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00:00:00If we do a movie about us, we all come from somewhere.
00:00:29What would we want to open from our past to open who we are if they were introducing us as a character?
00:00:41For me, a camera would be looking at an eight or nine-year-old boy and the camera moves around real slowly to see what the child is looking at.
00:00:53And the child is looking at Pendleton Corrections.
00:00:59You see the bubble on the top here?
00:01:14Yeah, yeah.
00:01:15Okay, so make sure the bubble is in the middle of the circle and then you screw it in.
00:01:21No, not in the middle yet.
00:01:24I don't want to go in the middle.
00:01:28People are acting crazy.
00:01:30You can tell him to look at the camera.
00:01:37No, I want him to be real.
00:01:38Okay, good.
00:01:39Just to be natural and normal.
00:01:40We're seeing two other guys, but we're not seeing everyone.
00:01:43Right.
00:01:44So we could be super wide.
00:01:45Yeah.
00:01:46You just got to choose.
00:01:47I see.
00:01:48And there's no wrong answer.
00:01:50It's whatever you want.
00:01:51Your back is moving.
00:01:53It's probably okay if it's my back, right?
00:01:55Because you guys are all sharing your ideas.
00:01:57True.
00:01:58We want to include you in everything that we do.
00:02:01Okay, tell me where you want me to go.
00:02:04In between Thacker and Sir Charles.
00:02:07Man.
00:02:08This is something I never thought we would ever have behind bars in the first place.
00:02:14And I got to thinking, if we do a movie about us in prison or about a day in the life of prison or whatever,
00:02:20you might want to show this for the cheer.
00:02:22And it might say something like, in the beginning.
00:02:25Okay, so what do you want to be like the beginning of the film?
00:02:28And I was thinking though, need like an aerial shot.
00:02:31But it's 11, 12 miles here.
00:02:33What makes our story interesting?
00:02:34What captures you?
00:02:36What catches your attention to be like, man, well, watch that drama.
00:02:40I think that's what we need to put out there first.
00:02:42Conflict.
00:02:43So let's start spitting some ideas.
00:02:44How do you introduce each character?
00:02:46Yeah.
00:02:47That was good.
00:02:48Ace, lace.
00:02:49Mark.
00:02:52Ace to a roll.
00:02:54Mark.
00:02:55We're rolling on Nickham.
00:02:57Mark.
00:02:58Take one.
00:03:00Hey, Mark.
00:03:01Just put it in front of his face and make a soft battle.
00:03:04Mark.
00:03:05You say Mark at the top.
00:03:07You can just go here and assess the camera.
00:03:10Sound check.
00:03:11Camera beat.
00:03:12Mark.
00:03:13We're all stepping up.
00:03:15Now I'll back out.
00:03:17I'm too nervous.
00:03:18No.
00:03:21So, Franco, tell me a little about yourself.
00:03:23Well, what do you want to know?
00:03:26I've been locked up now 16 years and about a month.
00:03:4316 years and a month.
00:03:45You've had a lot of time to think, obviously.
00:03:47Tell me a little bit about your childhood.
00:03:49What was your home life like?
00:03:51A lot of love.
00:03:55A lot of people think it's because kids have bad childhoods.
00:03:59That's why they end up in prison.
00:04:02But I had a loving family.
00:04:05I was my mother's first.
00:04:06So, to this day, I'm still her baby.
00:04:12We wasn't no rich family or nothing like that.
00:04:15But she wanted to make sure me and my sister had enough.
00:04:20I had so many toys.
00:04:23I had this little three-wheel spin-around thing
00:04:26you'd roll down the street.
00:04:30I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee.
00:04:34It was a wild place.
00:04:35It was pimps and prostitutes and drug dealers.
00:04:41It wasn't something that you think about as a kid.
00:04:44You just being a kid.
00:04:48You spend a lot of time thinking about the past
00:04:50and thinking about those things.
00:04:52Yeah, I think about it all the time.
00:04:55I think about it all the time.
00:04:56Wow.
00:05:01Well, how's your relationship with your mother?
00:05:03I was a mama's boy.
00:05:04I was the only son.
00:05:05You know what I'm saying?
00:05:06And I was the youngest.
00:05:07But my mother worked at General Motors.
00:05:09My stepfather who worked construction,
00:05:12a middle-class, you know what I'm saying,
00:05:15predominantly white neighborhood.
00:05:19She had her high school diploma in the house
00:05:21where we could see it.
00:05:22Did the marching with Martin Luther King.
00:05:27Fought for jobs.
00:05:28She would say,
00:05:29we fought for the things that we needed.
00:05:32You know what I'm saying?
00:05:33Yeah.
00:05:34And I used to write raps in my bedroom, man.
00:05:36And I used to leave.
00:05:37When I come back,
00:05:38my mother would be and took a red ink pen
00:05:42and crossed out the words
00:05:43and wrote the correct spelling.
00:05:46And she'd be like,
00:05:47I didn't know how to cuss.
00:05:50But, yeah, you know, she,
00:05:56yeah, she was my rock.
00:05:57You know what I'm saying?
00:05:58And that's the only person in the world
00:06:00that I call my OG.
00:06:01You know what I'm saying?
00:06:02I don't got no guys, you know,
00:06:04just from the neighborhood that I call OG
00:06:06or nothing like that.
00:06:07You know what I'm saying?
00:06:10The way I grew up,
00:06:11my mother took us over to all our family's house.
00:06:14You know what I'm saying?
00:06:15Even though it's 13 of them,
00:06:17we knew all our uncles and aunties.
00:06:19My cousins and them was a little bit faster than me.
00:06:23You feel me?
00:06:24My cousins have been going to juvenile.
00:06:27Even though my mother was a little liberal,
00:06:29a little free,
00:06:30you know what I'm saying?
00:06:31Their mother was a little bit more free.
00:06:33You feel me?
00:06:34Okay.
00:06:38Let me ask you,
00:06:39are you a mother's,
00:06:40were you a mother's boy?
00:06:41No.
00:06:42No.
00:06:43But like you,
00:06:44I always felt protective of my mom.
00:06:46Okay.
00:06:47I connected with my mom in a way that
00:06:49my siblings didn't.
00:06:51You know,
00:06:52we lived in a raggedy trailer
00:06:54by a creek on a mountain side.
00:06:59My mom was a little lady,
00:07:01straight up hillbilly.
00:07:02She had a prescription drug problem.
00:07:05I understood her pain and where she was coming from.
00:07:09Even as a young person,
00:07:10I remember that.
00:07:11When she was a child,
00:07:13her dad died,
00:07:15saving her from drowning.
00:07:17And I think,
00:07:18I think that's where it started.
00:07:20Has she ever described to you the day
00:07:23of the,
00:07:24the passing of her dad?
00:07:25Yeah.
00:07:26Her dad was a preacher.
00:07:29He come home on a Friday
00:07:31and told my grandma
00:07:33that the Lord revealed to him
00:07:36that he was going to die this weekend.
00:07:38He asked the kids what they want to do.
00:07:40And he took them to some river.
00:07:42And then my mom got caught in a current.
00:07:46He jumped in to save her
00:07:50and never did come up.
00:07:52Her brothers and sisters would tell her that,
00:07:59uh,
00:08:00we wish you would have died and not dad.
00:08:02It's your fault that dad's dead.
00:08:05It's one of them things that is unraveled
00:08:08and there's no fixing it.
00:08:10There's no turning back the clock.
00:08:19Can everybody see?
00:08:21There you go.
00:08:22So what do you guys think
00:08:24the filmmakers are trying to show?
00:08:27Makes you think about what happened to him?
00:08:29Why is he in the wheelchair?
00:08:30The difficulty of being in a wheelchair?
00:08:33Yeah.
00:08:34Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
00:08:35Yeah, the difficulty of being a disciple.
00:08:37Yeah.
00:08:38Is he ex-military?
00:08:39Mm-hmm.
00:08:40Life will be like that.
00:08:41That's what I'm calling my first one.
00:08:43Yeah.
00:08:44You said it's called a cold opening?
00:08:46A cold opening.
00:08:48I've been out in clubs.
00:08:49I've been out all over the place.
00:08:50And people will come up to me and shake my hand and say,
00:08:53oh, it's good to see you out.
00:08:55And I look at them and I'm like, good to see me out.
00:08:58You know, like, where am I supposed to be?
00:08:59In a closet?
00:09:00Hanging out?
00:09:01Yeah.
00:09:02Yeah.
00:09:03Yeah.
00:09:04The lower third of the screen is where they used to always go.
00:09:06I just want to look at a couple very different examples of movies.
00:09:08So I think let's watch the beginning of Grizzly Man.
00:09:14Yeah.
00:09:15I'm out on the prime cut of the big green.
00:09:16Behind me is Ed and Ralph.
00:09:17Yeah.
00:09:18Yeah.
00:09:19Yeah.
00:09:20Yeah.
00:09:21Yeah.
00:09:22Yeah.
00:09:23Yeah.
00:09:24Yeah.
00:09:25Yeah.
00:09:26I'm out on the prime cut of the big green.
00:09:28Behind me is Ed and Ralph.
00:09:29Yeah.
00:09:30He's a handful man.
00:09:31Yeah, exactly.
00:09:32The first 10 seconds.
00:09:33I think this dude is very bad.
00:09:35Yeah.
00:09:36He'll see that dude.
00:09:38Yeah.
00:09:39Yeah.
00:09:40He'll decapitate me.
00:09:41They will chop me into bits and pieces.
00:09:43I'm dead.
00:09:44Oh, this dude Christ.
00:09:45So far.
00:09:46I could see how in here, it looks great, because people from the outside want to know what you
00:09:50what you in for and how long you got.
00:09:52Yeah, yeah.
00:09:53So you can put the guy's name to a lower third
00:09:55and what his crime is and how long he's got.
00:09:57Yeah.
00:09:59I don't think we should say what they locked up for at first.
00:10:03Yeah, let's not show it right off the bat.
