Linda Bloodworth-Thomason Archives - Big Gay Picture Show

Last year the short video ‘It Could Happen To You‘ went massively viral. It told the story of Shane Bitney Crone and his boyfriend Tom, and how when Tom tragically died, Shane found himself completely frozen out by his boyfriend’s homophobic family, with no recourse as his rights were not recognised.

That quickly led to the idea of a feature-length documentary, which became Kickstarter’s highest ever funded project (at the time). The completed project has now premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it even got support from Bill Clinton, who introduced the film. He said, “This is really on one level a wonderful, sad, heartbreaking, yet exhilarating and life-affirming story, and on another level, it’s a story about our nation’s struggle to make one more step in forming a more perfect union, for which marriage is both the symbol and the substance. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.”

There was more good news for the movie, as it picked up the Tribeca Heineken Audience Award, which comes with an award of $25,000.

Director Linda Bloodworth Thomason commented, “We are shocked. We were so grateful to just be selected for the Festival; we never imagined we would win the audience award, Hopefully the power of this story will propel the film into theaters across America and beyond.”

You can watch the trailer for the documentary below, and hopeful we’ll all be able to see it soon. (Source: The Advocate)

Early last year the heartbreaking documentary short, It Could Happen To You, went viral and was watched by millions. It told the story of Shane Bitney Crone and his boyfriend Tom. When tom tragically died, Shane found himself completely frozen out by his boyfriend’s homophobic family, with no recourse as his rights were not recognised.

A couple of months later plans were announced to turn the short into a feature length documentary. At the time it became to highest funded Kickstarter project in history, with over $384,000 pledged to ensure the film became a reality.

Now the trailer for the final documentary, Bridegroom, has been released, which you can watch above. It certainly looks like it’s going to be a moving, emotive film that’ll be well worth watching. Bridegroom will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Shane Bitney Crone commented to Towleroad, “Tom and I were not perfect, but we were perfect for each other. Our love was undeniable, and when I lost him, I lost a large part of myself. No matter how hard Tom’s family tries; they can never erase the love that Tom and I had for each other, and the life that we started together. If Tom and I were legally married, I would never have been so easily disregarded, and knowing that Tom would have wanted his family to embrace me, makes me more determined to fight for this cause. I will never be able to hold Tom again, or tell him that I love him, but this movie may convince many opponents to reconsider their stance on marriage equality, not for me or for Tom, but for love.” [Read more…]