Kelly Rohrbach Walton is shifting from acting on screen to producing behind the camera with her new documentary, Baby/Girls. The film follows a group of teenage girls experiencing pregnancy and motherhood in Arkansas and will have its New York premiere on November 15 at DOC NYC.
Moving From Malibu to Montana
Rohrbach Walton is known for starring in films like Baywatch and television series such as Yellowstone. Her latest project brings her into the documentary space after years of nonprofit work supporting young women in the heartland, Town & Country reported.
“I’ve been working with nonprofits supporting young women in the heartland for almost six years,” Rohrbach Walton told Town & Country, explaining how she built an understanding of the challenges surrounding teen pregnancy.
Following Stories in Arkansas
Directors Alyse Walsh and Jackie Jesko led a crew that followed three young women living in a group home in Arkansas for nearly two years. Arkansas maintains one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the United States.
“The documentary started from sheer curiosity,” Rohrbach Walton told Town & Country.
“I wanted a way to speak to these girls and really understand their stories deeply, and the more that they told us their stories, the more we thought we had something really special that hadn’t been shown on screen before.”
The project premiered earlier this year at South by Southwest. It tracks the subjects from pregnancy through motherhood as they attempt to manage education, employment, romantic relationships, and complex family dynamics.
Capturing Messy Realities
The documentary avoids tying up its narratives with neat resolutions by the time the credits roll. Instead, it presents audiences with the messy semi-resolutions typical of everyday life.
“I wanted to really understand the full arc of the journey of motherhood,” Rohrbach Walton told Town & Country.
“Being a mother myself, I understand that you change so much through the journey. And I really wanted to make sure these girls felt like they could tell their story, their full story, and that we weren’t going to minimize it in any way.”
“I feel proud of the way that we handled the story with care,” Rohrbach Walton told Town & Country, “and hopefully that care creates compassion, conversation, and change.”
Launching Maybe Productions
The producer has established a film-production company called Maybe Productions to continue supporting similar projects. She plans to pursue future documentaries that are separate from her ongoing women’s advocacy work.
“My nonprofit work led me to documentary making,” Rohrbach Walton told Town & Country.
“And I hope to continue making documentaries separate from the women’s work that I do, but this film just happened to bring two areas of my life together in a synergistic moment.”
“Producing really aligns with where I’m at in my life right now and where my curiosity is,” Rohrbach Walton told Town & Country. “I’m really interested in stories that make us a little less certain and a lot more curious.”