A new documentary by NC twin brothers examines ‘9 to 5’ film’s cultural impact

It’s been nearly 42 years since “9 to 5” was released in theaters, bringing women’s rights and treatment in the workplace to the forefront of popular culture. This year, a new documentary by two North Carolina natives takes a fresh look at the film’s historic impact.

The 1980 comedy, led by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, was hugely successful. The plot follows three women clerical workers who attempt to overthrow their “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” office boss, played by Dabney Coleman.

While the story is fictional and features fantastical, imaginative scenes, it’s rooted in truth and is based on the discriminatory treatment of real-life women at the time, as well as the women who set out to change that.

Some things have changed since 1980, with women gaining legal victories in the workplace, such as the passing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, and breaking barriers in politics. But in many ways, and for many people — particularly with the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court — the film’s messaging and the fight for equal rights and fair treatment for women continue to ring true today.

That’s largely the message behind “Still Working 9 to 5,” the documentary from Gary and Larry Lane, twin brothers originally from Goldsboro. Gary and Larry Lane serve as director/producer and executive producer, respectively, for the film.

“Still Working 9 to 5” includes a look at the real-life events, people and movement that inspired the 1980 movie, and how the film continues to inspire activists today. It’s at least the second documentary about the events that inspired the original film, after “9to5: The Story of a Movement” was released on PBS in 2021.

The documentary, which is currently on the film festival circuit, isn’t yet available to a wide audience, though it’s expected to have a theatrical run beginning in mid-September. A new duet of the iconic “9 to 5” song created for the documentary by Parton and singer Kelly Clarkson is expected to be released next month.

The Lane brothers provided The News & Observer with an advance copy of the film, then spoke with us about their journey from Goldsboro to Hollywood, their involvement with the “Still Working 9 to 5” project and more.

The journey from Goldsboro, NC, to Hollywood

The Lane twins are no strangers to the film and entertainment industry, nor to working on projects related to Dolly Parton, who is a featured interviewee in the new documentary.

After growing up in Goldsboro, where they graduated from Rosewood High School and worked jobs at McDonald’s and Sam’s Club, the brothers landed a series of small parts in commercials, films and television shows, often portraying a role they were literally born to play — twins.

“We’ve never known anything but being a twin,” Gary Lane told The N&O.

The “twin thing,” as Gary Lane called it in the brothers’ interview with The N&O, turned out to be a lucrative angle for the duo.

“For a while, we were kind of like the game show twins,” Gary Lane explained.

Competing on a special twin-themed episode of “Fear Factor” in late 2001 (the episode actually aired in April 2002), they won the $50,000 grand prize — enough to help them get settled in Los Angeles, after they had previously started their entertainment careers in New York City.

Years later, they won $50,000 on ABC’s “Wipeout” and $125,000 on “Set for Life,” another TV game show on ABC.

Those winnings helped fund their first major documentary project, a feature-length film called “Hollywood to Dollywood.” The film followed the twins’ cross-country journey in an RV named Jolene to deliver a script they had written to the queen of country music herself, whom they had grown up listening to along with other country stars like Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers.

“We always would do script writing. We always liked to write, and so we had written this script for an idea that we thought would be really cool,” Gary Lane said. “And we wrote a part in it for Dolly Parton, because we always liked her, and our mom always liked her.”

The film, which was released in 2011, included 15 of Parton’s original songs — their game show winnings were key to securing the rights to use the music in the film — and won 25 awards for “best documentary” at various film festivals.

For the next several years, the twins continued to act and produce in LA, along with regularly interviewing celebrities on red carpets under their “TwinZZone” entertainment brand.

The beginnings of ‘Still Working 9 to 5’

Then, in 2018, the twins saw reports that the original three stars of “9 to 5,” including Parton, were interested in creating a sequel of the iconic movie.

The twins thought about all of the iterations of “9 to 5” that had been created: the original movie, Parton’s hit song, a TV show, a Broadway musical and then, a sequel. (The sequel film has since been dropped.)

