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Bad President:
Director Param Gill’s political satire trending amid political tensions; a second film planned
By Andrea Marvin
Five years after the film’s initial release, Bad President is trending across multiple platforms during a time when political tension is on the rise.
Director and Writer Param Gill’s political satire explores President Trump’s 2015 presidential run, analyzing his electoral campaign and political strategy.
Bad President uncovers how Trump is a master of distraction, a political tactic set in motion during his first and second terms.
The satire follows Trump from businessman to president, and blends social commentary with humor, creating a timely story that our country seems more willing to hear.
Director Param Gill is pleased that his film has found its audience, earning a 95 percent Popcornmeter rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gill says the recent success of Bad President has given him the internal green light to start production on a second film, Bad President 2, which will pick up from Trump’s second campaign trail and analyze how his patterns and tactics are similar.
Director and Writer Param Gill is an accomplished filmmaker who has won numerous awards for his movies, including Best Director by the Los Angeles International Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival.
During an interview, Gill explains why Bad President is a film he is most proud of as an artist, presenting touchy political concepts through satirical humor.
Most importantly, Gill explains how Bad President and Bad President 2 serve as historical documents that chronicle President Trump’s journey and allow viewers to consider his political tendencies in one sitting.
Further, Gill shares some of the challenges he faced along the way in getting the word out about the first film, including financing and distribution.
His advice to other filmmakers in the business is to be true to themselves and their inner voice, leaving the rest to God.
Could you share what Bad President is about and discuss how its popularity has grown recently on movie platforms?
On the night of Trump’s inauguration during his first presidency, I had a horrible feeling. It wasn't about being Republican or Democrat but instead knowing America had elected a bad role model for the rest of the world, and that copycat leaders would emerge.
I had to do something about it. I began researching Trump's campaign trail and presented the findings in a satirical story called Bad President.
The film’s dialogue is precisely what Trump said on his campaign trail. During production, even the actors were surprised to learn what he said.
Trump is a master of distractions. We wrote Bad President with a journalist on the East Coast and came up with an SNL-style satire format.
When the picture came out, Trump was at the last leg of his first presidency. We were emerging from the pandemic, so theaters were closed. The film landed on all the streaming platforms, but Facebook banned us.
The title was listed and delisted multiple times, and a troll force gave us terrible reviews before it even came out. The trailers wouldn’t propagate on Google or YouTube, so the film sat on the shelf and didn't do much.
Suddenly, about a month and a half ago, I started getting messages from people across the country telling me the film was trending.
I didn't make much of it until it reached the number one streaming title across all platforms in America, trending on Roku and Smart TV platforms.
The distributor reached out to tell me that the picture was doing very well and had finally found its audience. This is the journey of the film.
Why do you think the film is resonating with people now?
When it initially came out, the country was experiencing Trump fatigue. Over time, Biden came in, and that fatigue went away.
When Trump was reelected and inaugurated in 2025 and showed similar patterns in his second term, people discovered the film, and it took off.
During your research process for Bad President, were there any specific patterns or political strategies about Trump that stood out to you?
While researching, we reviewed videos from Trump’s presidential campaign, analyzing what he said, the aftermath, and his strategy for addressing it.
Trump creates a storm and fixes it while the dust is still settling from something he previously said. We saw those distraction tactics— it’s incredible how fast he moves, so nobody can see through them, and people lose track in their busy lives.
The amount of misinformation Trump throws at you is highly misleading. There is no way to see through it unless you put it all together in a form such as a film and watch it for an hour.
It leaves you scratching your head, wondering: "Is this what Trump did during his presidential campaign? Is this how he became president of the United States?”
With Bad President 2, we are picking up his campaign trail from his second presidential run.
Satire is a way of presenting art in which artists essentially show society a mirror. But this is more than that. This is creating a historical document that shows a president's journey.
Is the success and rise in popularity of Bad President a driving force behind the production of a second film, Bad President 2?
The film has been on my mind for a while, but I understood it must first find an audience. Bad President never had that opportunity.
When suddenly it’s the number one movie in America, that's no small feat, given the movie has been sitting on the shelf for four to five years.
On the other hand, with Bad President 2, it’s apparent there's a built-in audience for the film.
A political satire has always been considered very risky from an investment and financing standpoint.
These films are difficult to finance and distribute, but my distributor is on board for Bad President 2 because of how well the first film has done. It will be another historical document for our country.