00:10:07Also, whenever it comes down to the point
00:10:09where we're picking a character,
00:10:11it has to be a character that they want to follow the story.
00:10:13Yeah.
00:10:20We have to have an inciting incident.
00:10:22We have to have something that come to a climax.
00:10:29Mr. Dennis, if you could sum up your childhood in one word,
00:10:36what would it be?
00:10:40Dramatic or pathetic.
00:10:43Something, you know.
00:10:45Why did you choose dramatic?
00:10:47Well, because it was always full of...
00:10:49I was always doing stupid stuff, stealing and stuff.
00:10:52And I was always...
00:10:53At home, it was always chaotic and drama.
00:10:57Just drama, drama, drama, drama.
00:10:59All the time.
00:11:00It all revolved around my dad.
00:11:02It came up likable.
00:11:04And some people do.
00:11:05And, you know, there are monsters behind closed doors.
00:11:12I was at the travel lodge downtown Indianapolis.
00:11:14We lived in an apartment behind the office.
00:11:17My dad came in, laid down on the couch.
00:11:19He said he was going to take a nap.
00:11:20He set the TV.
00:11:21He said, don't touch it.
00:11:25It was on a Western.
00:11:34Well, after 15, 20, 30 minutes, whatever it was,
00:11:36there was a lot of action, a lot of drama.
00:11:39He jumps up off the couch thinking we done did something to the TV.
00:11:44And just snatches me by the head of my hair and nicks me to the ground.
00:11:47And stomps on me for no reason.
00:11:54Your father not believing in you, backhanding you, not standing up for you, stomping you.
00:11:59Right.
00:12:00How did that make you feel?
00:12:01To be honest with you, I really wanted something bad to happen to him.
00:12:08They ended up taking my brother to the children's guardian's home.
00:12:12Because my father stripped him butt naked and tied him up hands and feet to the hot and cold water pipes in the shower.
00:12:18And tied the shower door shut and left him there for three days.
00:12:23You ran away a few times, end up in the streets, end up in juvenile, end up in the courtroom.
00:12:29Right.
00:12:30And they knew the details of how you got there, that you ran away, so on and so forth.
00:12:35And, you know, and I begged him for a foster home then.
00:12:38And you did?
00:12:39I did, I begged him.
00:12:40Did you feel more comfortable being locked up than being at home?
00:12:44Oh, yeah.
00:12:45The streets were better than home, and Juby was better than the streets.
00:12:55The streets was presented to me at a young age before I even knew myself.
00:13:00Like, you 12 years old, 13, 14 years old, you really don't know nothing about life.
00:13:07It's like, you know, I ain't got no school, I ain't got nothing to do, but I'm out here in these streets.
00:13:11You wasn't going to school?
00:13:13Yeah, I got kicked out of school.
00:13:14How old were you?
00:13:15I was 12.
00:13:1612?
00:13:17Yeah.
00:13:18And you got kicked out?
00:13:19Yeah.
00:13:20Expelled?
00:13:21What happened?
00:13:22Well, it was an incident on the school bus.
00:13:25A dude put his hands on my sister.
00:13:27He hit her in the jaw so hard that her glasses she had on broke in half.
00:13:32First, I was standing with some colored pencils.
00:13:35Those didn't work out too well.
00:13:37Because he looked at me and was like, gave me the death stare and turned his attention towards me.
00:13:46Some of her girlfriends tried to jump in.
00:13:48So it turned into a big boo-hawk.
00:13:49Yeah.
00:13:50A bra, a bar bra on the school bus.
00:13:53I had a knife in my pocket.
00:13:54I've always been effectuated with weapons.
00:13:57I know I got him in the stomach area.
00:13:59Things like shoulder.
00:14:01When your mom found out, what was their reaction when they learned that you had actually stabbed this guy?
00:14:09When she found out about it, she was highly disappointed.
00:14:14She felt like it all could have been avoided if the bus driver would have let us off the bus instead of taking us back to the school.
00:14:22So although your mom was disappointed that you was out of school, she was happy that you stood up for your sister.
00:14:28Yeah.
00:14:29Well, yeah.
00:14:30Because the model was, like, if one fights, you all fight.
00:14:32You know?
00:14:33Right.
00:14:34Family model.
00:14:35Oh, yeah.
00:14:36And your mom and dad were married.
00:14:38I mean, you had a good nuclear family.
00:14:40I don't classify it as good because they were all fighting.
00:14:44When my dad was high or drunk, he was, like, the coolest parent in the world.
00:14:49But once he was fiending for that stuff, it was, you know, taking time bombs.
00:14:55So if you step too loud in the house, you know, violence will occur.
00:15:01Are you still in contact with your parents?
00:15:04Oh, my dad passed away, like, six years ago.
00:15:07But to be honest, it didn't affect me not one bit at all.
00:15:11I was always worried that he would kill my mom.
00:15:15I remember it was around the time this individual got out of prison on furlough.
00:15:21He killed his wife with a shotgun.
00:15:24We were living in the shelter center for battered women and children.
00:15:28And at the time, my mama's face was, like, the size of a real pumpkin.
00:15:33Both eyes swole shut.
00:15:35And, um, she telling her friend, everybody's like,
00:15:38that's gonna be me one day.
00:15:40And, like, for you to hear your mom say that, like, that's...
00:15:44How old were you then?
00:15:46I was, like, six.
00:15:48Wow.
00:15:49So, yeah, I was, like, six years old then.
00:15:51The most memories I have was probably around third grade of elementary school.
00:15:59And a lot of fighting.
00:16:01You know, that just comes, this comes natural.
00:16:03But I asked where my dad was.
00:16:06She told me that she was six months pregnant when he first found out about it.
00:16:10And he kicked her out of a moving car at the last time she'd seen him.
00:16:14She told me that they was doing, like, 50 miles an hour and that she ended up going to the hospital.
00:16:20She broke a couple of bones.
00:16:22And I remember her saying, luckily, you wasn't hurt.
00:16:27That made me feel like, well, she wanted me.
00:16:31You know what I mean?
00:16:35I left the house after he stomped me that time.
00:16:38I was, like, 12, 13 years old then.
00:16:40I knew a friend whose dad had brought out a sawed-off shotgun and an old Western-style .45, .44, whatever it was.
00:16:49I'm not sure what it was.
00:16:50But I went there to try to steal them and come back and kill him.
00:16:53I thought about suicide, too.
00:16:59Let me just ask you this question.
00:17:01I was getting whooped when I was a kid, but I never developed the urge to kill my mother.
00:17:09What's your thought process?
00:17:12If I kill him, my mother won't be abused?
00:17:16No, I blame her, too.
00:17:18I blamed her just as much.
00:17:20You know, you back a dog into the corner and you're beating him and stuff.
00:17:24I mean, he's going to try to come up out of that corner.
00:17:26And for me, running away wasn't getting it.
00:17:29I kept running away and I just kept ending up right back in the same place.
00:17:32Madeline Woodside has brought us in there.
00:17:33Remember the inciting incident?
00:17:34You know, that always gets everything going and the self-disclosure.
00:17:37Maybe we are.
00:17:38And our story's in here.
00:17:39Each one of us all together.
00:17:40That is the inciting incident.
00:17:41You know, that always gets everything going and the self-disclosure.
00:17:42Maybe we are.
00:17:43And our story's in here.
00:17:44Each one of us all together.
00:17:45That is the inciting incident.
00:17:46When you decided to change who you are.
00:17:48Is the plot kind of like a plot of a plot.
00:17:49We were talking about it at the beginning, how when you start out young, you don't get the proper education.
00:17:55You know what I'm saying?
00:17:56Madeline would say he brought us in there.
00:17:58Remember the inciting incident, you know,
00:17:59that always gets everything going and the self-disclosure?
00:18:02Maybe we are, and our story's in here,
00:18:05each one of us all together.
00:18:06That is the inciting incident.
00:18:07The inciting incident.
00:18:08When you decided to change who you are.
00:18:11Is the plot kind of like, even though,
00:18:13because we were talking about it at the beginning,
00:18:14how when you start out young,
00:18:16you don't get the proper education, you know what I'm saying?
00:18:18You know, the proper skills or, you know,
00:18:21how to think properly, you know what I'm saying?
00:18:22How to discern between right and wrong and whatnot.
00:18:25But I don't want us to get into
00:18:26making this feel like a sympathy type of thing.
00:18:29So I don't want the kids just seeing that,
00:18:31oh, this guy made a mistake, he was abused,
00:18:33he was on drugs, his father wasn't there.
00:18:34Let's also tell the other story of,
00:18:36I chose to kill you.
00:18:38It was a great thought.
00:18:39No one else put you here but you.
00:18:41The thing that I like is that we start with Dennis' scene,
00:18:45a boy looking at prison,
00:18:47but then you got other kids in animation coming
00:18:50and joining him,
00:18:52and maybe all of the kids coming together
00:18:55and they're all looking at it
00:18:56and then you see what they're looking at.
00:18:58I envision some signs where it says
00:19:01turn left here, keep going straight,
00:19:03but you still have a second chance
00:19:06where you can actually
00:19:07take it back to the right road.
00:19:08I was thinking about this,
00:19:12like we recognize that, you know what I'm saying,
00:19:14at the end of the day,
00:19:15you know, society sees us, you know, prisoners.
00:19:18But I was thinking, you know,
00:19:20you can come in with your browns off.
00:19:24And as you're talking,
00:19:25you start to put your browns on.
00:19:28They can begin to see, like,
00:19:29no, I'm actually in prison.
00:19:32I like that you can get dressed
00:19:34and then you can, like,
00:19:36show the crime that got you here.
00:19:39Like, well, let me tell you
00:19:40how I got in this mess.
00:19:41Yeah, if you show each one of us,
00:19:43whether it's in animated or whatnot,
00:19:45and each one of us is saying,
00:19:47my story is not special.
00:19:48I see, we need to get past
00:19:49the visual of something.
00:19:51We need to get to the meat and potatoes.
00:19:53None of us didn't have wanted
00:19:54to come to prison.
