Eddie Vedder, Tomas Young, Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue Photo by Frances Holland

Out of all the filmmakers Phil could've approached, how did he find you, Ellen?
ELLEN SPIRO: He sat next to someone on an airplane who gave him my name.

PD: That's literally true.

ES: I think that this story demanded an intimate, small approach. Phil didn't want people going into Tomas's house, knocking over furniture — you know, five big, burly dudes. I often work as a one-person crew. Phil had an amazing amount of passion for this story and for Tomas Young. When I met Tomas, I felt the same way that Phil did; I thought his story really needed to be heard. So that's how it happened: a lot of synchronicity, including the album, which started with a chance meeting between Phil and Eddie Vedder. It started with some original music that Eddie did for our film, the connection made between Eddie and Tomas, and Tomas's desire to put together all of his favorite anti-war songs.

Since you're both credited as co-directors, how did you make your respective talents in filmmaking and journalism work together?
PD: First of all, we're not speaking to each other. [laughs] No, it is true, we have two A-personalities here, so it was a long and winding road with two people riding the same horse. But somehow we did it, and we feel that though the collisions — collaborative creative decisions — were difficult, the struggle made the film better.

I think that's often the case. Was there anything specific you remember clashing over?
PD: Well, I can tell you about a clash I had with our editor. We have a scene in the film where Tomas shows you his pills: "This is Amoxapine, this is for morning nausea, this is for urinary tract infection, this is morphine, this is Coumadin — it's a blood thinner." And he goes on. Between identifying the pills, I wanted to cut in the "aye" votes from the Senate: "Mrs. Clinton?" "Aye." "Mr. Kerry?" "Aye." Mr. Edwards?" "Aye." And we did it, back and forth. But I had an editor who thought I had really lost it, and I wasn't sure she wasn't right. But somehow, as we began to show our film in a very loose, rough cut to real live people, we were very encouraged by the response we were getting. Without the Congressional votes, this is a film that would say, "Oh lad, poor lad, how sad." Tomas did not want that kind of film. Tomas wanted a political film, and so did we. We wanted a film that had bite. We think we've come up with one, and [it has been] very, very generously received by all the festivals we've entered. So we're pumped now. We're rolling out and we think we have a real chance of making noise, making an impact, and putting wind to the back of all those people who are out there protesting, dissenting and having people call them names.

Tomas Young Photo by Ellen Spiro

There has been a surge of political docs since 2004, but after that election year ended, most have been little-seen. Were there any concerns going into this project that the subject matter — no matter how important it is to convey — might feel like homework to mainstream audiences?
ES: I've never, ever gotten involved in a documentary because of the commercial potential. But I do think that our film has commercial potential, and we're rolling it out in a couple of days across the country. The reason is, we've got a really human story with all the elements of great drama and narrative. It's the kind of thing that people do want to see because it's a human story that changes their consciousness. They don't walk out of that film the same person they went in as. So it's not that kind of candy-coated entertainment that people go to for escape. It's a film that changes your heart and makes you think differently about the world because you get to know this young man so, so well, and his family and all the ramifications. I got involved because I trusted the story and Phil's instinct.

PD: You should also know that our film is 87 minutes long. We understand the market; Little Miss Sunshine we ain't. We appreciate your point about Iraq docs having had difficulty. We were determined that this film would not be tedious. We certainly aren't saying we're better; we've seen these other films, and they're fabulous. But we do think we're different. Nothing in our film goes "boom." There's no archival in our footage. There's no narrator. I'm not in it. It's a story. And we have a wedding in our film. Ellen is right, when we began this journey, we didn't know where it was going. That made it all the more exciting, and also, truthful. Ellen captured the truth and I can't tell you how lucky we are to have all these good things, to have a wonderful family. Eddie Vedder came up and said, "I'll write a song for you." Ellen did wonderful work as a cinematographer. Man, we've had such a wonderful reception that we believe we may just be an Iraq war film that theater owners will like and be happy to showcase.