Leah Wolchok (‘Judy Blume Forever’): ‘I wish I had read it when I was a kid’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Leah Wolchok was not as familiar with Judy Blume’s work as her “Judy Blume Forever” co-director, Davina Pardo, was. “I had read ‘Freckle Juice’ as a kid. We had a copy of ‘Otherwise Known as Sheila, the Great’ in my house. But I had never read ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,’” Wolchok tells Gold Derby during our recent Meet the Experts: TV Documentary panel (watch the exclusive video interview above). After coming on board the project and reading Blume’s books, Wolchok immediately felt that she could have used these books when she was younger. “I wish I had read it when I was a kid because I would’ve looked at myself really differently. I would’ve looked at the whole world differently had I read that book when I was in sixth grade.”
“Judy Blume Forever” chronicles the life of the bestselling author from her start writing children’s books to material that was aimed at slightly older readers. She broke through with the bestseller, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” which garnered praise and controversy for its frank depiction of young women experiencing their periods. Other books would tackle subjects including masturbation, sex, anxiety and birth control. This led to many efforts to have her books removed from schools and libraries. Wolchok and Pardo are nominated at this year’s Emmys for Best Documentary Directing and the film is also nominated for Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
More from GoldDerby
SEEover 200 video interviews with 2023 Emmy nominees
When Pardo was initially exploring the idea of making a documentary about Blume, Wolchok thought she was done making movies. “I was living abroad at the time and I had sworn I was never gonna make films again. But when I moved back to the U.S., Davina convinced me.” The relationship between the two started two decades ago when they met at film school and Wolchok views her co-director as a thoughtful and sensitive filmmaker. “I say we’re friends first and filmmaking collaborators second, but I am so grateful that she invited me into the project because it’s been such an honor to get to know Judy to get to know her readers.”
One part of the film that took Wolchok’s breath away was seeing the library of letters that Blume received from her readers which are housed at Yale. “It was hard to be in that room holding the letters, seeing the vulnerability that came through in the handwriting of those kids and the sheer volume of letters.” Blume would often write back to her readers who wrote to her about topics including divorce, abuse, depression and eating disorders, among others, but their identities have been greatly protected. “Judy and her husband, George, and the archivist at Yale have worked closely together to protect the privacy of the letter writers so that no one who goes into the library as a researcher can reach out to any of the kids, who are now adults.”
PREDICT the 2023 Emmy winners through January 15
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Best of GoldDerby
Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
