LOS ANGELES — Filmmaker Sheona McDonald is determined to complete her documentary about Candida Royalle, “While You Were Gone.”
The tale of Royalle, a pioneering adult performer, producer and director who passed away in September 2015, will need another round of funding to finish the project, however.
McDonald’s final Kickstarter campaign will start tomorrow and run for 12 days.
This film has been a long time in the making, McDonald said.
“Many who know of Candida Royalle know her as a porn star, but that is only a small part of her story,” she said. “Candida pioneered a genre of film, erotic movies for woman and couples, she was a feminist and blazed a trail, fearlessly promoting and speaking about her work for decades. In this era of #metoo, her work, her values, her strength and her voice are still valid, they echo through time to find her standing here, with us.
“Candice and I worked together for a year and then, in 2014, launched an initial campaign to raise funds to see the project through. Unfortunately, we only raised a small percentage of the money through the campaign but pushed forward to generate some of the funds through private donations.
“After Candice passed away in September 2015, I struggled to continue with the film. Lacking time, money and backing + missing Candice found me putting it on the backburner. But I struggled to leave it there.
“I knew I'd promised her I would follow through on telling this story, the story we'd worked on together, the story that allowed her to tell her own story in her own words. I also knew it was a good story with a powerful message and an important story about strength and empowerment, love and loss.”
Check out more about the Kickstarter campaign here.
