The election of out Congressman Mark Takano last year is chronicled in the upcoming documentary How to Get Elected in America. Produced and directed by Jamie Ruddy and Rupert Russell, the film follows Takano’s unlikely journey from teaching in a public high school to becoming the first openly gay person of color in the US Congress. It’s also filled with many real-life moments his campaign staffers fear, a long with in depth coverage on how Big Data, demographic changes, LGBT issues and political history shape American elections.
Russell agrees and adds, “What we didn’t know when we started filming Mark was what a turning point the 2012 election would be for the civil rights of gay people in this country. We just got really, really lucky we happened to be there to capture that moment.”