{"id":2599,"date":"2015-03-10T02:13:08","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T02:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theinsularempire.com\/?p=2599"},"modified":"2021-04-06T00:37:10","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T00:37:10","slug":"john-oliver-it-doesnt-come-with-the-territories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theinsularempire.com\/?p=2599","title":{"rendered":"John Oliver: It Doesn’t Come with the Territories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"John<\/a>
\nI got a voice message last week, from the rights manager at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver<\/a>. He wanted to know if I would let them use some of The Insular Empire<\/em> in their show – and could I please send them a high-resolution file ASAP?<\/p>\n

It seemed crazy: the<\/em> John Oliver wanted to use my<\/em> film? Why? I kept thinking it must be some kind of prank. But I eventually got on the phone with the guy in New York, and the request was legit – the show was doing a segment on statehood and voting rights, and they needed some footage. ASAP.<\/p>\n

So my next question was: ‘Which clip? And how are you going to use it?’ I explained to him that the territory issue was complicated – and that the people of the Insular Areas had yet to come to a consensus on their political status, partly because they’d never received unbiased education or support for a vote of self-determination. The last thing I wanted was for the people of Guam and the CNMI, who have been globally disrespected for centuries, to have their story mangled on national television.<\/p>\n

The nice guy in New York assured me that the writers would watch my film, and that the story would be sympathetic to the islanders. But he didn’t have a script yet (this was on Thursday!), so I’d just have to trust them. I ran it by my colleagues at New Day Films<\/a>, and got an overwhelmingly positive response. I figured if 100+ social issue documentary filmmakers thought John Oliver was OK, I might as well risk it – especially if it would bring national attention to this issue.<\/p>\n

And so it was that last night, the<\/em> John Oliver went on national TV with a brilliant 13-minute rant about American territories – and he started the segment off with a 30-second clip from The Insular Empire<\/em>, featuring Dr. Anne Perez Hattori<\/a>. I’m pretty happy with the results, especially given that they did it in under a week. He even made it funny! And the show is generating more discussion on this topic than I’ve seen, well, ever. But I’d like to hear from others – particularly Chamorus and Carolinians from the Marianas – about what they think. Please feel free to comment below, or on our Facebook page<\/a>. You can watch the segment here:<\/p>\n