Devastating Gay Viral Video Turned Film Wins Award and Presidential Praise

Shane Bitney Crone's devastating 2012 Youtube video, chronicling his relationship with his late fiance, inspired Bridegroom, the documentary directed and co-produced by Linda Bloodworth Thomason, the creator of Designing Women. That riveting and moving documentary about love and loss, was announced as the winner of Tribeca's Heineken Audience Award for the Documentary last night at the wrap party in New York City. The award comes with a cash prize of $25,000.

"We are shocked. We were so grateful to just be selected for the Festival; we never imagined we would win the audience award," said Bloodworth Thomason. "Hopefully the power of this story will propel the film into theaters across America and beyond.”

Former President Bill Clinton introduced Bridegroom at the film's premiere, saying, "This is really on one level a wonderful, sad, heartbreaking, yet exhilirating and life-affirming story, and on another level, it's 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 the substance. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."