In a crowded crop of documentary films this awards season, director Josh Greenbaum’s Will & Harper stands out as one of the most vital stories of the year. Coming right off its win at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards for Best Documentary Feature, Offscreen Central had the opportunity to speak with Monique Zavistovski, the editor that brought Will Ferrell and Harper Steele’s vital 17-day road trip to life. Zavistovski talks about the female mentor figures in her life, what it was like sifting through over 250 hours of footage and the unique challenge of working on such a personal story.

Matt Minton: To begin, we’d love to hear if you could introduce yourself and talk about how you got involved with Will & Harper.
Monique Zavistovski: Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited. This is definitely far and away my favorite topic to discuss. Will & Harper is kind of a family affair. I had been working with Delirio Films for several years on various projects. And my producer, Rafael Marmor, he is married to Jessica Elbaum, who is Will Ferrell’s producing partner. And so when Will spoke to Jess about Harper’s email that she had sent, and you know, this idea of making a film about it and going cross-country and then exploring their friendship. Jess spoke to Rafael about it because Rafael has made all of Josh Greenbaum’s documentaries. He’s produced all of Josh’s documentaries up until this point and the group of them all knew each other, so Josh has worked with Will and Harper before, and it was paramount to create a safe space for Harper to be able to go on this journey. I mean, her initial reaction was, ‘No, I’m not going to do this, this is crazy.’ But she got about it for a while, and Josh and Will and Rafi and Jess, everybody created this safe space and I think everybody recognized the value of this story especially in the current climate in this country. So they just folded me in, and it was definitely the absolute best thing that happened in my career thus far. 

Matt Minton: Awesome, congratulations! Putting this in the context of your career and history in documentary filmmaking and this also being your return to Sundance, which is where the film premiered in January, I’m curious to hear what draws you to documentary filmmaking specifically?
Monique Zavistovski: So I’m very drawn to projects that challenge me. And every documentary project that I work on is absolutely overwhelming and terrifying and fabulous and I love working in documentary. I’ve been in this business for 25 years. When I was at USC graduate school, I was mentored by a group of female documentary filmmakers very early on in my career, and that had a profound impact on me. The great editor, Kate Amend, who I call the Beyoncé of documentary filmmaking, took me under her wing early on and pushed me out of my nest and gave me all sorts of amazing documentary projects to work on. There was one short piece that I did for a museum that was a retrospective of Judy Chicago’s works. And so I was sort of thrust into this world with my eyes wide open and really just enamored with documentary editing. And that hasn’t changed but the challenge of it all has stuck with me too. Every project is very challenging, and it’s an education for me every single time. And I love that. It sort of keeps me thinking, keeps me on my toes.

Matt Minton: Speaking on the potential challenges with this film, I know it’s a 17-day road trip. I believe it was previously reported that there was around 200 hours of footage to sift through.
Monique Zavistovski: Even more than that.

Matt Minton: From the perspective of a viewer, the moments that we do see in Will and Harper’s moments together feels so intentional and well-chosen. What was it like looking through all that footage and what was your approach to choosing which moments to include?
Monique Zavistovski: Yeah, I was watching dailies, actually, while they were on the road. And every day it was like, ‘Oh my God, this is nine hours of extraordinary footage every single day, and the conversations are rich and meaningful and funny.’ There were so many moments of personal growth and fear and anxiety and hopes and dreams. And so I talked to my director, Josh, about it. The approach that we took was choosing the biggest inflection points, the moments of emotional growth throughout the film. Some of them really stood out to us. One of them was midway through the trip in Oklahoma, they stopped at a small bar in the middle of nowhere, and they went to a dirt track raceway, and they spoke to some people, and these were spaces that Harper wasn’t sure she would be able to return to as herself. She had been to spaces like this before countless times in her life. But the challenge was could she return to these places as herself? And so we knew that that midpoint was a very important inflection point, and there were several others. And so we started there. We built those scenes out first, and then every other scene that was folded into the edit had to audition itself and earn its spot. It was very tempting to just make a film with 90% humor because Harper and Will are outrageously funny.

Matt Minton: You mentioned that Oklahoma scene and I was actually going to ask about that too because it’s a major turning point with Harper going to the bar by herself. What really stood out to me about the scene is the moments you choose to cut back to Will by himself, worried. How did you go about cutting between the two main subjects going their separate ways here?
Monique Zavistovski: Right? I mean, the idea there was to build in as much tension as it was authentic to Harper’s experience. And watching the dailies, I was nervous for her and the crew was, I think, uncomfortable as well. So when we did cut to Will, it was a function of the beats where Harper was making progress in connecting with the people in the bar. I mean, one of the things that everybody loved so much about Harper is her ability to connect. And she loves talking to people. She approached the bar in stages, you know, walking in, well, first getting up the nerve to walk in, and then walking in and ordering a drink, and then having her first conversation with a loving woman who, I think was the owner of the bar, and then sitting down and talking to the folks across the table. And so we had all of these beats that we could use to structure the scene. And occasionally there was a point in which the camera just, you know, got bumped or or had to resettle. And I would choose those moments as well. So it was both practical and emotional reasons why we would cut to Will hanging out in the parking lot, nervous, waiting.

