Wellington filmmaker has found niche to support costs of documentary: bespoke biopics
Picture this: Your life on the big screen
Documentary filmmaker turns life stories into legacy movies
We all have that one friend — the one whose life is so remarkable, audacious even, that we envision it playing out on the big screen.
Producer/director Ron Davis, better known for his documentary films, could not agree more. The Wellington resident is building an enterprise around making such films for people who want the ultimate luxury gift. Or perhaps it’s more of a legacy gift — more permanent than a new Bentley for just about the same cost!
Creating these life story documentaries is the newest component of Docutainment Films, his independent documentary film enterprise best known for creating “Harry and Snowman,” the documentary about international show jumping rider Henry deLeyer and his famous plow horse that conquered the show jumping world. He calls this new enterprise Lifestory Docs.
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Like with his full-length documentaries, Davis employs a 10- to 15-person crew to create each life story and enlists the full cinematic toolbox — old photos, snippets of home movies, music scoring, even archival footage to recreate various periods of time. These are bespoke movies “tailored exclusively for the world’s most accomplished individuals,” as Davis says.
The six-figure gift that warrants its own premiere
Davis’s most recent legacy creation was a surprise 60th birthday present for philanthropist Becky Gochman last spring.
Gochman is well-known in the equestrian circuit as one of the top amateur riders. She’s just as well-known in the philanthropy and art worlds. She is the co-founder of the Forge Project, which supports Indigenous art and artists as well as Indigenous issues, and the Gochman Family Collection, a private lending collection of contemporary art focusing on work of Indigenous and American artists.
She is the wife of David Gochman, former president and CEO of Academy Sports + Outdoors, and mother to Sophie and Mimi, who also have grown up riding and had a hand in planning Mom’s surprise.
Like a Hollywood premiere, Becky Gochman’s story was shown on a big screen before 600 people invited for the occasion. This big screen just happened to be erected on the Gochman’s farm in upstate New York.
“The whole thing shocked Becky, and she felt terrific about it,” David Gochman said. “She knew we were going to make the film, but she had no idea about the outcome. I was surprised at how many people he (Davis) asked and the lengths he would go to to interview them. It’s amazing how he put all this together.”
It was an audacious friend of Davis’s who might have been the key to the new venture.
Ken Berkley — Ron’s best friend — is a riding trainer who happens to work with people whose extraordinary lives would be the perfect subject for a Ron Davis film. Berkley trains Sophie and Mimi Gochman. The subject of Becky’s 60th birthday came up.
“My kids said, ‘Ken gave us a great idea for Mom’s 60th birthday,’” David Gochman said. “I looked into it and said, ‘That would be a great idea.’”
Documentary treatment from an experienced filmmaker
The Gochmans knew Davis and his work. They were among the supporters of his documentary “Life in the Doghouse,” the story of Danny Robertshaw and Ron Danta, the pair behind the non-profit Danny and Ron’s Rescue, which has saved and found homes for more than 11,000 abused and abandoned dogs over the past two decades.
Davis is looking to grow Lifestory Docs to support his passion projects — the documentaries that mine the niches of life for people-focused, intriguing stories.
“When you’re a documentary filmmaker, 50% of your job is filmmaking and the other 50% is development. This is a way to come up with seed money,” Davis said. “The money from Lifestory Docs will help to create more documentaries. These take six months. A real film takes two years, sometimes more.”
Because he rode horses for many years, Davis’s roots and friends are in the equestrian community. Those connections naturally led to the creation of the nationally acclaimed “Harry and Snowman” as well as “Life in the Doghouse” — Danta and Robertshaw are horse trainers.
A third film released last summer also has its roots in the horse world. “ParaGold” follows the lives of five paralympic equestrian hopefuls vying for a spot on the 2020 US Paralympic Dressage team.
But Davis’s documentaries draw from the larger fabric of life.
His first was “Pageant,” a behind-the-scenes look at the 34th Miss Gay America contest. “Miss You Can Do It,” an HBO documentary, tells the story of Abbey Curran, Miss Iowa USA 2008 — who was the first woman with a disability to compete at the Miss USA Pageant — and several girls with various disabilities as they participate in the Miss You Can Do It Pageant, which Curran founded.
Set for release in 2024 is “I am We,” the story of a woman living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. It captures her journey of healing that includes travel to the Infinite Mind Conference, an annual gathering for people living with D.I.D. Davis and his team gained access to more than 250 people from around the world who attended the conference to share their experiences. If there’s a central theme to his documentaries, it’s the heartstring ties that pull in the viewer.
“I like to uncover hidden gems,” Davis said. “My goal is to have people sit in their chairs and be entertained, intrigued. I believe everybody has an interesting story. Every life is unique in its own way. And I enjoy finding them and laying them out in an engaging, watchable way.”
Learn more about Lifestory Docs by visiting lifestorydocs.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County filmmaker offers buyers a gift of their own movie
