The life and legacy of artist and activist Carl Bean is explored in Directors Daniel Junge & Sam Pollard’s documentary, I Was Born This Way.

Junge & Pollard’s film tells the story of Carl Bean, who survived the oppression of racism and homophobia, and found his voice through song as a gospel singer in the New York gospel scene. His 1974 album, Universal Love, was just the start of his mission to create positive change in the world and his 1977 cover of the disco hit “I Was Born This Way” became a song celebrated as the world’s first gay anthem. But Bean rejected a mainstream music career, instead choosing a life in activism. He started the Minority AIDS Project, which served a vital role for underserved populations during the AIDS crisis, and he founded Unity Fellowship Church, the first LGBTQ+ church for people of color with his resounding message: “Love is for everyone.”

On November 20, following the DGA Special Projects Committee's Documentary Series screening in the Guild's Los Angeles Theater, Junge & Pollard spoke about the making of the film during a conversation moderated by Director Jade Jenise Dixon (Kold x Windy).

During the conversation, Junge and Pollard discussed how their previous co-directing experience informed their collaboration to make this film.

Pollard shared, “I learned over the years as a filmmaker that what we do is a collaborative process on all levels, and it’s also about give and take. It can’t all be about Sam Pollard. It’s got to be about Daniel Junge. Now, it’s not to say we always agree because you can’t, but I’ve learned to be able to disagree in a professional way and articulate why we disagree. It’s not to say it’s easy. It can be challenging when you co-direct. But if you have an understanding about your ego, to me, I’ve been able to deal with it better than I ever did when I was 36 years old.”

Junge noted how he continued to be a good directing partner even when Pollard wasn’t in the editing room with him. He said to Pollard, “You were in the edit with me every day because I always know, with you, if every frame isn’t earning its worth on the screen, you’ve got to be brutal and cut it. So, I always had you in the back of my mind and that’s why a lot of times he wouldn’t see a cut until I had been brutally efficient with it.”

Junge’s other directorial credits include the documentaries Game Changers: Inside the Video Game Wars, Being Evel, Fight Church , and A Lego Brickumentary; and episodes of the documentary series Challenger: The Final Flight and Secret History of Comics. Junge has been a DGA member since 2013.

Pollard's other directorial credits include the documentaries Two Trains Runnin’, Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys, South to Black Power, The League, Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power and Citizen Ashe; and episodes of Bill Russell: Legend, Hostages and Why We Hate. Pollard has been a DGA member since 2005, serves on the Documentary Committee and has been an alternate on the Eastern Directors Council.