God or Guns Presents: Choices & Consequences Film

Hi,

My name is Tyree Lewis, and I am the Owner of God or Guns. My organization represents people that believe in a higher power, but struggle with their choices. Our main goal is to stare folks in the right direction by encouraging them to make good choices and sending the reminder not to let a 15 second interaction get them 15 years to life in prison. Right now, I spread the message through the logo of my clothing line and speaking to different audiences, but I am now bringing positivity to the community through a series of short story films starring children and adults being filmed throughout Philadelphia.

In the next few months, I will be working with several production companies putting together a series of short films highlighting our decisions and what follows, hence the name of the project, "Choices and Consequences." This project is important to me because I was the person with the gun in my hand about to retaliate after my father’s life was taken. If it wasn’t for the sign that God sent me in my dream, I would not be a free man today and the cycle of violence would have continued. I want to reduce the gun violence as people should feel comfortable sitting on their steps or walking down the street. This project will provide a safe space for participants as we will gather in a physical secured space and provide direct educational programming and events three times a week for several hours. This project will serve up to 25 at-risk individuals from the ages of 12-35 years old residing in West, North, South and Southwest Philadelphia. There will be a mixture of males and females participating in the film. The characters will also be played by individuals of various ethnicities. They will play the role as an actor or film crew.

Raising these funds will support us in harnessing the resources and energy of the city while creating new films and giving opportunities to people to, not only be in front of the camera as an actor, but also work behind the scenes on the production side of filming. Our other goal is to develop and firmly implant in our community the principles of honesty, integrity, responsibility, courage, and understanding accountability. At the conclusion of the project, participants will be able to:

- Learn to address emotional intelligence & understand the consequences of our choices

- Discover the fundamentals of acting and directing with values of education and prosperity of the community

- Make connections with vocational recruiters to educate the youth on opportunities while building cultural awareness through financial literacy

- Develop strategies to address community and economic development concerns

Support of any kind is GREATLY APPRECIATED as this will assist us in starting the project, securing the permits, locations, production/editing team and being able to feed participants. Please be a part of this project by contributing anything. Again, we are very appreciative for any support that you can provide.