There’s royalty in the title of one Sundance world premiere documentary, and royalty behind the scenes. Prince Harry and Meghan, the duke and duchess of Sussex, serve as executive producers of Cookie Queens, about the experience of a group of Girl Scouts as they sell Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils and more to support their troops.
Director Alysa Nahmias and several of the young scouts stopped by the Deadline Studio at Sundance on Saturday and the girls sounded pretty excited about meeting the duke and duchess at Sunday’s world premiere.
“It feels, like, crazy,” said Girl Scout Nikki B., from Chino, CA. “I always read about them in my books like, oh, the princesses and kings, and then I actually get to meet one.” Nikki’s older sister Nala told us, “When I first found out that I was meeting the duke and duchess, I was like, ‘Are you serious? Are you sure?’ But yeah, I’m really excited. I’m so stoked.”
Said Olive G., a scout from Charlotte, NC, “It’s just crazy to me because me and my parents watch [Meghan and Harry’s] documentary on Netflix and now they’ve watched me [in the documentary]. That’s just crazy.”
Girl Scouts sell an astonishing number of cookies annually, in a variety of flavors. “The cookies are an $800 million [a year] business that’s very profitable, and these girls are doing that and they’re making a cut of that [for their troops]. But at what cost?” Nahmias asked, referring to pressure to sell that comes from “parents and the Girl Scouts organization and the girls themselves. But also, I think it’s a broader social question, right? About kids and pressure and how early kids are introduced to participation in the economy… It’s a crash course in capitalism for young people.”
‘Cookie Queens’
Beautiful Stories/AJNA Films/Archewell Productions
Cookie Queens is produced by Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, Alysa Nahmias, and Jennifer Sims. Along with Prince Harry and Meghan, executive producers include James Costa, Geralyn Dreyfous, Trevor Burgess, Ruth Ann Harnisch, and Regina K. Scully. The documentary is a production of Beautiful Stories, AJNA Films, and the duke and duchess’s Archewell Productions.
It’s an acquisition title at Sundance.
“We’re so excited for everyone to see it for the very first time,” Nahmias said, “and looking for the right distribution partners who are really going to understand how big this audience is — 50 million Girl Scouts and alums alive today, more than that. We’re excited to see what happens and where we can find someone who believes in [the film] as much as we do.”
Watch the full conversation in the video above.
Deadline Studio at Sundance presented by Casamigos.