Zackary Drucker likens her experience working on the documentary to being on a “rollercoaster ride with Liz.”
Who was Carmichael and why should Drucker and her producing partners tell her story?
As she learned, Carmichael was a fascinatingly complicated subject who appealed to her artistic sensibilities.
Credit: Colin Dangaard/HBO
Consumers threw money at Carmichael as a deposit for a vehicle that was never produced.
She died in 2004 from various health issues, mainly cancer.
“At first, I wondered, why this story?
HBO
“She’s complicated.
As an artist, Drucker was compelled to tell Carmichael’s story.
“It’s all baked into her story!
She made decisions that had consequences and it caught up to her.
Liz was definitely part of that cultural environment.
She kept me on my toes!
I was always weaving in and out of loving her and questioning.
It was like being on a roller coaster ride with Liz.”
“We want people to have that question.
Was the Dale Liz’s shot at redemption?
Was this her trying to be legit and to have a legitimate enterprise?
We, as the creative team, debate this internally all the time.
As recently as a few days ago because of the way it had been covered in an article.
Surprisingly, even with all the scams Carmichael pulled, her family never lived privileged lives, Drucker learned.
My take on it is that Liz mostly spent the money on developing the Dale,” Drucker said.
“Her employees said she paid them twice as much as they would’ve been paid elsewhere.
I think she was just mismanaging money and was in over her head.”
She added, “Liz’s family were amazing.
My co-director Nick Cammilleri had pursued this story since 2011 and he was persistent even though they declined.
He became close to some of Liz’s grandchildren who are now in their 30s.
