Michael D. Ratner talks about directing the SXSW opener and four-part YouTube Originals documentary that offers audiences a raw look at the pop singer after her 2018 overdose:"Whatever they think happened is probably pretty far from what really did."
I know there was an original documentary Demi was filming that you were not directing. So what was your approach going into this project with an entirely new direction and sorting out how you wanted it filmed and what you really wanted to make sure was addressed? course, there are times where you're like,"I should back off a bit" or"We've been working nonstop" and you pick your pockets. You're not living with them. It's not a 24/7 camera, but you want to figure out how to keep somebody energized and engaged for a very long period of time. It's not like this thing was filmed in a couple of months; it was filmed over the course of a year and a pandemic.
Most of it made it in the cut, which I'm really thrilled [about] because I think it's one of these stories where if you pull one piece, the whole thing falls apart. I don't know that Demi was certain that she was going to tell every detail of what happened in 2019 because it was a bumpy road even after the 2018 incident. I think she was there to clear the record. This is her moment to respond to all of that stuff. She just kept wanting to share more and more of her story.
I talked to Demi about how she not only impacts millions of Lovatics, [but] she has these incredible relationships with icons. I think she touches people in such a profound way. She stands for so much. She is globally a good person. It's not just siloed in one particular area. I think that hearing how she's impacted others who have walked in similar shoes and have had a lot of eyeballs on them, have gone through some similar things, is really interesting.
We stopped very recently. I was still putting stuff into episode four until they wouldn't let me anymore. I would get calls from Demi like,"Hey, you should be here tomorrow" and then she'd be like,"I'm chopping all my hair off." I was like,"Oh my God!" You know [that’s] big, big stuff that was symbolic and ultimately was part of the story of her rebirth and cutting ties with her past.