It was the final day of shooting Netflix’s newest bingeworthy offering Dear White People, a 10-episode series created by Justin Simien, based on his film of the same name. Everyone felt understandably tired after the months-long shoot, but throughout the afternoon a sense of jubilation permeated the cast and crew’s final day together: mix of emotions echoing the last day of school; sadness and joy commingling as countless members of the crew bounced from one shot to the next. The set was almost vibrating with unspoken excitement. But instead of eagerly anticipating summer vacation, they were excited about the future, both for the show and for the country.

Because that final day of filming fell on Nov. 8 and most everyone was looking forward to Hillary Clinton’s victory — much of the crew was sporting I Voted! stickers. But as day gave way to night, Simien found himself counted among 65 million Americans who felt their hearts drop as reality washed over them: Donald Trump would become the 45th president of the United States.

“I was crestfallen. Everyone was — well, everyone who, in my opinion, had their eyes open to what was really happening,” Simien told BuzzFeed News. “It was a depressing day, a sad day for democracy.” But he had to stave off that looming grief, if only temporarily. “There was a moment I had to tell everybody, ‘Guys, I get it, the world is falling apart, but I just need an hour of your time so we can get out of here.’ It was hard and I was fucking angry and I was sad and I was all of those things, but, listen, the Band-Aid had to get ripped off. Black people already knew this shit about America, but I don't think white people knew. I don't think a lot of liberal, well-intended white people knew how bad things were in this country. … There's nothing I can do but sit back and hopefully watch everyone wake the fuck up.”