How Filmmakers Got Access to Ruth Bader Ginsburg

It can be difficult to land an interview with a Supreme Court justice.

But Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who created a newly released documentary, “RBG,” chronicling the life and career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, didn’t just land one. Ginsburg let them shoot her lifting weights, which led to a segment on Stephen Colbert, allowed them to shadow her for a day with her granddaughter, and filmed her performing in an opera.

“Her initial response was not yet,” said West, who teamed with Cohen after they’d exchanged notes about previously interviewing Ginsburg. West interviewed Ginsburg in 2011 and Cohen in ...