Matt Minton: Awesome and going off of what that you mentioned about Will and Harper being comedians – that’s their livelihood. They’re hilarious together so I’m really interested to hear more about the way you balanced all of the different emotions — from the more difficult conversations from them just reconnecting as old friends.
Monique Zavistovski: Josh and I discovered that there was a pattern to the way they communicate and maybe it’s typical of people who spend their lives working in comedy, But their love language was to sort of joke, tell a great joke, or start a bit. Sometimes their bits would run for hours or days or some of the bits ran throughout the entire trip. Then they would dip their toe into a more intimate, serious conversation, and Will would ask a question that was on his mind, and they would go deep. Then at a certain point in those deeper conversations, one of them would bail, maybe when it was getting a little too deep or they’ve been in the conversation for too long. And they would tell a joke. And so this pattern of deep, meaningful, personal conversations and then a joke to release from that was something that we discovered was natural. It was authentic to their style of communication. It was something that we could therefore capitalize on in the edit and use as our structural device.

Matt Minton: It really does feel authentic to their friendship. I know you are an editor who thrives on challenges so what did you ultimately learn about yourself as an editor through this project? And are there lessons you wish to carry over to future projects?
Monique Zavistovski: Yeah, there are a couple of things that come to mind. The first is that documentary editors don’t get an opportunity to edit comedy very often. A lot of the subject matter is really dark, I needed to exercise that muscle of editing comedy. I had edited Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins and she’s outrageously funny. So I had a little bit of experience in that area but nothing like Will Ferrell and Harper Steele. And so I learned a lot about how the things that are funny do function because they are released from the things that are meaningful. And, you know, jokes just aren’t funny when you like spoon feed jokes. If they’re grounded in real emotions and real life experiences, challenges and tension and all the things that make a great film, then they earn their spot. I also just learned so much from both Harper and Will and the courage that they had to go on this journey together and to share it with the world. It gets me every time. You know, I’ve seen the film a million times, and I’m always really moved by their courage. And I think that, especially after the events of last week, and knowing that we partnered with GLAAD on this film, I learned that what most people in the country know about the trans community is from the media. And so a film like this has a big responsibility because it can alter people’s perceptions of the trans community and the trans experience. And I’m so deeply grateful to have been a part of telling Harper’s and Will’s courageous story. I hope that it has the impact that we all need right now.

Matt Minton: Right. When I first watched the film I noticed it was timed well on Netflix right before the Presidential Election. And I think this film carries an even greater sense of importance and urgency after the election. So I’m hoping it can continue to reach people and start important conversations across the country.
Monique Zavistovski: I hope so too. And I mean, the film was never intended to be like an advocacy piece or to do any of that. It was really about Harper and Will rediscovering their friendship and what Harper’s transition means to them and also reintroducing Harper to the country that she loved that she had traveled hundreds of times and going out there by herself. Those were the stated intentions of the film. But if the film does provoke important conversations and help even one family sitting around a kitchen table having these discussions. Well, that would be the cherry on a sunday.

Matt Minton: As a last question, just wanted to give you an opportunity if there’s anything else you’d like people to know about the film or your involvement that we haven’t touched on yet.
Monique Zavistovski: Oh my gosh. One thing that always sticks with me is Harper’s joy and the way she talks about her transition and the way she approaches life in general. It’s something that really comes through in the film. She is so full of joy and optimism, and I think that that’s something that we all need right now, and that’s sort of an additional message that I think that comes through, that I think that is part of the reason why people enjoy watching the film so much. This is not a gritty, dark subject matter. Transition is filled with joy and I want to acknowledge that it’s really made an impact on me and I think on many others as well.

Matt Minton: I think that’s a beautiful point to end on. That’s what makes this film stand out. Something that bugs me about a lot of queer films is when they focus so exclusively on tragedy. But I think it’s also important, as you mention, to celebrate the joyous moments of just living life and taking in everything.
Monique Zavistovski: I think that Harper and Will do that so well. They disarm us and the joy shines through and it’s just so compelling. It’s hard to not watch and enjoy.

Matt Minton: Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time today!
Monique Zavistovski: I appreciate it so much. This was a great way to start my day. Thank you so much, Matt.

Will & Harper is currently streaming on Netflix.