Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard to Direct Documentary I WAS BORN THIS WAY

Academy Award® winner Daniel Junge and Emmy Award winner Sam Pollard announced TODAY that they have partnered with the estate of the Archbishop Carl Bean to co-direct the upcoming documentary I WAS BORN THIS WAY based on the iconic LGBTQ Archbishop's incredible life as a singer turned leader and activist.

Blending exclusive in-depth interviews with Bean, filmed before his death at age 77 in September 2021, the documentary will tell the extraordinary LIFE STORY of Bean, who founded both the Minority AIDS Project and the Unity Fellowship Church. The documentary also incorporates never before seen archival footage and rotoscope animated recreations.

Bean overcame brutal homophobia as a young man to record the now-classic 1977 Motown Records gay disco anthem "I Was Born This Way" - which Lady Gaga has credited with inspiring her modern anthem "Born This Way." Eschewing fame, he left the music business to form the Minority AIDS Project, dedicated to serving people of color during the AIDS crisis, and at the same time founded the Unity Fellowship Church - the first house of faith to welcome and serve all people, but particularly Black LGBTQ folks. Prior to his death, the city of Los Angeles named "Carl Bean Square" in his honor in South Los Angeles.

The documentary will immerse viewers in the Carl Bean story-one of love's triumph over societal indifference. In his founding of both the Minority AIDS Project and the now-worldwide Unity Fellowship Church, Bean proved that faith, community and service could heal and renew broken souls that were often shut out of more mainstream institutions-even gay ones.

Junge and Pollard bring the perfect blend of credits and talents to the project. Junge's Saving Face won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short and his The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner was nominated for an Academy Award. Pollard won an Emmy for his By the People: The Election of Barack Obama and has edited several Spike Lee films including Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever and Girl 6. With Lee, he produced the Oscar-nominated feature doc Four Little Girls and the Peabody- and multiple Emmy-winning doc series When the Levees Broke.

"Archbishop Bean was an exuberant, big-hearted, larger-than-life hero, and his life was filled with improbable twists and turns," said co-director Junge, "but ultimately the film is about the power of love over hatred."

"It's so sad that Archbishop Bean passed away during the making of this film," added co-director Pollard, "but we were fortunate to have extensive interviews with him, and his voice will carry the film. In an age where we're hungrier than ever to learn about Black and LGBTQ heroes who've flown under the radar, the Archbishop's LIFE STORY cries out to be told, then celebrated and learned from."

Wellington Love (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) will serve as producer on the project. "As a gay Black man, I'm so moved by the Archbishop's incredible life," he said. "It spanned from a traumatic childhood on the streets of Baltimore to an inspired music career to the enormous and diverse church he built where everyone was embraced and loved, regardless of race, sexuality or gender identity. Archbishop Bean was ahead of his time as he practiced and preached radical love.

Co-producing on the project will be Cori Robinson, Bean's grand-niece and the executor of his estate. "To many, Carl Bean was a messenger, a hero, a father and a healer," she said. "To me, he was my loving uncle and one of my best friends. So it means the world to me to have the opportunity to collaborate with Sam and Daniel to continue his legacy by sharing his story of equality, justice and, most importantly, love for all."

The documentary will also include interviews with prominent personalities who were close to Bean, including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), longtime NMAC (formerly National Minority AIDS Council) head Paul Kawata and songwriter, producer and music executive Iris Gordy.

Emmy-nominated composer and singer/songwriter Kathryn Bostic (Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am) will score I WAS BORN THIS WAY. Jed Alan Klemow and Junge will also serve as producers. The film will be executive produced by Josh Green, Barbara Bridges, Kristen Wolf and Andrew Tobias; and co-executive produced by Owsley Brown, David Beatty, Rob Frier and John Caulkins.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Junge Films

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