"I feel like I'm just getting started," Lopez says as she celebrates her 50th birthday in the film. She thinks about more things she wants to do in her life later.
In fact, many of the major events in Lopez's career that are depicted in Halftime hadn't yet occurred when producer Dave Broome first became involved with the project.
Filming for Halftime began as Lopez was coming to an end of her Las Vegas residency and wondering what was next in her life, and we had no idea," Broome said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last week.
'Hustlers' is not an option, according to Broome. We had no idea we'd be capturing all that has transpired in her life over the past four years, says the crew.
"The whole movie changed" when Jennifer Lopez made Hustlers and launched a campaign for an Oscar nomination for her role, Broome said, and when she was selected to perform with Shakira at the 2020 Super Bowl, "the whole movie changed," he said.
"Over the course of four years, it was constantly shifting. "This is what we'll do," you say at the beginning of the process. "What do you mean she's suddenly the star of this movie, in which she plays a stripper?" he inquired, incredulous. As far as I know, this has never been nominated for an Oscar. When making a documentary, there's nothing to fabricate, and that's the finest part. Consequently, Broome explained that following a story is like pursuing a moving target while simultaneously discovering new details and creating the plot. It's impossible for me to keep track of all the adjustments we made. In other words: "Okay, here's the film." You're not seeing things, since this is real life. "Then, the film."" He answered, "Oh, no, that's not it."
Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Lopez's producing partner, spoke from the Tribeca stage about the evolution of the project.
Her companion Benny Medina felt that there was a broader narrative to tell as they were trying to capture Jennifer on the It's My Party tour honoring her 50th birthday.
With "thousands of hours of archival film and personal footage" and "the story that hadn't been told," Oscar-nominated director Amanda Micheli was hired at the end of 2019.
A total of two years had passed by when the COVID-19 epidemic hit in March 2020, and Micheli was preparing for interviews all that time. Micheli believes she was able to "discover the story in the edit room" once COVID rules were loosened, which allowed her to interview Lopez and those close to her.
That "big job" turned out to be a labor of love for her.
In the film that resulted, Lopez gives an honest and vulnerable account of her life. She describes having low self-esteem as a result of being criticized.
The process of making a documentary is an emotional one because it forces you to reflect on your past in a new light." This conversation was like therapy for Micheli since she noted that Lopez was honest about her low self-esteem, which was surprising to hear from someone who is so well-known and successful.
As a Netflix producer, Broome felt that the streaming service would be a suitable fit for the production because it was "a worldwide platform for...a global superstar."
Netflix didn't immediately say yes to the idea of a documentary about Jennifer Lopez, which surprised him greatly.
As he put it, "I have a documentary about Jennifer Lopez that I showed Netflix." "What are your thoughts?" Dave, we're in. You know what we're going to do?" "Let's get this show on the road!" Great, what is it?" was the query. Are you going to tell a story? What are your plans for the final assembly? We don't know. Do we really want to say these things and do we really want to do these things?"