Perhaps the only thing missing in the franchise was a documentary to tell the story behind it all — and, given their previous documentary experience that had fostered connections and a “friendship” with Parton and her team, the Lane twins thought they’d be the right duo to take on the task.

“We wanted to document the life of ‘9 to 5,’ like everything that it had been,” Gary Lane said.

They set out in 2018 to begin gathering interviews for the project, partnering early on with filmmaker and the eventual director of the project, Camille Hardman, who researched much of the history behind the original “9 to 5” and the real-life women and movement that inspired it.

The twins said they interviewed Parton early on, then secured interviews with Fonda, Tomlin and stars of other “9 to 5” iterations, including Rita Moreno, who starred in the TV show adaptation, and Allison Janney, who starred in the Broadway musical.

They also interview Dabney Coleman, who played Mr. Hart in the original film, as well as Bruce Gilbert, the producer of the original film.

In all, the twins and the other members of the “Still Working 9 to 5” team have worked on the project for about four years now, researching, chasing interviews and documenting history to create the roughly 90-minute, feature-length film that’s being shown at film festivals. The theatrical run will start in New York and Los Angeles beginning in mid-September before opening to other markets.

What is ‘Still Working 9 to 5’ about?

The resulting documentary is as much a history of the original “9 to 5” and its many iterations as it is about the real-life events and women’s rights movement that inspired it — as well as how the film and its message continue to remain relevant and important today.

And, of course, the film wouldn’t be complete without Parton’s iconic “9 to 5” song.

Parton gives the backstory of the song in the film, and a brand new duet version of the song featuring Parton and singer Kelly Clarkson is also featured. The Lane twins anticipate the new duet to be released at the end of August, they told The N&O.

The several iterations of the “9 to 5” franchise — starting with the original movie in 1980, moving all the way to the Broadway musical, which began its run in 2009, and beyond — coupled with coinciding milestones and markers in the women’s rights movement, serve as the vehicles to progress the documentary’s timeline, bringing it almost to present day.

Viewers will learn about the real-life “9 to 5” movement, a group of women office workers in Boston who fought for equal pay and fair treatment in the workplace beginning in the 1970s, and eventually served as the inspiration for the “9 to 5” film and song.

‘Editing through history’

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the documentary team to extend their timeline in getting some interviews and completing other parts of the project — but late-in-production current events, such as Virginia in 2020 ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, allowed the filmmakers to further show the original film’s continued impact on activists today.

“We kind of were editing through history as it was happening,” Gary Lane said.

In addition to the historical developments included in the documentary, the film also shows the original cast and filmmakers discussing their journeys in creating the original film, revealing the creative decisions and challenges they faced in crafting the film and getting it off the ground — notably, the decision to largely market the film as a comedy, to avoid seeming overtly political.

Bloopers of the original cast filming “9 to 5,” as well as their 1980s talk show appearances and interviews about the film when it was first released, are also included throughout the documentary.

As a whole, the project combines the elements that fans and viewers of the original “9 to 5” love, while also adding rich historical context to it, making it both entertaining and informative, Gary Lane said.

For the Lane twins, who have come a long way from listening to Dolly Parton with their mom while growing up in Goldsboro, the completed documentary is a dream realized, combining their own interests and affinities and, they hope, accomplishing something much bigger by inspiring change among those who watch the film.

“We had a dream in place, and we’ve got a lot more to do, but we’re very happy with where we are right now in our lives,” Gary Lane said. “And we’re really proud of this film, and we really hope this film brings positive change.”

More information about ‘Still Working 9 to 5’

Find out more about the “Still Working 9 to 5” documentary and keep up with updates on release dates and festival appearances for the film at stillworking9to5.com.

Theatrical runs of the documentary are expected to begin in New York and Los Angeles in mid-September, followed by runs in additional markets throughout the month.