00:19:55Now, some of us may have wanted
00:19:56to commit the acts that we committed,
00:19:58but why didn't we want to commit those acts?
00:20:00What was the value system
00:20:01that we were talking about?
00:20:11We moved to Indiana
00:20:16so I can go to school
00:20:17because I got kicked out of school.
00:20:20I didn't even really go to school that much.
00:20:22How did your parents react
00:20:24when you got kicked out of school
00:20:25or when you quit going to school?
00:20:27Well, my dad tried to do something about it,
00:20:29but it's like, man,
00:20:30you out here getting high
00:20:31and you can't tell me nothing.
00:20:33You can sit down.
00:20:35I was an honor roll student as a child.
00:20:38I wasn't the first person
00:20:40they seen at a younger age
00:20:41doing what I was doing.
00:20:43And unfortunately,
00:20:44I wasn't the last.
00:20:46I was smart in school.
00:20:48School was actually boring.
00:20:51My mama, she used to always get on me.
00:20:52Why you don't know
00:20:53you never got no homework?
00:20:55Like, it's done.
00:20:57When you moved to Fort Wayne,
00:20:58what was the neighborhood like?
00:21:00People getting beat up, shot.
00:21:03I seen a guy get burnt up.
00:21:05So what were people getting,
00:21:06you said burnt up?
00:21:07He took his money,
00:21:08took his drugs.
00:21:09and sat him on fire.
00:21:14When you pulled up
00:21:15and that situation was unfolding,
00:21:17what was you feeling?
00:21:20Well, you shouldn't have been over here.
00:21:22Were there any people
00:21:23in your neighborhood
00:21:24that completed high school
00:21:25or held good jobs
00:21:28or good positive role models
00:21:30in your neighborhood?
00:21:33Nah, there wasn't no role model types.
00:21:34I don't remember no dudes
00:21:38my age graduating high school.
00:21:41I really started learning
00:21:42about the vicelords
00:21:43probably when I was about 10.
00:21:45We would go to Amberwoods,
00:21:46walk all the way down on Midhofer
00:21:48and, you know,
00:21:52socialize
00:21:53with the brothers and sisters
00:21:54that was vicelords.
00:21:56They taught me
00:21:56those five principles,
00:21:58love, truth, peace, freedom,
00:21:59and justice.
00:22:00You know what I'm saying?
00:22:00They taught me the signs and symbols.
00:22:02When I was actually in sixth grade,
00:22:04you know what I'm saying?
00:22:05You know,
00:22:06after I was doing
00:22:07my little school work,
00:22:08that's what I would do.
00:22:09I would pull out the literature
00:22:10and learn it.
00:22:11What the cross mean,
00:22:12you know what I'm saying?
00:22:13What the top hat mean,
00:22:14you know what I'm saying?
00:22:14My sister would tell my mother,
00:22:17you know what I'm saying?
00:22:18You know what I'm saying?
00:22:19Like,
00:22:20Mama, do you know that
00:22:21he's in the gang?
00:22:22And I would always say,
00:22:23Mama, I ain't in no gang.
00:22:25You know what I'm saying?
00:22:26I never committed
00:22:27a violent crime.
00:22:28All the stuff I ever done
00:22:29was petty thefts
00:22:30and burglaries,
00:22:31things like that.
00:22:32I sold a box of candy
00:22:34from a store once.
00:22:37When we were selling candy
00:22:39for the school,
00:22:41I stole a roach clip once
00:22:43from a house
00:22:45that was a shape
00:22:46of a naked woman.
00:22:47So you squeeze on the elbows
00:22:48and the legs would open
00:22:49and put the joint in.
00:22:51That's stupid shit, man.
00:22:52Just stupid.
00:22:54Why do you think
00:22:54that you were stealing?
00:22:58I had no reason to do it.
00:23:01On the streets,
00:23:02you have a lot of lost people.
00:23:05It's like the walking dead.
00:23:07No.
00:23:09A zombie,
00:23:09you're eating on this person.
00:23:11For what?
00:23:12Only way I feel
00:23:13because you're hungry.
00:23:14Okay, so you've just done
00:23:15that because you was hungry.
00:23:17But it wasn't a good idea.
00:23:18It wasn't a good plan.
00:23:21I was an alcoholic
00:23:22by the time I was 14.
00:23:26I got caught up
00:23:27in selling drugs myself.
00:23:29Was that common
00:23:30in your neighborhood?
00:23:32Yeah.
00:23:33Everybody out there
00:23:33selling dope,
00:23:34they helping their parents out
00:23:35because a lot of our parents
00:23:37were using the drugs
00:23:38we were selling.
00:23:40Look at it,
00:23:40and I don't think
00:23:41nobody wasn't selling drugs.
00:23:44The situation was lucrative
00:23:46because we was
00:23:47in a middle-class community.
00:23:50When I spent $80
00:23:52and made over $300,
00:23:55it made me feel kind of good
00:23:57that I'm able to give
00:23:59my mother something.
00:24:00You know what I'm saying?
00:24:01You were 12 years old?
00:24:0211, 12 years old.
00:24:03I started selling dope,
00:24:05started having sex,
00:24:0711 years old,
00:24:08got a girl pregnant.
00:24:10When I was 16,
00:24:11me and my girlfriend
00:24:12had our first kid.
00:24:14I didn't make enough money
00:24:15to support a family.
00:24:16I started selling cocaine
00:24:18just to make the ends meet.
00:24:22But then,
00:24:24somebody introduced me
00:24:25to crack cocaine
00:24:26that first hit.
00:24:29Right there,
00:24:30it just introduced me
00:24:32to something I knew
00:24:33was stronger than me.
00:24:40Did you ever smoke crack?
00:24:41Never.
00:24:42I never smoked crack,
00:24:43never snorted powder.
00:24:46Never did heroin.
00:24:47Why did you stay away
00:24:49from harder drugs?
00:24:51Oh,
00:24:52because I saw what it did.
00:24:54I saw what it did to people,
00:24:56and I didn't want
00:24:58to end up like that.
00:25:00So help me understand,
00:25:02because you didn't do
00:25:04the hard drugs
00:25:05because you seen what
00:25:06it was doing to people,
00:25:09but yet you was selling them
00:25:10to the people
00:25:11that was doing those things.
00:25:13So, I mean,
00:25:14did you ever think about that?
00:25:16In my mind,
00:25:18it was,
00:25:19they're going to get it
00:25:21from somewhere.
00:25:23They don't get it from me,
00:25:25they're going to get it
00:25:26from him.
00:25:27And I'm going to be
00:25:28walking around here broke,
00:25:29and he's going to be
00:25:30walking around
00:25:30with all the money.
00:25:32Can you describe to me,
00:25:33like,
00:25:35the moment that you realize
00:25:37you were an addict
00:25:38or a potential addict?
00:25:40When my drug use
00:25:42shifted from just being
00:25:44a recreational weekend thing
00:25:46to a through-the-week thing.
00:25:48And...
00:25:49They're having to bring
00:25:51somebody in here.
00:25:52Okay.
00:25:53So we had to leave
00:25:54and it's just going to be
00:25:55too loud to welcome back
00:25:57and see what it is.
00:25:58Oh.
00:26:00Mm-hmm.
00:26:01Have you guys been in here?
00:26:02Did I have?
00:26:03Oh, yeah.
00:26:05When we were back,
00:26:05everything used to be
00:26:06a good idea at one time.
00:26:08What?
00:26:08So,
00:26:09it's when they take you...
00:26:11Fighting,
00:26:11like they're under-invested
00:26:12I mean,
00:26:12I got into it
00:26:13in the chow hall.
00:26:14Before they decided
00:26:15to put you upstairs and...
00:26:16It was at breakfast time.
00:26:18Got maced.
00:26:19Stuck me in there
00:26:20for like five hours.
00:26:21I don't know what.
00:26:21I suppose.
00:26:22It was freezing
00:26:23and everything.
00:26:24They stuck me in this dry cell
00:26:25for eight hours one time, Mo,
00:26:27handcuffed behind my back
00:26:28with nothing but boxers on
00:26:30in the wintertime.
00:26:31I was froze for three days.
00:26:32To death.
00:26:33Yeah, all right.
00:26:35I'm wondering
00:26:35what they got died for.
00:26:37Man, you know what it's about.
00:26:39Stop pulling the currency.
00:26:40It's only one of a few things.
00:26:4191 minutes.
00:26:53I mean,
00:26:53that's life left in the battery.
00:26:55Yeah.
00:26:56F-22 is...
00:26:57F-2.2.
00:26:58Oh, okay.
00:26:59It's what?
00:27:00The F-stop,
00:27:01the iris.
00:27:02How big?
00:27:02How big?
00:27:03Oh, okay.
00:27:04ISO 320.
00:27:06Is that...
00:27:07What's that?
00:27:08That's more of,
00:27:09you know,
00:27:10opening up
00:27:11the,
00:27:11to get more light in
00:27:13or take the light out.
00:27:15Oh.
00:27:16And what's that?
00:27:17180 degrees squared?
00:27:20Shutter.
00:27:20Shutter.
00:27:21Okay.
00:27:23Just inquiring money,
00:27:24you know.
00:27:24Daniel does.
00:27:26If you don't mind asking,
00:27:27how much is that equipment,
00:27:29just that unit right there?
00:27:30Probably 25.
00:27:3325 racks?
00:27:35Man!
00:27:36I didn't think it was that expensive.
00:27:38Wow.
00:27:39Well, that's new.
00:27:4025 grand.
00:27:42Yes.
00:27:44All right, Brandon,
00:27:45come join us.
00:27:46You did good,
00:27:47directly.
00:27:47You still playing with me?
00:27:48I'm having fun.
00:27:49I'm playing.
00:27:50Yeah,
00:27:50Quinn Tarantino.
00:27:52I'm a good cameraman.
00:27:54All right.
00:27:55So I was thinking
00:27:56what could be cool
00:27:57to do
00:27:58is split you
00:27:59into pairs.
00:28:00You're going to interview each other
00:28:01and tell each other's story.
