OWN to Screen Documentary Featuring Knox Man’s Story

BridegroomA documentary film with roots in Starke County will be screened this weekend on the Oprah Winfrey Network. “Bridegroom” debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and has received critical acclaim. The film tells the story of Shane Bitney Crone, whose partner, Knox native and Culver Military Academy graduate Thomas Bridegroom, fell to his death during a photo shoot in 2011. Crone says Bridegroom’s family left him out of the decision making process and made it clear he was not welcome at the service. The film examines the struggles couples without the legal protections of marriage face and aims to raise awareness of the issue. The project was produced by Linda Bloodworth Thomason, who also produced the television series “Designing Women.” The project was funded by 6,580 Kickstarter supporters after an 11-minute video Crone produced to mark the anniversary of Bridegroom’s death went viral on the Internet.

President Bill Clinton introcued the film at the Tribeca Film Festival. He called it a “wonderful, sad, heartbreaking yet exhilarating and life-affirming story.” Clinton also called the documentary “a story about our nation’s struggle to make one more step in forming a more perfect union, for which marriage is both the symbol and substance.”

The film will premiere on OWN Sunday, Oct. 27 at 10 p.m.

http://bridegroommovie.com/