Faculty Chandra Clark, Ph.D., and Michael Bruce, Ph.D., have produced “Do Right: the Stallings Standard”, a documentary following the story of Coach Gene Stallings and his impact on University of Alabama (UA) football. The documentary will premiere at the Historic Bama Theatre on September 26.
“It is an honor to finally be able to share the stories we have been adding to our collection of work for multiple years now,” said Clark. “Working through all the licensing, legalities and releases from other schools and entities has all been worth it to share this Alabama legacy family’s story. We want everyone to understand how their individual choices and example can make a difference and to never give up on sharing a good story.”
Starting in 2016, Clark and Bruce interviewed over 100 people about Stallings, traveling throughout Alabama and cross country to get former players, colleagues and others’ stories of Stallings. With the number of interviews, viewers will get a full scope of Stallings as a coach and person.
Even though he is best known for leading the Crimson Tide to its 1992 National Championship, Stallings’ legacy is his advocacy for the disabled and health-impaired, which is a large focus of the documentary.
Bruce said, “It is very exciting to be able to share this story with the public. Our families, colleagues, people we’ve interviewed are always asking when we are finally going to be done with the documentary so they can see it. To know that we are finally at that point is reassuring for everyone I think.”
The filmmakers were surprised to find that Stallings’ impact reached other parts of the country, far beyond the borders of the University. Clark said:
I learned that to truly focus on a subject as dynamic, large and interesting as Gene Stallings, you must form great relationships with partners and interview subjects around the country because his impact and advocacy has had major ripple effects into communities nationwide. After many miles, interviews and conversations, we finally have the full story of not only who Gene Stallings is but his family’s impact on tens of thousands of people.
Bruce agreed, “We learned that documentary stories have a life of their own. This story has evolved in ways we never could have imagined when we first started the project.”
UA alumni chapters already plan to show the documentary across the country. It is also being requested by organizations that work with the disabled, and the filmmakers plan to enter the film to festivals next year. From there, they plan to find a distributor to get the documentary onto streaming or broadcast.
Both Clark and Bruce have a lot of people to thank, including friends, family and the interviewees who welcomed their team into their home. The documentary also had several donors and partners behind the scenes keeping the project going.
“This project would not have been possible without the support of our C&IS deans, Dr. Mark Nelson and Dr. Brian Butler,” said Bruce. “They were instrumental in helping us see this project all the way through to the end.”
Clark is an associate professor in the department of Journalism & Creative Media (JCM); Bruce an associate professor, serves as the JCM department chair and works as creative media director for the Digital Media Center.
If you’d like to read more about the documentary, you can find C&IS’s article on it in the Spring 2022 issue of Communicator. For more about the Gene Stallings documentary, including where to buy tickets, visit the documentary website.