00:28:07From his stepdad
00:28:08and his father,
00:28:09as much as he didn't want
00:28:10to be like them,
00:28:12in so many ways,
00:28:13he started becoming it.
00:28:14Unfortunately,
00:28:15his father,
00:28:16you know,
00:28:17led a life of crime as well.
00:28:20I was a D&F student.
00:28:21He was an A student,
00:28:22A and B student,
00:28:23a good student.
00:28:25His life,
00:28:26if I would have had
00:28:26more of his life,
00:28:29I really felt
00:28:30that my life would have
00:28:31went a whole different,
00:28:32diuresh.
00:28:33So,
00:28:33that's what I got
00:28:34out of his interview.
00:28:36That's great.
00:28:37Yeah.
00:28:38The immediate question
00:28:39that I get was,
00:28:40what was the impetus
00:28:41that caused you
00:28:42to go this way?
00:28:43Curious George.
00:28:45That's what it was.
00:28:46I was adventurous.
00:28:48And a lot of my family
00:28:50was not in the place.
00:28:52So,
00:28:52when I would go
00:28:53to their houses,
00:28:54I would see how they lived
00:28:55in that environment.
00:28:56And, like,
00:28:57I seen tough guys
00:28:58or whatnot,
00:28:59you know what I'm saying?
00:29:00And,
00:29:02I admired that.
00:29:03I used to go to the stores
00:29:05and mess with the employees
00:29:06at the store
00:29:07until the police came
00:29:08and ran from the moment
00:29:09and this was like
00:29:10every night thing.
00:29:11you know what,
00:29:14I want to say something
00:29:15here real quick.
00:29:16I want to say something
00:29:16here real quick.
00:29:17I tried to draw this out
00:29:18yesterday and he wouldn't
00:29:19even know what up
00:29:20about that,
00:29:20but today he is.
00:29:21Yeah.
00:29:22Yeah.
00:29:27So,
00:29:28I want to, you know,
00:29:30take it back, though,
00:29:31to your gang-banging ways,
00:29:32right?
00:29:33I wasn't no gang-banging,
00:29:34I told you, bro.
00:29:35I'm sorry.
00:29:35Excuse me.
00:29:36My fault.
00:29:37You said what?
00:29:37I wasn't no gang-banging.
00:29:39I mean,
00:29:39you was in the gang.
00:29:40I was never in the gang.
00:29:42It was an organization.
00:29:42Okay, yeah.
00:29:44You know,
00:29:44gangs,
00:29:45gangs,
00:29:45but gangs,
00:29:46I'm saying,
00:29:47you know,
00:29:47when you hear a gang,
00:29:48it's got a negative
00:29:49connotation to it
00:29:50and,
00:29:51you know,
00:29:51you know.
00:29:51Okay,
00:29:52well,
00:29:52let me take it back
00:29:53to your organization.
00:29:54The organization's
00:29:54constitution,
00:29:55it says that,
00:29:56you know,
00:29:57we're not about
00:29:58criminal enterprising.
00:30:00You know what I'm saying?
00:30:01Our motives was pure.
00:30:03What you mean by that?
00:30:04Our motives was pure.
00:30:05We didn't have no criminal intent.
00:30:07Give me an example
00:30:08of a pure motive.
00:30:09Did y'all like
00:30:10throw barbecues
00:30:11for the community?
00:30:12You gotta understand,
00:30:13you gotta understand,
00:30:14for us,
00:30:16we was into community,
00:30:17man.
00:30:17We had basketball tournaments.
00:30:20You feel me?
00:30:21Oh,
00:30:21y'all sponsoring tournaments?
00:30:22Yeah,
00:30:22we did all that,
00:30:24man.
00:30:24You know what I mean?
00:30:25Okay.
00:30:25Well,
00:30:26like,
00:30:26how was y'all funding this?
00:30:27Y'all was,
00:30:29what was y'all getting?
00:30:30Fundraisers.
00:30:30Fundraisers?
00:30:31Yeah.
00:30:32Okay.
00:30:32You know what I'm saying?
00:30:33Everybody put in a dollar.
00:30:35Everybody put in two dollars.
00:30:36You know what I'm saying?
00:30:36Yeah.
00:30:37You had a different experience.
00:30:39Yeah,
00:30:39my experience was totally different,
00:30:41right?
00:30:41You know,
00:30:42we selling dope.
00:30:44Mm-hmm.
00:30:45Shooting dice.
00:30:46You know,
00:30:46we gambling,
00:30:47you know,
00:30:47shit going on
00:30:48that ain't supposed to be going on.
00:30:49So,
00:30:49it was total,
00:30:50like,
00:30:51what we doing,
00:30:51you can go to jail for,
00:30:53or somebody will kill you
00:30:54for what you got.
00:30:55I think it was what we stood on,
00:30:57you know,
00:30:58love, truth,
00:30:59peace,
00:30:59freedom,
00:30:59and justice,
00:31:00and one seeing those
00:31:01morals and standards
00:31:03in our character
00:31:04and in our actions.
00:31:05You know what I'm saying?
00:31:06I mean,
00:31:07you know,
00:31:07I got into all the things
00:31:08that y'all probably got into,
00:31:10you know what I'm saying?
00:31:11But that ain't where I got it from.
00:31:14You know,
00:31:15I got caught up
00:31:16with the street light.
00:31:18You know,
00:31:18money,
00:31:19cars,
00:31:19clothes.
00:31:20When they found out
00:31:21you was doing things
00:31:22outside of fundraising skills
00:31:25and how to give back
00:31:28to the community,
00:31:29what they say?
00:31:31Well,
00:31:31see,
00:31:32the thing was,
00:31:33by this time,
00:31:34I wasn't really
00:31:36under nobody.
00:31:38The buck stopped
00:31:38with me at this point.
00:31:40OGs,
00:31:48they'll come through,
00:31:49they'll be like,
00:31:50hey,
00:31:51here go an ounce of dope,
00:31:53bring me back
00:31:54$600.
00:31:56I didn't know
00:31:56at the time,
00:31:57but
00:31:57it's a test.
00:32:00You know what I'm saying?
00:32:01To see if you're gonna hustle,
00:32:03to see if you're gonna
00:32:04jack it off.
00:32:04And
00:32:07I was accepted.
00:32:10They saw the hustle in me.
00:32:12They saw the rider in me.
00:32:14I was groomed
00:32:15by true OGs.
00:32:18I had just
00:32:19stole this,
00:32:20this car
00:32:21and I see the police.
00:32:23When you're gonna
00:32:24stole the car
00:32:24and the police get behind you,
00:32:26your heart start beating.
00:32:27So I turn the corner,
00:32:29he turn right with me.
00:32:30I turn another corner,
00:32:32he turn right with me.
00:32:33I just jumped out.
00:32:34and let the car
00:32:35ride down the street
00:32:36by itself.
00:32:39I just happened
00:32:39to look back
00:32:40and I seen the police
00:32:41faceplant
00:32:42in the snow
00:32:43and I get away.
00:32:45It's almost like
00:32:46remember when we were kids
00:32:47and we used to play
00:32:48cops and robbers?
00:32:49Yeah,
00:32:50it felt like it was my job
00:32:51to commit crimes
00:32:54and their job
00:32:55to catch me.
00:32:58Some people wanna go
00:32:59jump out of helicopters
00:33:00or go swim with sharks.
00:33:03When I got a taste
00:33:04of the street life,
00:33:05that was my drug of choice.
00:33:07Let's see,
00:33:07some of them childhood dreams
00:33:09was brung to you
00:33:10by influential adult
00:33:14who didn't know
00:33:14no better theyself.
00:33:15Like,
00:33:16I was buying dope
00:33:18from dude,
00:33:18like 12 years old,
00:33:19he'll call me,
00:33:20like,
00:33:20I got somebody
00:33:21for you to rob.
00:33:21I just sold me
00:33:22some dope right now.
00:33:23Go get that.
00:33:25Like,
00:33:26okay,
00:33:26if I'm getting this
00:33:27advice from somebody
00:33:28who I look up to,
00:33:30what is,
00:33:31that's gonna lead me to do?
00:33:32I want people to see this
00:33:33and be like,
00:33:34damn,
00:33:34they needed some help
00:33:35at one point in time.
00:33:36Right.
00:33:37And they didn't get it
00:33:38and look what happened
00:33:39to them.
00:33:40That's not true
00:33:40for everybody.
00:33:41No, it hasn't.
00:33:42I think change has to be.
00:33:43If we don't know
00:33:45what we want this film
00:33:46to do,
00:33:47then we can't have a plot.
00:33:49Everybody here
00:33:49does have a different story.
00:33:51We all come
00:33:51from different walks.
00:33:52I come from
00:33:52a horrible situation.
00:33:54We should be
00:33:55an informative film
00:33:57that society
00:33:58can look at us
00:33:58and say,
00:33:59maybe we are
00:34:00fucking up.
00:34:01Not just did they
00:34:02fuck up,
00:34:02but maybe we're
00:34:03fucking up.
00:34:03You can't blame
00:34:03your problems
00:34:04on society, though.
00:34:05That's what some people
00:34:06would say.
00:34:06You would have
00:34:07a lot of people
00:34:07in the future.
00:34:09You can have
00:34:09a lot of people
00:34:10in a multi-million dollar
00:34:11house.
00:34:12Society.
00:34:12Look,
00:34:13me,
00:34:13potatoes.
00:34:13That's not everybody.
00:34:14Slash was that
00:34:15we all want to show you.
00:34:16Do you think
00:34:16or do you feel
00:34:18that your childhood
00:34:20situation
00:34:20had a lot to do
00:34:22with you ending up
00:34:23in prison?
00:34:25Yes and no.
00:34:31I always felt
00:34:32like I'd probably
00:34:33end up in prison,
00:34:34but I felt like
00:34:35it would be
00:34:35for short periods
00:34:36of time
00:34:37because that's
00:34:38what I had known.
