Singer-songwriters Zella Day and Jesse Woods are partners in music and in life. The challenge of negotiating their work and romantic relationships is at the heart of Bleeding Hearts, the documentary premiering Thursday at the Toronto Film Festival.
“I would recommend it,” Woods said of embarking on a professional and romantic partnership, “but I would say just have a little bit of an idea of what you’re getting into.”
Woods, Day, and director Andrew Morgan stopped by Deadline’s TIFF Studio ahead of their world premiere.
Woods added, “I think so much about being in a relationship is learning how to communicate in a loving and respectful way. When you also work together, it just adds a layer of learning how to communicate with one another. So yeah, I think it makes the relationship stronger and closer and harder.”
Zella Day and Jesse Woods perform in ‘Bleeding Hearts.’
Courtesy of TIFF
Woods and Day’s country band, Chaparelle, is taking off. As the film documents, inevitably they encounter differences of opinion over musical matters, and on the domestic front. One section of the film will be readily identifiable to just about anyone who has tried to handle a home remodel while being in a relationship. In Jesse and Zella’s case, it was a months’ long effort to re-do a bathroom in their rural Texas home.
“I love that that’s in the documentary because our home life really is the center of where we come back and why we come back together and how we do it,” Day commented. “It reflects our life, our home, and where we come together, where we make our music. And as we were changing, the home was changing and it was kind of all at once.”
Zella Day and Jesse Woods in ‘Bleeding Hearts.’
Courtesy of TIFF
Filmmaker Andrew Morgan described how he became aware of Chaparelle’s music. “A friend of mine sent me a demo of an unreleased song called ‘Bleeding Hearts,’ and I listened to that song and it instantly captivated me, just absolutely grabbed me,” he said. “I had been told that they’d started a relationship and they were starting this new band. And I was just fascinated. I was fascinated by what it would look like to follow a band in the beginning. A lot of music docs are made at the end of the story looking back… It’s always that beginning that’s so volatile and interesting. And so I got in touch with them and really just pitched my heart out and I said, ‘I really want to make this thing with you, and would you be open to it?’ and somehow, they said yes.”
Watch the full conversation in the video above.
The Deadline Studio at TIFF is hosted at Bisha Hotel and presented by Volvo, Columbia, Patrón and Schwarzkopf.
Panelists: Andrew Morgan (director); Jesse Woods (subject); Zella Day (subject)
First Screening: Thursday, Sept. 17 at Scotiabank Theatre
Sales agent: CAA and BD4 Studios
