A lot of people just didn’t say anything, and that’s one of the reasons this was able to go on for so long. The takeaway message for viewers is that if you see a red flag, such as this kind of lifestyle that doesn’t make sense, you should say something. We spoke with the FBI and the Marshals about the average life of a horse owner - we just couldn’t speak with any actual horse owners and get their perspective. The viewer is going to walk away understanding that Rita, and her lavish lifestyle, was definitely an outlier. What kind of impression is the film going to leave on the average viewer about the horse world? Rita’s lifestyle was certainly far from the average horse person.
It might be because while people find the story interesting, they don’t want to call more attention to it - they don’t want to be ostracized for speaking out. The message I received from the horse world was basically, “she was a disgrace, and we don’t want to talk about her.” There’s plenty of equestrian material in the film, but there’s only one person from the horse world who speaks out. I spent a long time reaching out to individuals through a variety of means - but the horse community did not want to talk about this. In accounting, once you’re identified as being good at this job, people generally are going to leave you alone, and that’s how she was able to do what she did - despite some red flags that no one investigated.ĭoes the horse world, specifically the AQHA world, feature prominently in the film since that’s where a lot of her money was going? She was absolutely meticulous and very good at her job. When Rita said something, you trusted her. What is it about Rita’s story that makes this such an important subject?Īll of us have a Rita in our lives - not someone who steals your money, maybe, but someone that you trust. There’s a horse and equestrian theme to the film, since Rita’s life was so wrapped up in horses, but first she was a public servant responsible for taxpayer dollars. Who is the target audience for this film - horse people, specifically?Īny taxpayer. We spoke with director Kelly Richmond Pope to learn more about the film. Crundwell used her embezzled money to fund her champion Quarter horse breeding program and a lavish lifestyle, including a $2 million luxury motorhome and jewels.Īll the Queen’s Horses is an upcoming documentary by Kartemquin Films tracing Crundwell’s fraud and betrayal of trust of Dixon, Illinois: Crundwell was the comptroller of Dixon at the time, and by most reports, was an upstanding public servant and trusted by the citizens of Dixon as well as by auditors and her peers in city government. On April 17, 2012, Rita Crundwell was arrested and charged with embezzlement, having stolen $53 million from the city of Dixon, Illinois over the course of 22 years.
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