00:34:39I didn't get
00:34:40a foster family
00:34:41until I was 16,
00:34:42and I think
00:34:43if I would have
00:34:43been 8 or 10
00:34:44years old
00:34:44and moved
00:34:45into that home
00:34:46or to a home,
00:34:48it may have been
00:34:48a totally different
00:34:49situation.
00:34:50Could you tell me
00:34:51how it came about
00:34:53for you being
00:34:53with your foster parents?
00:34:55Yeah,
00:34:55I was in juvie
00:34:56and my foster dad
00:34:59was the superintendent
00:35:00of juvie.
00:35:01One day,
00:35:02he brought his wife
00:35:04and kids in.
00:35:04I met them.
00:35:05He told me,
00:35:06when you get out,
00:35:07if you want to,
00:35:07you can come
00:35:07stay with us.
00:35:09I said,
00:35:09okay, yeah,
00:35:10bet.
00:35:13It was a beautiful
00:35:14home.
00:35:16There was no
00:35:17nicotine on the walls
00:35:18and furniture and stuff.
00:35:19My house,
00:35:19I remember wiping
00:35:20the window
00:35:21and nicotine
00:35:22being all over
00:35:23my fingers.
00:35:25We're sitting around
00:35:26on the front porch
00:35:27and the two kids
00:35:28kissed their mom
00:35:29and dad on the mouth.
00:35:31I've never seen
00:35:32that kind of affection
00:35:32before.
00:35:36We just always
00:35:38had a good relationship
00:35:39even though,
00:35:40like I said,
00:35:40I was always
00:35:41dysfunctional,
00:35:42running away
00:35:43and doing stupid stuff.
00:35:44Even though it was
00:35:44a good situation,
00:35:45but you were still
00:35:46acting the same
00:35:47where you were
00:35:47when you were at home.
00:35:48Right, right.
00:35:54Last 18,
00:35:55the superintendent
00:35:56of the juvenile center
00:35:57took him in.
00:35:59He spanned on
00:35:59his wrongdoings
00:36:00under their
00:36:01benevolent custodianship
00:36:02where he stole
00:36:03from them
00:36:04and whatnot.
00:36:06While they never
00:36:07abandoned him,
00:36:08no matter his
00:36:09crimes in the house
00:36:10or out of it,
00:36:12to where they're
00:36:12stealing his life
00:36:13today,
00:36:14and come to see
00:36:15him on a regular
00:36:16business.
00:36:17I could see
00:36:18his endearment
00:36:18and love for them
00:36:19at this point
00:36:20in the interview.
00:36:21His emotional
00:36:21attachment was
00:36:23written all over
00:36:24his face.
00:36:25I thank him
00:36:25for the interview
00:36:26and his candid
00:36:27reflection of his
00:36:27life.
00:36:28That's great.
00:36:31Awesome.
00:36:32That was a lot.
00:36:34That was a lot.
00:36:35Is it strange
00:36:36to hear
00:36:36told back to you?
00:36:38Oh, yeah.
00:36:39Yeah, I mean,
00:36:39because,
00:36:40I mean,
00:36:41it's just,
00:36:42it's real,
00:36:43you know.
00:36:44since I was
00:36:4510 years old.
00:36:53I haven't even
00:36:54been on the streets
00:36:55two years.
00:36:58So the experiences
00:36:59you guys have,
00:37:01ball games,
00:37:02concerts,
00:37:03things,
00:37:04I don't have that.
00:37:05Yeah, and putting
00:37:20it all into a story,
00:37:21does it make,
00:37:22it just kind of
00:37:22ties things together
00:37:23in a different way,
00:37:24maybe?
00:37:24It just seems like,
00:37:28to be real,
00:37:30my whole life
00:37:31has been pathetic.
00:37:33I mean,
00:37:33when you look at it,
00:37:34it's just been
00:37:35from childhood,
00:37:38my adolescence
00:37:39and juvie
00:37:40and boys school
00:37:40and everything,
00:37:41and then,
00:37:42I just,
00:37:42I just could never
00:37:44stop screwing up.
00:37:47once I,
00:37:47you know,
00:37:48the life I had
00:37:49as a childhood
00:37:50just led me
00:37:51to be dysfunction.
00:37:53And even when
00:37:54I had a good foster
00:37:55home,
00:37:57it ruined me today.
00:37:59I just screwed it up.
00:38:03Is that how it
00:38:04sounded to everybody
00:38:04else?
00:38:05Like,
00:38:05were you thinking
00:38:06pathetic when you
00:38:07heard the story?
00:38:08No.
00:38:09I didn't.
00:38:10I thought,
00:38:11I don't think
00:38:13that's how other
00:38:14people heard it.
00:38:15Yeah.
00:38:16It's not pathetic.
00:38:17It's more knowledgeable.
00:38:20I have no email
00:38:21and I don't know.
00:38:23You know what I'm
00:38:23saying?
00:38:24And me growing up
00:38:25as a kid,
00:38:27or a teenager,
00:38:28I looked at it
00:38:29like,
00:38:30if you ain't been
00:38:31through what I've
00:38:32been through,
00:38:32I can't tell me
00:38:33anything.
00:38:34And he's been
00:38:35there.
00:38:36So,
00:38:37that's how I see
00:38:38it as he's
00:38:39knowledgeable
00:38:39because he's
00:38:40been there
00:38:40and done that.
00:38:41Yeah.
00:38:42When you was
00:38:43telling that,
00:38:44I was thinking
00:38:44it may have
00:38:46took tragedy,
00:38:46it may have
00:38:47took all this
00:38:47time,
00:38:48a long time
00:38:48in prison.
00:38:49I've done
00:38:4926 years so far,
00:38:51so I can relate
00:38:52to that.
00:38:53But now you
00:38:54have your
00:38:54and when
00:38:56opportunities
00:38:56come,
00:38:57now you
00:38:57can grasp
00:38:58them.
00:38:59So I just
00:39:00encourage you
00:39:00and let the
00:39:02pastor pass you
00:39:03by, so to speak,
00:39:04and go forward.
00:39:11I realized
00:39:12that I needed
00:39:12help and I
00:39:13started trying
00:39:14to go to
00:39:14church and
00:39:15trying to
00:39:16reach back
00:39:17to what I
00:39:19thought might
00:39:19help shake
00:39:20this drug
00:39:21habit.
00:39:23I started
00:39:24weaning myself
00:39:25a little bit,
00:39:26enough to
00:39:27get a job,
00:39:28hold a job,
00:39:29save up some
00:39:29money and
00:39:30got another
00:39:31place.
00:39:32So we moved
00:39:33out, but then
00:39:34I started
00:39:35doing drugs
00:39:36again.
00:39:37This one night
00:39:38in particular,
00:39:40I don't remember
00:39:40much.
00:39:41I don't remember
00:39:42much at that
00:39:42time, but
00:39:43when we got
00:39:44an ounce of
00:39:45cocaine, we're
00:39:45just going to
00:39:46sit there and
00:39:46smoke it.
00:39:47And after about
00:39:50a couple hours,
00:39:50I get up to go
00:39:51use the bathroom.
00:39:52and as I'm
00:39:53walking upstairs,
00:39:54the room
00:39:54just started
00:39:55getting real
00:39:56dark.
00:39:58My lungs
00:39:59felt like they
00:40:00were froze.
00:40:02As I got to
00:40:03the top of the
00:40:03steps, I'm only
00:40:04seeing through
00:40:05like a small
00:40:06pipe.
00:40:08And I thought
00:40:08I was going
00:40:09to die.
00:40:12I couldn't
00:40:13speak, but in
00:40:14my mind, I was
00:40:15making a deal
00:40:16with God.
00:40:17And I was like,
00:40:17God, don't let
00:40:18me die.
00:40:19If you save
00:40:20me, I'll
00:40:21stop.
00:40:22And as soon
00:40:23as that thought
00:40:24went through
00:40:26my mind, my
00:40:27vision came
00:40:28back, my
00:40:29breathing was
00:40:30normal, and I
00:40:32went back
00:40:32downstairs and
00:40:33started smoking
00:40:34again.
00:40:38And three days
00:40:39later, this
00:40:41is when I
00:40:41caught my
00:40:41case.
00:40:43Were you
00:40:43high when you
00:40:43caught this
00:40:44case?
00:40:46Yeah.
00:40:46I knew
00:40:49that me
00:40:50selling dope,
00:40:51I can be
00:40:52robbed.
00:40:54Me selling
00:40:54dope, I
00:40:55can be
00:40:55killed.
00:40:57Me selling
00:40:57dope, I
00:40:58can be
00:40:58pistol-whipped.
00:41:00I can be
00:41:01jumped.
00:41:03You know,
00:41:03you know
00:41:04this getting
00:41:05into it.
00:41:06And if you
00:41:06don't know
00:41:07it, you
00:41:07will find
00:41:08out soon,
00:41:08real quick.
00:41:10You know,
00:41:11I hated
00:41:11it that
00:41:13some of my
00:41:13guys died.
00:41:14that, but
00:41:15I knew
00:41:16the game.
00:41:18When you
00:41:18think about
00:41:19your whole
00:41:19life story,
00:41:20if you
00:41:20can give
00:41:20it a
00:41:21title, what
00:41:23would it
00:41:23be and
00:41:23why?
00:41:25Oh, the
00:41:28title would
00:41:28probably be
00:41:29what if.
00:41:35What if I
00:41:36wouldn't have
00:41:37grew up in
00:41:38Memphis?
00:41:39Would that
00:41:40lead me to
00:41:40here?
00:41:41if I
00:41:43wouldn't
00:41:43start selling
00:41:44dope, would
00:41:45I stay
00:41:46in the
00:41:46street life
00:41:47or would
00:41:48I not?
00:41:50Would I
00:41:50still be out
00:41:51on the
00:41:51streets or
00:41:51would I be
00:41:52dead?
00:41:52do you
00:42:05think there's
00:42:05like anywhere
00:42:06in life
00:42:07while you
00:42:08still living
00:42:09street life
00:42:10that your
00:42:10mentality could
00:42:11have got put
00:42:12back on the
00:42:12right track?
