CLEVELAND, Ohio – Michael Monaco began making a documentary about country star Luke Bryan nine years ago – which was news to everyone but Monaco itself.
It’s a reality now as Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary – a documentary series spread over five half-hour episodes – premieres on IMDb television on Friday, August 6th. And for Monaco, a Cleveland native who has worked as Bryan’s videographer since 2009, this is proof of the saying: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
“For a long time I just said, ‘Yeah, I’m working on a Luke Bryan documentary,’ and I had to grit my teeth to make it happen,” says Monaco, 35, who directed My Dirt Road Diary. and co-produced it with his colleague Ryan Schmidt from Clevelander, his partner at FlyHi Films in Nashville. He has also directed videos for Kenny Chesney, Florida Georgia Line, Little Big Town, and others.
“It is very important to me to say things out loud, to reveal goals and then work towards them. So I kept it in my heart and kept putting it out there and releasing it and just believing in it. If you do that enough, it will happen. I really think so. “
It is precisely this philosophy that brought Monaco to this point in its life.
The eldest of three children born and raised in Solon, Monaco’s cinematic ambitions began when he was eight years old and received an 8mm Sony video camera as a Christmas present. “I was that annoying kid in the family who wanted to do every part of my home movies,” recalls Monaco, who likes more documentaries than feature films. He also had short-term acting ambitions that led him to spend a year in California at age 13 to break into the field.
Monaco landed a few small roles in soap operas and independent films, but “nothing to talk about”. He is also “genuinely homesick for Cleveland” and found solace in country music by “non-stop” watching videos while working in the apartment his family rented.
“It’s weird because Cleveland isn’t exactly country, you know, but I was referring to these songs and the videos I was watching,” he recalls. “That’s when I decided to become a country music (video) director.”
Focusing on working behind the camera, Monaco returned to Solon and enrolled in a two-year professional training program in two-year video broadcast at Aurora High School supervised by instructor David Strukel. He spent the mornings at Solon High School, then drove to Aurora in the afternoons. He also did an internship for the morning show at WGAR and went to country concerts – mostly on his own as neither his family nor friends were interested.
Monaco returned to Los Angeles after graduation, studying at community college, filmed weddings and also ran a side car business. One day in Encino, he drove past the Academy of Country Music headquarters and decided, “I HAVE to get in there.” He interned and worked there for five years, touring with Toby Keith (including a USO trip to Afghanistan) and meeting finally in 2009 Bryan and his manager Kerri Edwards.
“I said, ‘I’m going to work for this guy one day.’ I just knew I even said it out loud to someone, ”says Monaco with a laugh. Bryan, meanwhile, recalls that chemistry was mutual.
“We hit it off right away,” he notes. “We felt comfortable right from the start. He made such a good impression that we remembered him shortly afterwards when we decided we needed someone to record (video) content on tour and for my career in general. He’s joined our tour and has become another family member on the street. “
Monaco has worked its way up from videographer to director, making 17 videos for Bryan over the years, including award-winning clips for “Play It Again” and “One Margarita”. “Luke and Kerri have always been so supportive of my dreams,” he says to Monaco. “They believe in me and, more importantly, gave me opportunities when there were a million people who could probably do better than me. But that’s something special about this camp; You have given so many people different opportunities and they enjoy doing it. “
“My Dirt Road Diary” documents another success story of the house – Cole Swindell, who rose from touring merchandise manager to his own hit maker thanks to the patronage of Bryan and Edwards.
Monaco’s documentary idea took hold early on during Bryan’s tenure. “I knew when I was working for him I wanted to make a documentary,” he recalls. “I wanted to aim higher than shooting webisodes. He wasn’t a big star yet, still an opening act. But I just knew he was special. I thought to myself: ‘I HAVE to do a documentary …’ “
Monaco began recording footage he had made and learned more about Bryan’s life – including the death of his older brother when Bryan was 19 and the subsequent death of his sister and brother-in-law, which resulted in Bryan and his wife Caroline took care of their three children. Although he was in a bit of a rush to get the project into final shape, Monaco relaxed for the most part as he gathered material and was confident that the documentary would come at the right time. “We didn’t rush it,” he admits.
That doesn’t mean, however, that he didn’t push the issue forward. “I annoyed (Bryan) the crap,” says Monaco with a laugh. “I would almost lock him up on his bus and get him to see two hours between his bike ride and lunch or something. He would love it, but I could see that it was difficult for him too. “
It was this urgency that inspired Bryan at the prospect of telling his story. “I’ve seen a lot of tragedies in my life,” says the singer, “but I’ve also had a lot of triumphs. I hope that other people will see that it is possible to live with hope. It is okay to let joy lead the way. “
Monaco, whose younger brother Anthony died in 2020 after seeing a first cut on the series, added: “I understood the responsibility of telling someone’s story and the intimacy of their story, and I didn’t want the tragedy of taking advantage of anyone, ever. “He had interviewed his brother-in-law, Ben Lee Cheshire, before his death in 2014 and asked if he should take him in, and eventually decided that” it is a family gift that I have this “.
When “My Dirt Road Diary” comes out, Monaco – who lives in Nashville with his wife Taylor and their daughter, is on the road with a second child – has come off the road and is concentrating on other projects with FlyHi. That includes more country music videos for Bryan and others, and possibly more music and sports documentaries. Also in stock are two movie ideas, a comedy and the other a horror film, both of which are set on Dale Hollow Lake in northern Tennessee.
All in all, not a bad result from when I was eight years old with a home video camera.
“I’m not lying; when the trailer (for ‘My Dirt Road Diary’) came out, I was sitting in my office and watching it cry for an hour,” says Monaco it rounded it all off, which made this project that was very close to my heart. It’s really crazy. I’m just so excited and grateful.
“LeBron James is a great inspiration. He says, ‘Be loyal to the game and the game will be loyal to you.’ I have the feeling that I gave my all and lived my dream. “
“Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary” premieres Friday, August 6th on IMDb TV via Amazon Prime Video.