Los Angeles transplant singer-songwriter Tiffany Day and New York City-based Malaysian-Australian filmmaker Henry Thong brought “Tiffany Day: The Gratitude Documentary” to San Francisco on Nov. 1, 2023 for an intimate screening, Q&A, and acoustic performance. The film candidly captures the highs and lows of the planning process for Day’s 2023 “The Gratitude Tour,” life on the road, and performing on tour.
In a pre-screening interview in SF, the final destination of their three-stop, self-organized tour after showcasing in New York City and Los Angeles, Day and Thong shared insights into their journey. They reflected on the challenges and rewarding experiences of Thong's self-funded and produced film and Day's similarly independent tour. Despite the long days and many flights, they found great fulfillment in seeing the audience’s reactions to their work.
Thong said, “It’s crazy that other people are finally seeing it… for most of this year, it’s just been me on my computer and a few friends here and there on our private TV screens and living rooms.”
Day added, “People have told me they’ve teared up during the part where I cried, and I’m like, okay, okay, I got a little vulnerable, but I think it’s cool that people really enjoy the depth of the film… like they get to connect with me on a deeper level that isn’t just me making music… and see all the mad shit that I went through to make that tour a tour.”
The documentary captures Day in raw, emotional moments, especially in the planning process before hitting the road. When asked about her comfort with showing her most authentic self on film during vulnerable moments, she explained how having a camera in her face so often helped her be less self-conscious about her appearance and actions. Day’s mindset was, “I’m gonna let Henry do his thing, and I’m just gonna live my life.”
Although letting go of the need to put on more makeup or fix her hair was stressful at first, she said that it was very freeing to show people what she looked like on a daily basis, just because “that’s how I f*cking look sometimes, you know?”
Thong also reflects on how their friendship helped Day be comfortable with showing all sides of herself when filming. He thoughtfully produced the film to be as authentic as possible, expressing that “A lot of music documentaries are very constructed. I won’t name names, but some of them just feel like ads for artists, and that’s something I wanted to avoid with this film. I want to show as real of an experience as possible.”
His meticulous planning, backed up by their friendship, helped Thong “predict” when highs and lows would happen and capture Day’s genuine emotions.
Filming the documentary, especially the interview sections, helped Day revisit some of her YouTuber roots. One key difference between doing YouTube and creating a documentary was how it was filmed: doing it herself versus someone else filming.
Day explained, "Since I didn’t have to worry about spending the energy to film myself, I could use that energy to be extra goofy and fun for the camera. So it was honestly more fun than YouTube, but definitely, some YouTuber blood in me was revived during the interview portion.”
The most rewarding part of making the film to Day was seeing her growth through Thong’s perspective. Although she is her own biggest critic, she was able to appreciate and take pride in her hard work through the physical proof of her efforts in the documentary.
“The fact that there is now a 40-minute piece of work that showcases how hard I worked on one of the most monumental projects of my life,” Day said.
For Thong, reflecting on the project gives him a feeling of nostalgia and appreciation for the deep connections he made. Despite usually working independently, working with a small crew that felt like family at the end is something Thong will miss the most. To him, the film is “a nice little time capsule of memories,” and he wouldn’t change a thing about the process if he could redo it.
The film is a time capsule for Day’s career as well. She thought back to the LA screening a few nights before, where Thong said that not many smaller artists get a documentary made about them.
Day said, “I didn't think about that ‘till he said it, but it’s true… it made me realize that this film is literally going to be a piece of history for me. And the day I turn into Dua Lipa, this film is going to be a little piece of treasure because people are going to be able to see who I was from the start.”
After the mini film screening tour, Day ended 2023 with opening for Jeremy Zucker before rejoining Eric Nam’s tour for its last few stops, all while working on her debut album set to release this year. Thong plans to continue capturing Day’s journey as an artist and create similar documentaries with other artists.