00:42:14I think it
00:42:15was plenty of
00:42:16opportunities.
00:42:17Yeah.
00:42:19Some I
00:42:19seen and I
00:42:21didn't take
00:42:22some I
00:42:25seen in
00:42:25hindsight.
00:42:28Before I
00:42:29went out the
00:42:29door one
00:42:30day, my
00:42:31mother said,
00:42:32come and sit
00:42:32here, sit
00:42:33at the kitchen
00:42:34table.
00:42:35And she
00:42:35said, look,
00:42:36let me show
00:42:37you something.
00:42:40She had the
00:42:40paperwork and
00:42:41she said, look,
00:42:42this is your
00:42:43own business.
00:42:44You know what
00:42:45I'm saying?
00:42:45All you're
00:42:45going to have
00:42:46to do is sign
00:42:46right here.
00:42:47And I'm going
00:42:48to call, get
00:42:48all the contracts,
00:42:49do all the
00:42:50negotiation, make
00:42:51all the bids.
00:42:52You feel me?
00:42:54So this is how
00:42:55with my mother's
00:42:56help, I started
00:42:56a cleaning
00:42:57service.
00:42:58And I was
00:42:59working for a
00:43:00while.
00:43:03After we did
00:43:04all the invoice
00:43:05and everything,
00:43:06you know what I'm
00:43:06saying, we got
00:43:06the money back,
00:43:08you know, had
00:43:09to pay rent, had
00:43:10to pay for the
00:43:10chemicals, had
00:43:12to pay on the
00:43:12van.
00:43:13You know what I'm
00:43:13saying?
00:43:14I was like, I'm
00:43:15used to having
00:43:16four, five thousand
00:43:16dollars in my
00:43:17pocket and I
00:43:18could do whatever
00:43:19I want with it.
00:43:20You feel me?
00:43:21I ain't got
00:43:21to be doing all
00:43:22the scrubbing
00:43:23no tubs and
00:43:23no floors and
00:43:24walls and all
00:43:25this, vacuuming
00:43:26me.
00:43:27And like one
00:43:28day she said,
00:43:29I see it in.
00:43:31You finna quit.
00:43:34I knew the
00:43:34streets wasn't
00:43:35helping and my
00:43:36intentions wasn't
00:43:37to stay in the
00:43:38streets, you know
00:43:38what I'm saying?
00:43:39You know, truly I
00:43:41should have just
00:43:41worked hard and
00:43:42stayed on the
00:43:43job.
00:43:44I just couldn't
00:43:45see far enough
00:43:46ahead, you know
00:43:46what I'm saying?
00:43:47And I didn't have
00:43:47enough patience.
00:43:48You could be so
00:43:50busy looking at
00:43:50what you see that
00:43:51you don't see what
00:43:52you're looking at.
00:43:55I was called for
00:43:56some friends to
00:43:57buy some drugs for
00:43:58me, but that
00:43:58wasn't their
00:43:59plan.
00:44:00Their plan was to
00:44:00rob me.
00:44:02He drew his
00:44:03weapon and me
00:44:06being an idiot, I
00:44:08lunge for the
00:44:09gun.
00:44:10Then somebody
00:44:11else took the
00:44:12gun and shot me
00:44:13in the back.
00:44:14When you're
00:44:16young, you think
00:44:16you're invincible
00:44:17anyway, you feel
00:44:18me?
00:44:18And I'm like, man,
00:44:19I don't see what's
00:44:20going to happen.
00:44:21Once they start
00:44:22giving out so much
00:44:23time for selling
00:44:24dope, we said,
00:44:25all right, we'd
00:44:26rather rob the
00:44:26dope boy and take
00:44:27a chance of getting
00:44:2860-20 or catching
00:44:29a pistol case on
00:44:30the way to a
00:44:31robbery.
00:44:32We was actually
00:44:33cutting your alarm
00:44:34off, climbing in
00:44:35your window, wake
00:44:36you up, where
00:44:37that safe at, come
00:44:39on with that
00:44:39money.
00:44:40I used to pray
00:44:41before we went
00:44:41on robbers.
00:44:43I used to pray
00:44:44that nobody gets
00:44:45hurt.
00:44:47I was in the
00:44:48hospital for a few
00:44:49days.
00:44:50Nurse come in, she
00:44:50was like, boy, you
00:44:52is extremely lucky
00:44:53she's looking at
00:44:54the MRI.
00:44:55Everybody don't
00:44:55make it through
00:44:56this type of shit,
00:44:57so there's something
00:44:58here for you, and
00:44:59you had to find
00:45:00that.
00:45:01But at the time,
00:45:02I'm like, okay,
00:45:03whatever, like,
00:45:04all I was
00:45:06thinking about,
00:45:07like, this, you
00:45:08know, son of a
00:45:08bitch, you kill
00:45:10him, you know,
00:45:11and everybody
00:45:11else in the
00:45:12house.
00:45:17Did you get
00:45:18revenge on
00:45:20that guy?
00:45:22Yeah, that's
00:45:23why I'm locked
00:45:24up now, because
00:45:24I end up
00:45:26killing him.
00:45:29How much
00:45:30time did the
00:45:30judge give
00:45:31you?
00:45:32Oh, 45
00:45:32years.
00:45:3345?
00:45:34Yeah.
00:45:38What would
00:45:40you do?
00:45:41What would
00:45:42you do if
00:45:42somebody put a
00:45:43gun in your
00:45:43head?
00:45:44I'm here because
00:45:45somebody put a
00:45:47gun to me and
00:45:47my son.
00:45:48But that's like
00:45:49you not taking
00:45:50responsibility for
00:45:51your actions,
00:45:52though.
00:45:52You don't
00:45:53never want to
00:45:54portray that.
00:45:54In society, you're
00:45:55going to say, I
00:45:56have dealt with
00:45:56the same stuff, and
00:45:57I may, and I
00:45:58have overcame it, I
00:45:59have not did
00:46:00this, and I
00:46:00did that.
00:46:01He did the same
00:46:01thing.
00:46:01He did six
00:46:02years, got
00:46:02out, and never
00:46:03came back.
00:46:03So some guys
00:46:04have come back
00:46:04more times.
00:46:05The plot is
00:46:07why.
00:46:08Why did you
00:46:10just want to
00:46:11kill somebody?
00:46:12Why did you
00:46:12get in a
00:46:13situation where
00:46:14you felt like
00:46:15you needed to
00:46:15kill your
00:46:16folks?
00:46:16You see what
00:46:17I'm saying?
00:46:17You're just
00:46:17focusing on us
00:46:18and not on
00:46:19the bigger
00:46:20thing.
00:46:20I think the
00:46:20whole thing
00:46:21boils down to
00:46:22the ability to
00:46:24make you think
00:46:24about self, to
00:46:25make you relate.
00:46:27But then I
00:46:27think the
00:46:28uniqueness of
00:46:29this project
00:46:30is that all
00:46:31of us come
00:46:31from different
00:46:32places, but our
00:46:33stories are so
00:46:34similar.
00:46:35And the
00:46:36uniting threads
00:46:38of all of our
00:46:39stories is one
00:46:41or two things,
00:46:42you know what I
00:46:42mean?
00:46:43I think that's
00:46:44essential, to
00:46:45not just look at
00:46:45my family abused
00:46:47me, or I had a
00:46:49drug problem, but
00:46:50looking deeper,
00:46:52why?
00:46:53And then as you
00:46:54start sorting out
00:46:55those thoughts,
00:46:57then you start
00:46:58coming to some
00:46:59bedrock, some
00:47:00real fundamental
00:47:01footing, am I
00:47:04discovering myself?
00:47:06And the most
00:47:07profound thing
00:47:08that I heard
00:47:09during this
00:47:10project was when
00:47:11Franco said that
00:47:12he went into
00:47:14the street life
00:47:15before he even
00:47:16come to know
00:47:16himself.
00:47:19And I think
00:47:20that right there
00:47:20is the apex
00:47:22of all of our
00:47:24situations.
00:47:27I did five
00:47:29years of lockup,
00:47:30three and a half
00:47:30of it in
00:47:31isolation.
00:47:33I was in a
00:47:34small cell,
00:47:35solid door,
00:47:36really limited
00:47:37contact with
00:47:38anybody.
00:47:39But a friend of
00:47:40mine, two doors
00:47:41down, he was
00:47:42telling me about
00:47:43these birds that
00:47:45had built a nest
00:47:46in his window.
00:47:47I was like,
00:47:48man, I wish the
00:47:49birds would nest
00:47:50in my window,
00:47:50you know what I
00:47:51mean?
00:47:51And the next
00:47:53spring, they
00:47:55came and nested
00:47:56in my window,
00:47:57some turtle
00:47:58doves.
00:47:59Turtle doves,
00:48:00they raised
00:48:01their kids
00:48:01together.
00:48:03And every
00:48:04morning, like
00:48:05clockwork, the
00:48:06father bird would
00:48:06sing.
00:48:08And that's what
00:48:09woke me up every
00:48:09morning.
00:48:12But then, I'm
00:48:13brushing my teeth
00:48:14and I hear wings
00:48:15against my window.
00:48:18And when I came
00:48:19up, I seen the
00:48:20hawk reach in
00:48:21there and snatch
00:48:21the baby bird.
00:48:24And I think it's
00:48:25the following day
00:48:26that the hawk
00:48:28reached in there
00:48:28and grabbed the
00:48:29mom.
00:48:33And every night
00:48:34and every morning,
00:48:35that father bird
00:48:36came to the nest
00:48:37and he would sing
00:48:38and it was just
00:48:39the most horrible,
00:48:41sad, it was like
00:48:42a morning song
00:48:45that he sung.
00:48:50Do you see
00:48:51yourself as the
00:48:52father bird or
00:48:53the baby bird?
00:48:56I guess I see
00:48:57myself in both.
00:48:59Okay.
00:49:01Are you a
00:49:02husband?
00:49:03No, I'm
00:49:05divorced.
00:49:05Are you a
00:49:06father?