How effective do you find satire in conveying political ideologies, and what motivated you to choose this format?
Politics is a very contentious subject, and people are passionate about it. People either support or hate Trump with no in-between.
Trump's supporters refuse to hear anything against him, and Trump haters refuse to listen to any good he has done.
Our first public screening was at the Burbank Film Festival, and the theater was packed. As soon as the picture started, you start hearing people say: “No, he didn't say that; this is an exaggeration. I told you this is a bad guy.”
When the credits rolled, the entire theater erupted. I quietly slipped out the back door, so I wouldn't be noticed as the guy who made the film.
Satire allows you to take heavy subjects, which people are highly passionate about, and present them in a light-filled comedy manner, so they do not take heavy offense at anything.
What are some common challenges filmmakers encounter when tackling political topics in movies or documentaries?
First, there is financing. You need funding to make a film, even if it's an independent film. Financers tend to back out and do not want to hear about political satire.
I'm a trained filmmaker from New York Film Academy. I'm not somebody who just picked up a camera and started shooting one day. I decided to apply my knowledge and use the resources I had to create the film.
In Bad President, there are 44 impersonations, and you cannot land each one right every single time. The process is different and not easy, yet I was still able to make the film.
After producing Bad President, I needed an audience and a distributor. The film cannot be promoted on digital platforms like Facebook or Google because they don't allow anything political.
There is no other way than to do screenings in college towns and make people aware of it through campus tours, which is very expensive.
This happened right at the end of Trump's term amid extreme reactions from both sides. And for an independent filmmaker who's generally hand-to-mouth, it’s difficult to find marketing dollars for this type of film.
These were the challenges I faced, and a reason why I am happy and spiritually satisfied with the recent success of Bad President, which finally found its audience against all odds.
Even on streaming platforms, you can find the film when you search for it.
Why do you think the film is trending now, several years after its release?
I have no idea. No theory is going to land anywhere. The interest likely arose organically when Trump returned and engaged in similar antics.
Perhaps someone noticed the movie poster, igniting a desire to watch the film and telling others about it, too.
What do you hope is the lasting impact of your film? What would you like viewers to consider after watching it?
In most political conversations, someone is a Republican or a Democrat. However, this picture focuses on humanity and on how we are people who care, regardless of political affiliation.
A bad role model in the Republican or Democratic Party is going to create copycat leaders across the world.
Democracy is about having differences of opinion but sitting at the table to discuss them. Dividing people in the name of religion, power, or political affiliation is not democracy.
We have forgotten why we have politics. The political system is not whether you were born a Democrat or a Republican, which seems like that’s all we vote for. It’s like a religion now.
How did you get your start as a filmmaker? What topics do you tend to focus on?
I've done everything. I'm a trained dentist and still practice. Early on, I quickly burned out and needed some distraction.
I received a diploma from the New York Film Academy and made my first short film about PTSD soldiers coming back from Iraq who were thrown into society without any help from the government.
At the time, PTSD was not even considered a condition. We had a big screening in Modesto where 800 veterans came from across Northern California. It received a huge reaction. I realized how film connects people and discovered the activist inside of me.
Then I tried to build a commercial model for movies, set up a film fund to help young filmmakers, and directed an international movie primarily set in India.
I also did a movie with Eddie Griffin called Going to America, which Sony Pictures distributed, and it won 35 international awards. All that said, I am most proud of Bad President.
Any advice for filmmakers new to the industry?
Be true to your inner voice and leave the rest to God, nature, or whatever you want to call it, because we don't control this life.
I can give my best with all the resources I have to make a good movie. Whether it will find an audience, I have no control over.
Approach your film with honesty and no regrets, so you do not wonder if you should have done this or that. Be true to yourself and just let it be.
Director and Writer Param Gill is active in the Hollywood and Bollywood film industry, winning a Platinum Award at the Oregon Film Festival and an Award of Merit at Indie Fest.
Gill is the founder of Young N Free Films, a film production and distribution company based in Silicon Valley — he received a diploma in filmmaking from the New York Film Academy.
Gill also has a joint master's degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and New Jersey Institute of Technology and founded Gill Dental Group.
Bad President 2 is currently in production, while Bad President can be watched on multiple streaming platforms. Gill is currently touring the festival circuit with the documentary, “Century Smile” based on the oldest practicing dentist in the world.
For more information about Writer and Director Param Gill: www.imdb.com/name/nm2203853/
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