Week 5

This week we continued the production process of the one-minute self portraits, we shot Yon's and Russell's. We also had two awesome guest speakers, and two amazing site visits. First speaker was Yoni Leibling, he's a producer in LA, originally from Philly. His new project is Monster, coming out in 2018 which follows a young man in NYC who is caught up in prison for a crime he did not commit. The film is co-produced by John Legend and Nas, and also stars A$AP Rocky and Jennifer Hudson. We can't wait to see it!

Our next visitor was Shaka Johnson, a criminal defense attorney here in Philly. His career path is impressive and fascinating, he started as a police officer/SWAT team, and then went to law school. He believes that it is his duty to provide a level playing field for people charged with crimes, in a society and system that is skewed against minorities and poor people. 

Our first site visit this week was to the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania...wow! We met Acting U.S. Attorney Lou Lappin, and re-entry coordinators Cyndi Zuidema and Elizabeth Powell. It was incredible to sit at a table with a federal prosecutor and interact as humans, and not be treated like a number. We learned about all the different efforts the office is doing to support people coming out of prison. In what other world would we possibly meet and be able to talk like this?

Our 2nd visit was to PhillyCAM, where we met Gretjen Clausing and Antoine Haywood. We got a tour and learned about all the facilities and equipment available to ANYONE and EVERYONE in the Philly area, after they take a class. What a cool place to be able to create, and even get your content onto TV.