00:49:07Yeah.
00:49:07You feel like
00:49:08you're a good
00:49:08father?
00:49:09No.
00:49:10No?
00:49:10Why is that?
00:49:12Because I'm in
00:49:12prison.
00:49:13Is that the only
00:49:14reason?
00:49:14My youngest
00:49:17daughter, we
00:49:18were talking on
00:49:19the phone
00:49:19periodically and
00:49:21she'd come down
00:49:23and seen me a
00:49:23few times but
00:49:24then one day
00:49:25she just looked
00:49:26at me and she
00:49:27said, why did
00:49:27you abandon
00:49:28me?
00:49:30Her reaction
00:49:31made me realize
00:49:33in that instant
00:49:33how much of a
00:49:35piece of crap
00:49:35I turned out
00:49:36to be.
00:49:38Do you believe
00:49:39though, being
00:49:40that you know
00:49:41how you were
00:49:41living, do you
00:49:43believe your kids
00:49:43were better off
00:49:44without you?
00:49:50Yeah.
00:49:52Yeah.
00:49:57My actions
00:49:58bringing that
00:49:58to the doorstep
00:50:00of my family
00:50:01I can't
00:50:03yeah, they're
00:50:04better off.
00:50:06They're better off.
00:50:09We didn't feel
00:50:10none of that
00:50:11back then
00:50:11it's like
00:50:11Franco was
00:50:12talking about
00:50:13we just
00:50:13couldn't get it
00:50:14back then
00:50:14we were just
00:50:15living, you
00:50:15know what I mean
00:50:15we were wrapped
00:50:16up in dope
00:50:17and drinking
00:50:17and lifestyle
00:50:18on the streets
00:50:18now we do
00:50:21get it
00:50:21it's a hard
00:50:24truth, ain't it?
00:50:24Yeah.
00:50:25we're stood
00:50:25and we're
00:50:39and we're
00:50:43we're
00:50:44and we're
00:50:46now
00:50:47I don't know.
00:51:17But not the people that's mic'd up.
00:51:42This is Madeline.
00:51:43Hey, Madeline.
00:51:44What's up?
00:51:45Hey, guys.
00:51:46Are you excited to film some more?
00:51:47Yeah.
00:51:48Yeah.
00:51:49What are we doing?
00:51:50I'm going to be bringing a rough cut to show you guys on Monday.
00:51:54Awesome.
00:51:55It's about two-thirds of the movie, so I set aside three days to do a final shoot so you
00:52:01guys can watch the cut so far, and you're going to give me all of your notes, and then
00:52:06figure out what you want to do together for the ending.
00:52:13I'm going to bring my directors out.
00:52:14So, hey, so I'll see you all in a couple of days.
00:52:18All right.
00:52:19Awesome.
00:52:20Bye-bye.
00:52:21Later.
00:52:22Take care of yourself.
00:52:23All right.
00:52:24Be safe.
00:52:25Have a good trip.
00:52:26Great job.
00:52:27I like that.
00:52:28Wow.
00:52:29That was intense.
00:52:30It wasn't an ending.
00:52:31Yeah.
00:52:32It's not done.
00:52:33I liked it.
00:52:34It's a great story.
00:52:35I'll go first.
00:52:36Tell everybody's story.
00:52:37I just want to be able to look at everybody, because it's a little hard when I'm cranking
00:52:49this way and that way trying to see everybody.
00:52:51I've got a few notes here.
00:52:53One of them is I actually felt like there was some of that classroom stuff that just seemed
00:53:00frivolous, like it really didn't belong.
00:53:02It was just added.
00:53:03Which parts?
00:53:04I can't really put my finger on it.
00:53:08We was just talking.
00:53:09We weren't really getting to anything.
00:53:12Then I didn't like the sound of my voice there.
00:53:15You know, I could tell Frankl's voice.
00:53:17I could tell Quentin.
00:53:18I could tell everybody's voice.
00:53:19And I'm like, why is my voice sound so weird?
00:53:22You know?
00:53:23My voice don't even sound like me.
00:53:25Yeah.
00:53:26It just don't sound.
00:53:27But I mean, everybody sounded so like themselves.
00:53:29You're not used to hearing your own voice.
00:53:30Who the fuck is that?
00:53:32And then the scene where we was talking about how everybody's story is different and yet
00:53:36we all ended up here.
00:53:37I was glad to see that.
00:53:39So who's watching it?
00:53:40Maybe a teenager is watching it, you know?
00:53:42And maybe that will have an impact on them.
00:53:44So, I mean, those are the notes I took from it so far.
00:53:47So.
00:53:48I got, like, very specific on what I liked and didn't like.
00:53:54Like, the part where Quentin's cousins disappeared.
00:53:58In animation, I would like to have their cousins' outfits turned into county jumpsuits before they disappear.
00:54:06And, uh, we're talking about Sean as the kid on the big wheel.
00:54:11I was thinking we could make him, like, a real big kid on a small big wheel.
00:54:17He's definitely too big for the big wheel.
00:54:20And, uh, that Benz, that sound, that wasn't the Benz.
00:54:24That was, I don't know, like a Honda or something.
00:54:27You know, a Suzuki or something.
00:54:30That wasn't no Benz.
00:54:32I, what I do like is the fact that I see, you know.
00:54:36That ain't what he asked.
00:54:37I know.
00:54:38You get to do all this talking?
00:54:39He ain't gonna let me answer my question the way I want to.
00:54:42Exactly.
00:54:44So, but, what I do like that's different from the rest is the part that there are men in prison doing their own documentary.
00:54:52I thought those were some of the most exciting parts.
00:54:54Just to hear y'all dialogue outside of, you know, the real moments of Q&A.
00:54:59Mm-hmm.
00:55:00I thought that was cool.
00:55:03When he, you know, Dennis got emotional and stuff, I think that was a strong part of the movie, right?
00:55:07Yeah.
00:55:08Me and him was back in the cell house.
00:55:09He was like, man, I ain't telling nobody else's story again.
00:55:12I ain't like the feel of that.
00:55:14Because of the result of me, of when I told the story, how he got emotional and flashback, you know what I'm saying,
00:55:21went through the emotions and whatnot, you know what I'm saying.
00:55:24That's why I was telling him that I'm not telling nobody else's story.
00:55:27But why? What was wrong with you?
00:55:28Yeah, what would you feel?
00:55:30It was just too emotional.
00:55:33But you too?
00:55:34Well, it had an effect on me, you know what I'm saying?
00:55:39To see him go through that, relive that, you know what I mean?
00:55:43I mean, I get it.
00:55:44I mean, I wouldn't want to do that either if the shoot was on the other foot.
00:55:50I wouldn't want to.
00:55:51I thought that was kind of something we can grow with.
00:55:55Like, you know, how uncomfortable it is for the storyteller telling somebody else's story.
00:56:01Where are we going with the end?
00:56:03That's what we're here for now, to do this.
00:56:05Where are we going?
00:56:07How to deal with the crimes?
00:56:09The crime itself?
00:56:10Is that where y'all see it going?
00:56:12I think that's really where it has to go in order for it to really make sense.
00:56:17You're going to have to.
00:56:19There are times when I feel like, man, I don't know that I even want to be here, you know, in the group.
00:56:31You know, I'm like, man, I just don't know if that's for me.
00:56:34I mean, I want to see the finish cut, you know.
00:56:41I want to see it through, you know.
00:56:43I don't want to be a quitter.
00:56:44That's how I feel right now.
00:56:45I want to see it through.
00:56:46I want to see the ending of it.
00:56:48You got it, Franco?
00:57:02Yeah.
00:57:07Think about it yesterday.
00:57:09I went back.
00:57:10I meditated on the climax, the ending, and what's the last thought that we want to convey to our audience.
00:57:23I see the opportunity for us to talk about the elephant in the room.
00:57:34Given you have the victims in this situation, how do you feel about actually explaining that or even showing the incident, the violent incident that took place?
00:57:51Well, you know, the victim's mother, she's been missing her baby since day one.
00:57:59This was a close friend of yours?
00:58:01Right.
00:58:02I know his mother was shot, you know, because me and Dua was together, like, every day.
00:58:07And drugs caused his best friends to become enemies.
00:58:11And to see it, I think that would torment and cause them pain all day, reliving that pain all over again.
00:58:17So you wouldn't want to show it?
00:58:19No, I didn't tell them to show it, but...
00:58:22Why?
00:58:23I feel like if I was to share my story, would this prevent somebody else from committing violence?
00:58:32Would you show the whole situation, how it unfolded?
00:58:35You would have to.
00:58:37No, I don't think you would.
00:58:38Just how did the violence come about?
00:58:40I don't want to assume what may have happened here, I want to see it all.
00:58:43I want to know how you got from here to here.
00:58:45Right, right, right.
00:58:46Okay.
00:58:47I want you to tell me.
00:58:48It's the truth.
00:58:49I think that's what they want, the truth.
00:58:51So how do we deal with that?
00:58:54Do we show you stabbing the guy?
00:59:01Yeah.
00:59:03Is it worth it?
00:59:04Showing you coming into the house and...
00:59:10I don't know, that would be your decision.
00:59:12No.
00:59:13That ain't be your decision.
00:59:17No, I'm asking you.
00:59:19One of the things I think about is just selling drugs to get into the mentality of kill or be killed.
00:59:24How does one go from that transition?
00:59:26Pull the trigger.
00:59:28But what would cause it, like, you knew what you was getting into?
00:59:33I don't know, I don't...
00:59:36I just did what I had to do.
00:59:38Was it your own law or was it the law of the street that you had to respond as well?
00:59:42That was my law.
00:59:45That's how I chose to defend mine.
00:59:50So do you still feel the same way?
00:59:51Like, if someone did that to your kid now, would you do the same thing?
00:59:54I would knock his head off.
00:59:55Phew.
00:59:58I think it might be worth considering that actually a lot of people who might be watching this could come from communities where they don't know anybody who's ever killed anyone.
01:00:08No.
01:00:09Yes.
01:00:10In America today?
