MY FIRST FEATURE FILM
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Hello world, my name is Harlan Banks and I am a rising sophomore at New York University, studying film and television production. This December, I am hoping to shoot my first feature film, a documentary titled "16 1/2", based on the life of the most incredible human being I have ever met, Kuntrell Jackson.
Kuntrell was born on November 1, 1985, in Blytheville, Arkansas, where he grew up in a public housing community devastated by the prevalence of drugs, guns, and violence. His life was filled with turbulent times, and by the age of 14, Kuntrell found himself involved in a tragic incident surrounding the attempted robbery of a video store. Kuntrell, who initially chose to stay outside the store, decided to enter just as another boy shot and killed the clerk. His presence at the scene left him tried as an adult and convicted of capital murder, receiving a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. With the involvement of Bryan Stevenson and his non-profit law firm, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), Kuntrell would become one of the plaintiffs in a 2012 Supreme Court case challenging his sentence (Jackson v. Hobbs and Miller v. Alabama). In June 2012, the court issued a historic ruling, holding that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children are unconstitutional.
After being incarcerated from ages 14-31, he was eventually re-sentenced, released, and supported through his societal re-entry process through EJI's Post Release Education and Preparation (PREP) program. Today, Kuntrell is an outspoken activist, author, and actor. He travels to universities, churches, schools, and non-profit organizations to share his story and help kids like him. His most recent acting credits include Just Mercy (2019) and Son of the South (2020). He hopes to fulfill his life's purpose through his organization, P.A.I.N. (Preventing Adolescents from Incarceration Nationwide).
The concept of the documentary is quite simple: Kuntrell Jackson takes us on a walk through his memories. It is an adaptation of his autobiography, Through All The P.A.I.N. I Still Evolved. Throughout the 16 1/2 chapters of the documentary, Kuntrell will share about 100 or so stories from his life, detailing his childhood in the projects and the 16 1/2 years he spent behind bars. As Kuntrell shares these impactful stories with us, we'll float around to the different places he's talking about, seeing the streets he grew up on, the schools he attended, and the prisons he was locked up in, while occassionally flashing back to brief "memory visions." The runtime will be about 2 hours. We hope to make something similar in tone to A Love Song for Latasha (2019) and the narration of Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001). This documentary is incredibly near and dear to my heart. I met Kuntrell about 4 years ago and I have been working closely with him ever since. Our paths crossed completely by chance -- or what you might call God. My family and I were in Montgomery, Alabama, visiting Bryan Stevenson's Legacy Museum, when I happened to start talking with a woman who worked at the musuem. Some minutes later, she introduced me to Kuntrell, who happened to be volunteering at the museum that day, and the rest is history.
We envision this documentary as part of our pitch to make a feature film about Kuntrell's life, in which he would play himself. I have been writing, re-writing, and refining this screenplay for the past 4 years, and I hope to use this documentary as a launch pad to my first narrative feature film. Kuntrell is a man of faith, and his story is a testament to his faith. At 17 years old, he was told that he would spend the rest of his life in a cage. But he never gave up. He has always kept his faith, believing that something beautiful would amount out of all the pain he experienced. This documentary is something beautiful. It doesn't get any realer than this. Please support if you are able to, every dollar helps. THANK YOU
What the funds will be used for...
Travel - $3,404
Food - $940
Lighting/Camera - $3,270
Audio - $325
Props/Wardrobe - $340
Hair/Makeup - $45
Locations - $100
Crew - $600
Cast - $1,650
Kuntrell was born on November 1, 1985, in Blytheville, Arkansas, where he grew up in a public housing community devastated by the prevalence of drugs, guns, and violence. His life was filled with turbulent times, and by the age of 14, Kuntrell found himself involved in a tragic incident surrounding the attempted robbery of a video store. Kuntrell, who initially chose to stay outside the store, decided to enter just as another boy shot and killed the clerk. His presence at the scene left him tried as an adult and convicted of capital murder, receiving a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. With the involvement of Bryan Stevenson and his non-profit law firm, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), Kuntrell would become one of the plaintiffs in a 2012 Supreme Court case challenging his sentence (Jackson v. Hobbs and Miller v. Alabama). In June 2012, the court issued a historic ruling, holding that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children are unconstitutional.
After being incarcerated from ages 14-31, he was eventually re-sentenced, released, and supported through his societal re-entry process through EJI's Post Release Education and Preparation (PREP) program. Today, Kuntrell is an outspoken activist, author, and actor. He travels to universities, churches, schools, and non-profit organizations to share his story and help kids like him. His most recent acting credits include Just Mercy (2019) and Son of the South (2020). He hopes to fulfill his life's purpose through his organization, P.A.I.N. (Preventing Adolescents from Incarceration Nationwide).
The concept of the documentary is quite simple: Kuntrell Jackson takes us on a walk through his memories. It is an adaptation of his autobiography, Through All The P.A.I.N. I Still Evolved. Throughout the 16 1/2 chapters of the documentary, Kuntrell will share about 100 or so stories from his life, detailing his childhood in the projects and the 16 1/2 years he spent behind bars. As Kuntrell shares these impactful stories with us, we'll float around to the different places he's talking about, seeing the streets he grew up on, the schools he attended, and the prisons he was locked up in, while occassionally flashing back to brief "memory visions." The runtime will be about 2 hours. We hope to make something similar in tone to A Love Song for Latasha (2019) and the narration of Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001). This documentary is incredibly near and dear to my heart. I met Kuntrell about 4 years ago and I have been working closely with him ever since. Our paths crossed completely by chance -- or what you might call God. My family and I were in Montgomery, Alabama, visiting Bryan Stevenson's Legacy Museum, when I happened to start talking with a woman who worked at the musuem. Some minutes later, she introduced me to Kuntrell, who happened to be volunteering at the museum that day, and the rest is history.
We envision this documentary as part of our pitch to make a feature film about Kuntrell's life, in which he would play himself. I have been writing, re-writing, and refining this screenplay for the past 4 years, and I hope to use this documentary as a launch pad to my first narrative feature film. Kuntrell is a man of faith, and his story is a testament to his faith. At 17 years old, he was told that he would spend the rest of his life in a cage. But he never gave up. He has always kept his faith, believing that something beautiful would amount out of all the pain he experienced. This documentary is something beautiful. It doesn't get any realer than this. Please support if you are able to, every dollar helps. THANK YOU
What the funds will be used for...
Travel - $3,404
Food - $940
Lighting/Camera - $3,270
Audio - $325
Props/Wardrobe - $340
Hair/Makeup - $45
Locations - $100
Crew - $600
Cast - $1,650
Organizer
Harlan Banks
Organizer
Stanford, CA