Red Without Blue - Production

When we initially decided to make this film, we envisioned telling the story solely from Mark’s perspective, largely because his was the only perspective we knew. Mark is compelling and true, and he spoke of his past with beautiful lyricism, nostalgia and heartache. He agreed to let us make the film.

Then Clair flew to San Francisco for a visit. Clair was just as passionate and articulate as Mark, with her own story to tell. We suddenly realized that this was not just Mark’s story, this was their story. A film about twinship.

Then Jenny came along. Jenny is blunt, candid and exceptional. Her stories about the twins’ childhood were profoundly poetic, and her experience as the twins’ lives began to spiral out of control was heartbreakingly authentic.

Scott took some cajoling. He agreed to participate in the film, but recounting the twins’ turbulent past was too difficult for him. In interviews, he chose only to focus on the twins’ idyllic childhood. It was not until he attended the benefit in Montana, where many audience-members voiced their desire to see Scott’s perspective, that he finally agreed to retell the difficult stories of the past.

After speaking to each of the Farley family members, we recognized that this film would not just be a story of twinship or gender identification; it would be the story of the unshakeable bond of this family unit. A family in transition.

The Farley family accepted us immediately. The honesty and intimacy in RED WITHOUT BLUE, is solely attributed to the Farley’s faith in us as filmmakers. We are grateful.

Filming took place over a three and a half year period. We traveled to and from San Francisco, New York and Missoula to document the lives of each Farley family member. We finally wrapped production in Prague, where Mark was studying abroad. When all was said and done, we had over 200 hours of footage. We edited everyday for over a year. After a few stressful all-nighters at the online facility and one devastating crashed drive, the film was finally completed in November of 2006... just in time for the Slamdance submission deadline, where RED WITHOUT BLUE eventually had its world premiere.