Along with Oscar/Emmy winning Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaild-Chinoy, Director/Producer Trish Dalton was recently named one of People magazine’s ten “Women Changing the World in 2020.” We are so glad to be able to interview Trish Dalton here at Occhi and learn more about her work and the impact it is having.
Congratulations on being one of People’s “Women Changing the World” for your work on the HBO documentary Student Athlete, which was executive produced by LeBron James and addresses the exploitation of young men and women involved in high school and college sports. Before we discuss Student Athlete, tell us how you got into filmmaking, and when you knew your focus would be social issues.
I got into filmmaking at a young age, borrowing my parents’ video camera to film my friends and family in skits and music videos, often on road trips (two of my siblings went on to become actors). I became interested in making films about social issues in high school. I was a political and environmental activist, and I saw the power of documentaries to advocate for justice.
In college, I studied philosophy, art, and international development, and traveled throughout Asia and Africa learning about and exploring ways to empower women. I felt like the best way to help women was to give them the mic, so they could share their own stories and experiences. This experience further inspired me to learn documentary filmmaking.
When I returned from my travels, I moved from Ontario, Canada to New York City to begin an internship with a United Nations NGO offering financial support to women in the Kenyan communities I had visited. That’s when I bought a camera and some editing software and taught myself filmmaking. I took documentary classes at NYU, worked on other people’s films, and co-founded a collective of social issue documentary filmmakers called OHMS (Open Human MindS) Media with Michael Green. We made dozens of films on topics ranging from indigenous rights to elections to the WTO and shared them in an effort to shine light on injustices and advocate for change.
Did your films have the impact you had hoped for?
Sometimes. In 2002, I began helping the young girls at GEMS (Girls Education and Mentoring Services) make films about their experiences as sexually exploited and trafficked youth. Many of them, some as young as 13, were being arrested for prostitution while their pimps were often able to dodge arrest. In 2005, we completed our main film together, Breaking the Silence. A short version screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, and GEMS used it as an outreach tool for the girls to share their stories, advocate for fair legislation, and fundraise for the organization. In the meantime, every ‘john’ arrested for being with a minor in NYC had to watch the video. It took a while, but by 2009 the laws changed in NY, protecting girls under the age of 16 from going to jail. That’s the power of documentary. It allows for injustices that are being ignored, partly because most people haven’t thought about them, to be understood, discussed, and addressed. Similarly, filmmaker Jesse Epstein and I worked on a documentary called 34 x 25 x 36, about the impossible standards of beauty that we perpetuate through advertising. Airing the film on PBS’ POV, we were able to put a spotlight on the issue and invite both men and women into the conversation at schools and institutions across the country.
You also worked with Jesse Epstein on your documentary Bordering on Treason, which is now out on Amazon Prime. What were you hoping to explore there?
Yes, in 2003, at the brink of the US invasion of Iraq, Jesse and I, along with the other members of OHMS Media, including San Tong, Michael Green, and Chad Stromayer, wanted to start a conversation about how the invasion would impact people personally. We followed a peace activist, a marine, and a photo-journalist. However, after a couple of years, the peace activist had moved on to other issues, and the marine withdrew from the project for personal reasons. Luckily, the photo-journalist continued her involvement for over a decade.
The finished documentary focuses on Lorna Tychopstup, a single mother of two adult children, and photo-journalist from upstate New York, who traveled to Iraq to put a human face on a global tragedy. I wanted to go with her, but as she put it, “One crazy white woman in Iraq is enough!” She was adamant. Luckily, we were able to hire Iraqi videographers to film her experience there, and we filmed with her here in the US.
Lorna was a great character. For her, the war was highly personal, and she was willing to risk her life to share the stories she wanted to tell. Many people, including FOX News reporters, didn’t think she had a right to go to Iraq. One Fox News pundit said her actions “bordered on treason,” giving us the title for our project. As it turned out, Lorna went to Iraq not once but several times, including during the war and also after. Her perspective is absolutely unique. She spent as much time documenting the stories of the people as she did attending their weddings and getting to know their children.
We worked on the film for ten years, until we received funds from New York State Council for the Arts in 2012 to finish it. In 2013 we showed it at film festivals, and in 2019, it was picked up by Amazon Prime. It continues to be as relevant now as when it was released, because of its very personal perspective on America’s relationship with Iraq.
Let’s circle back to Student Athlete. How did you come upon the subject matter?
My co-director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, was introduced to the topic by Steve Stoute, an American businessman, and author who has written about the influence of hip-hop culture. Steve said, “if you want to cover human rights in America, cover college athletics.” Sharmeen invited me to join her, and after researching we learned that a lot had been written on the topic, but the personal stories of players were missing from the conversation. We decided to focus on high revenue college sports, men’s basketball and football because the exploitation seemed the most blatant there.
We learned that boys and girls are recruited as young as eighth grade and that their families are responsible for many expenses. Some of them have millions of followers on social media and are thus branded, but any money generated by their fame goes to their coaches and schools, in part to cover the costs for non-revenue-generating sports. They are not allowed to profit from their name, image, or likeness and cannot accept endorsements. Think of it; if you’re a rock star or a piano prodigy at a young age, you can make money while you’re in school, but not with sports. It’s a violation of antitrust laws, which protect Americans from working for free.
Most of the Division I men’s basketball and football players work full time at their sport, while also keeping up grades, but do not go on to play professionally as they had hoped. Not surprisingly, after all the years of striving in one direction, many find themselves suffering from identity crises when they graduate, and there are no resources available to help them. Many we talked to struggled to find work and became homeless. Some wound up in jail for petty crimes. Often they have painful injuries and no healthcare, leaving them feeling depressed and helpless.
In the making of the film, we explore the effects of an exploitative system on four young men at different stages of their college athletic careers to show the repercussions of unfair rules before, during, and after college.
How did you get the film on HBO and has it had an impact?
Our producing partners, Steve Stoute, Maverick Carter, and LeBron James, supported our efforts to film for two years and then helped us pre-sell the film to HBO Sports. They got us to the finish line and brought Student Athlete to a wide audience. Having a national broadcast put a spotlight on the topic and added to the public discourse. Last spring, Representative Al Lawson Jr. hosted a screening on Capital Hill and we partnered with Senator Chris Murphy to support his efforts to propose legislation to protect college athletes and create a more just system. Now over 20 states have proposed legislation, and a College Sports Caucus was created this week!
What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m getting back to my roots and developing projects that give women the mic and share their empowering stories.
Can you share any links that will help Occhi readers to learn more about your work?
Student Athlete: https://oneanddonepictures.com
Bordering on Treason: https://borderingontreason.com/
34x25x36: http://www.pbs.org/pov/watch/34x25x36/
My website: https://trishdaltonfilms.com
People magazine article:
Photo credits: Nara Garber (main image) and Nara Gaisina
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