01:00:11Yeah.
01:00:12You think you could go back to your yearbooks from elementary on and not find somebody in there that's in prison for murder or who's been murdered?
01:00:19Yeah.
01:00:20Nobody from your...
01:00:22Wow.
01:00:23I see people here today, in prison today, that I lived with on the streets.
01:00:30I guess you guys might have a different experience of the world of violence than most people.
01:00:40Right.
01:00:41It was distant from me.
01:00:44That's...
01:00:45Well, that's the reason we're doing this, is to tell these stories about our lives.
01:00:56That's what it's been ironed out to be.
01:01:01It's my story.
01:01:03Yeah.
01:01:04It's my story.
01:01:06My story, it deserves to be known.
01:01:09Yeah.
01:01:10Okay, so let's carry on with your story then.
01:01:15If we're going forward down the path, what's the next step?
01:01:23I was selling dope, and one day I had my son with me.
01:01:38My guy said, let's jump on the kid's bike and go over to the neighborhood and see what's going on.
01:01:46I had left my foster home, and I was working for the two people I killed.
01:01:51They were cleaning windows, and I walked up to them and said, hey, you know, I used to clean windows with my dad.
01:01:56Right then and there on the spot, he gave me a job.
01:01:59One day, I'm at the gas station, and he pull up with some other dudes.
01:02:09Before you even get there, we hear him.
01:02:11Yeah.
01:02:12He like, man, who is this?
01:02:14I said, look, my man's mama trying to rest up, man, recuperate from chemotherapy.
01:02:19I need you to respect the set, man.
01:02:21I need you to turn that music down and kill them lights.
01:02:24So we got the barking.
01:02:26Respect, right?
01:02:27Amen.
01:02:28We sitting in the little dope house.
01:02:30The door come flying open.
01:02:31Hey, put your gun up in here right now.
01:02:33He put the gun in my son's head.
01:02:35What a dope in the money at.
01:02:37So I look at him.
01:02:40I just raised the pillow up and gave him the little money I had in my pocket.
01:02:45I mean, there was a great pop stain on the carpet.
01:02:48And he asked me to clean up the stain.
01:02:50I said, man, I'm not cleaning up that man's stain.
01:02:52He did that.
01:02:53He was here all day.
01:02:54We were working, you know, let him clean it up.
01:02:57I left, bought two hits of acid, went and got high.
01:03:03I'm laying out there watching the stars shoot each other and everything.
01:03:07Then I went back to the house.
01:03:12When he hit me, he didn't even faze me.
01:03:15Because my mind at that point was, you gonna die.
01:03:20I didn't see him again for a month or so.
01:03:23What were you feeling when you left to get the gun?
01:03:27Showtime.
01:03:33So I tried to open the car door.
01:03:35So I'm like, damn, you going to talk?
01:03:37And then when you had your pistol, all of a sudden, you don't want to talk to me now.
01:03:41He's pulling on the car door for dear life.
01:03:44I would think you would show him coming up and kicking me in my side.
01:03:49Waking me up.
01:03:51Waking me up.
01:03:52And it coming to a dwarf.
01:03:58My right hand to the most high.
01:04:00When I reached for the Glock, it jumped in my hand, bro.
01:04:03I do think it was murder.
01:04:13And I did walk back over to Tom and shot him in the back of the head.
01:04:16I did do that.
01:04:18When you committed the act, you felt justified.
01:04:21Yeah.
01:04:22At the time, yeah.
01:04:27Okay, Dennis.
01:04:28We wanted to ask if you could change just one thing, what would that be?
01:04:32I think when I look back at my life, there's forks in the road.
01:04:36You know, if I had gotten high that night and just spent the night at my girlfriend's house,
01:04:41I had to put on my shoes, tie them up, threw them on my shirt, grab my stuff and been out the door.
01:04:47The day I decided to start selling drugs is a day I should have made a better choice.
01:04:56As a child, I shouldn't have been worried about those struggles.
01:04:59I should have just accepted them and allowed my parents to deal with their struggles.
01:05:04It wasn't for me to fix.
01:05:10The thing I would change, that ain't no easy question for me to answer.
01:05:14I'm going to be honest with you.
01:05:15I wouldn't even put myself in that environment.
01:05:20That was the whole thing.
01:05:24Did you ever think that you might go to college?
01:05:27Nah.
01:05:29Nah, not college.
01:05:31It just wasn't even something that was in my mind.
01:05:34Today, as a grown man, it was my fault that I had my son with me.
01:05:40I know that.
01:05:43What did you want out of life?
01:05:45Where did you see yourself?
01:05:47What was your purpose?
01:05:48I never had thoughts about that.
01:05:50It was all about survival.
01:05:51It was about survival.
01:05:52Right.
01:05:53It's like in the wild, wild west.
01:05:54Meet me outside in the hot noon.
01:05:56We got this shootout going on.
01:05:57Well, that was the illusion though.
01:05:59And it's amazing to me to be able to see that now versus, you know, me doing it then.
01:06:11Catch them while they're young.
01:06:12You know what I'm saying?
01:06:13You're teaching the right things.
01:06:14So, how young?
01:06:15That's what they're going to use.
01:06:17Fire.
01:06:18When they come out the womb.
01:06:20Before they even get out the womb.
01:06:23Man remains in existence and his actions accumulate beside him.
01:06:28And we say the thought is the cause of it all.
01:06:33Well, if the thought is the cause of it all, what's the physical world for?
01:06:43And my understanding is we done came down to this plane and everything slowed down so we can learn how to think properly.
01:07:02You got to think about what's right.
01:07:13You got to think about Phil.
01:07:15I've been going to ask Phil to hear with you.
01:07:16From the inside of the tree.
01:07:18You got to think about Phil.
01:07:19So happy if Phil's also here.
01:07:20So the photo is here.
01:07:21From the inside of the city.
01:07:22From the outside.
01:07:23Who so lots of people come along.
01:07:26I'm ready to find Hall.
01:07:28Where is some people coming over?
01:07:29Thisliśmy the् of the city.
01:07:31To see Phil.
01:07:33Let's see Phil.
01:07:34I'm going to go ahead and read this.
01:07:45That's what I was thinking about last night
01:07:46in case you decide to use it in the future.
01:07:49Okay?
01:07:52Hello, my name is Dennis.
01:07:54Do you think you could look at me and say
01:07:56there is a good carpenter,
01:07:59mechanic,
01:08:01scholar,
01:08:02knowing that I was a murderer?
01:08:04If I told you that I studied culinary arts,
01:08:09would you call me a chef,
01:08:11knowing that I was a murderer?
01:08:14If I told you I had studied machine technology,
01:08:17would you call me a machinist,
01:08:20knowing I was a murderer?
01:08:22Probably not, because I'm still a murderer.
01:08:26When I first committed these two murders,
01:08:28I only thought of how I fucked up my life.
01:08:31Somewhere along the way,
01:08:32I began thinking of the family members,
01:08:35mine and the victims,
01:08:37and how they must feel,
01:08:39how I've impacted them,
01:08:41and how no one will ever be the same again.
01:08:44Though I completed all the programs I mentioned above,
01:08:49I will always be a murderer first.
01:08:51I'm resolved to accept that.
01:08:54I could never take the life of another person today.
01:08:58I will never allow myself to be the dysfunctional punk I once was.
01:09:03Even if you never believe I could ever be anything more,
01:09:07I know who I am today,
01:09:09and I am nothing like I was 30 years ago.
01:09:12Keep it rolling.
01:09:18Keep it rolling.
01:09:20So what was the best part of making this film?
01:09:23Just having an opportunity to participate in something different,
01:09:27something new that I never thought I'd see.
01:09:30I'm grateful that I got to meet you guys
01:09:33and get to learn a little bit more about you.
01:09:36So how would you describe the process of learning how to make a movie?
01:09:42It's long.
01:09:44Long?
01:09:46A lot of good old memories,
01:09:48a lot of bad memories.
01:09:50You know,
01:09:51it was kind of challenging breaking them up
01:09:54and just sharing them with people.
01:09:56Okay.
01:09:58What did you learn from this process?
01:10:00This is boring.
01:10:01It's got the autofocus on.
01:10:03You know,
01:10:04man,
01:10:04he learned nothing through the process.
01:10:06He could do it like him.
01:10:11Action.
01:10:11Is this your life?
01:10:13But violence is the order of the day.
01:10:15Dysfunction all around you,
01:10:16the more do you feel safe.
01:10:18Overlooking opportunities,
01:10:19unaware of what they are.
01:10:21Fearful of moving ahead,
01:10:22picking at your scars.
01:10:24Is this your life?
01:10:25But middle class is not enough.
01:10:27Great support from mom,
01:10:28but the streets show your love.
01:10:30Your names ring a bell like a pistol in your head.
01:10:32Quitting the nine to five
01:10:34because you out here getting feds.
01:10:35Is this your life?
01:10:37Overwhelmed by addiction.
01:10:39A parent at heart,
01:10:40but not there for your children.
01:10:42Drugs altered the home,
01:10:43left the family picture tainted.
01:10:44Now you have regrets.
01:10:46It's a hard truth thing.
01:10:48Is this your life?
01:10:49Hustling to get the bills paid.
01:10:51Giving your mom money at 13 years of age.
01:10:53Full fledged with it.
01:10:55Fighter by choice.
01:10:56You Radio Raheem,
01:10:57you ain't turning down the noise.
01:10:59Is this your life?
01:11:00Where they pack weapons like the army?
01:11:03The whole hood represent the essence of a zombie.
01:11:06Friends become enemies over drugs and loose chains.
01:11:09An environment that breathes no love,
01:11:10just loot gangs.
01:11:12This is your life.
01:11:14You don't want to end up here.
01:11:15In prison they count decades,
01:11:17and I count the years.
01:11:18The crime ain't worth the time.
01:11:20That's a true statement.
01:11:21This ain't the life you want.
01:11:22And you have the power to change.
01:11:24Yeah, what he said.
01:11:27Fade to black.
01:11:28Fade to black.