freda, a solo helming gig which tells the story of The Beatles’ longtime secretary Freda Kelly. After getting a formal education at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, White broke into the industry as an associate producer for prolific documentarian Sherry Jones. Among his credits was associate producing the “Capitol Crimes” episode of PBS’ Moyers on America series.
White and Cotner’s first pairing has proved to be ausipicious. The Case Against 8 won a Directing Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, “for capturing a historic moment from the perspective of multiple subjects in an intricate and enaging way.” Later the documentary earned an Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
SHOOT: How did you two come together on The Case Against 8?
Cotner: I was a boring old studio exec before this, working away on my day job. I have always loved documentaries–they were my favorite projects to work on. The opportunity to chronicle the legal case against Proposition 8 emerged and it was very exciting. I had met Ryan at Sundance where he was finishing his first film and talked to him about the possibilities of doing this documentary. We met with the plaintiffs, the lawyers and saw we could have something special. We went for it.
SHOOT: Why were two directors needed for The Case Against 8? How did you divide your responsibilities?
Cotner: Having two directors worked out well given the scope of what we had to do over a five-year period involving different cities, many people, including a legal team of 100.
White: There was no clear division of duties for Ben and I. We came to the film with different skillsets and experience. I studied documentary filmmaking and I directed films. I had more on-the-ground experience.
Ben had more experience working on a wide range of different films–his experience was on a macro level. I think we combined to make a better film because of our different skillsets. Plus I’m a night person and he’s an early morning person, which translated into us providing 24/7 coverage for the project. When one of us couldn’t drop everything to tend to something for the film, the other one could. Our commitment to this story, our commitment to each other, was there. We were obsessed with the story.
SHOOT: What was the biggest challenge The Case Against 8 posed to you as directors?
White: The biggest challenge was that this was such a well documented case. The press was all over it. You’d really have to stretch to find someone who didn’t know about the Prop 8 story. So we took it very seriously in the editing room that we had to build suspense into each and every scene in order to make our audience feel that everything was happening then and there–so they would get wrapped up in the story and forget that they already knew the ending. Our editor Kate Amend, who’s a legend in documentaries, did a wonderful job.
The first time I realized we had succeeded in maintaining the story’s suspense was when we showed the film to Paul and Jeff [the male plaintiffs] who said they felt “terrified” even though they knew what was going to happen.
Cotner: I agree with what Ryan said in terms of the challenges we faced. Another was gaining the trust of the plaintiffs and the attorneys–there were over 100 lawyers on this case. We wanted to make them feel comfortable with Ryan and me. So much was confidential and Ryan and I had to slip in and out of conference rooms and meetings with our cameras. Kris and Sandy [the female plaintiffs] have four boys and we had to respect their privacy yet at the same time needed access to them as a couple, to see what they were going through, what this case meant to them in a very personal way.
SHOOT: Reflect on what the success on the film festival circuit has meant to you.
White: I’m so in awe of the filmmakers at Sundance so to be there and honored was unreal. The issues and stories in our documentary are so important to us. The film was our baby and the festival tour included some of the so-called red states. Utah [Sundance] and Texas [SXSW] are two of the states where there is no marriage equality. There are 31 states that still do not recognize same sex marriage. In Utah, Texas, Oregon [which has since legalized same sex marriage], we met plaintiffs at festivals who had their own lawsuits in order to gain the right to marry. It was fun to meet all those people, to get to know them and their stories.
Cotner: One of those plaintiffs we met at a festival told me it was amazing to see our film and see what everyone went through. But at the end of the day he still didn’t have the right to marry [in his state].
SHOOT: What’s next for each of you? Ben, now that you’ve gotten your first experience as a director, will you continue to seek opportunities to direct?
Cotner: Absolutely, my focus is on full-time filmmaking. I still want to keep many doors open, but I’m passionate about directing.
White: Ben and I right now are dedicated to getting The Case Against 8 the release it deserves. Having HBO’s support has been tremendous. We want to get the film as much exposure as possible.
SHOOT: Will you be directing individually or continue as a team?
White: We would love to work together again at some point–again on a story we feel passionate about. If we can find another story like that, it would be great to work together again. We worked really well together. But there are no immediate plans for us to team up again.
