The Letter League, founded during the Covid-19 pandemic, is a story about connection. Founder Heather Spooner, a queer artist from Traverse City, Michigan, had a large social media following and when the lock-down hit, Heather was concerned about her community and how she could help them feel connected in a time of such isolation. She wanted to help foster a sense of community when people couldn't physically be together.
She created a master plan that involved a carefully constructed questionnaire and the hope that her followers would find solace in being matched with a pen pal and the opportunity to exchange letters with someone unknown to them and their world.
Hundreds of people from across the U.S. and several other countries participated and formed meaningful connections during an extremely challenging time for all of us. This documentary shares the origin story of how the adult pen pal program was created and the profound results that followed.
The story is told with mixed genres: Heather and her wife Christy's interviews were filmed in person, while the pen pals stories are told using their audio-only from their Zoom interviews, accompanied by ephemeral materials and archival footage mixed with motion graphics and collage animation. This helps give the viewer the same sense of anonymity that the participants experienced when meeting their new friends only through their letters.
The film explores the ways we connect and how these pen pals, many of them polar opposites, began to develop profound connections, helping each other navigate major life events and challenging personal journeys; mourning losses and celebrating victories, together.