Were there any challenges adapting Annie Proulx’s short story into a screenplay?
This is a very short, short story. We had to expand the world, particularly the points of view of the women in the story. As a short story, it worked well focusing on the two main male characters, but for the film to work, we realized that the audience had to empathize with what the women were going through too.

This film could have been received as an art film. But it seems to have resonated with a mainstream audience. Why?
I think people are hungry for grand, old-fashioned, American epic romances. Hollywood has become a cynical place. The film is very emotionally direct and honest, and it seems to have struck a chord for that reason.

Did you have a target audience for this film?
The target audience, in addition to the core gay and lesbian audience, was women. With a non-mainstream film of any kind-at Focus we had The Constant Gardener this year and Pride and Prejudice in the past—women are the tastemakers, and they often decide which movie is going to be seen.

This film has become known in the media as the "gay cowboy" film. There was a lot of potential to frame this as a controversial film, but the marketing was very subtle.
The process was very straightforward, which was that we would never hide what the movie was. We would never sell it as some kind of circus act, or some kind of political statement or controversial event. We really wanted the film to be front and center. Somebody else can pretend it’s controversial. We’re just not going to get involved in any shouting matches. We didn’t downplay the content. Maybe there is a last reindeer herder somewhere who didn’t know this was a gay movie. But we let people know what the movie’s about. If people are all excited and upset, they should go talk to their therapist.

Were you hoping for more of a grassroots, word-of-mouth marketing buzz?
Besides trailers and television spots and ads, we used the fall film festivals, such as Venice, where it won the top prize, to get the buzz going in the media. We rolled the movie out very deliberately. It started on only five screens, then we moved it up to about 20 screens. We just keep growing the film. We always let the film and people’s responses to it do the work.

There was a little bit of controversy—with that Utah theater pulling the film—but not a whole lot. Were you surprised by that?
Early on, the antigay lobbies sent out press releases saying the movie wasn’t worth responding to because nobody was going to go see it anyhow. Now I think they’re in a little bit of a pickle, aren’t they?

This film comes at an interesting time. Sexuality has become a political battleground, particularly gay marriage. Did this climate affect your decision to make this film?
No. We just thought it was a great story. But you hope the impact is going to be a positive one. If you have an effect of decreasing intolerance and increasing— in particular with young people—empowerment, to be who they are and express themselves, then I guess that’s a good thing. But we’re not waging a political campaign.