Why this project, why now?
On December 11th, 2012 at Clackamas Town Center in Portland Oregon, a lone gunman walked into the crowded shopping mall and started shooting. He killed two people and wounded a teenager before he placed the barrel of his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
Three days later, Sandy Hook unfolded.
Horrified by these recent events enabled by easy access to semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines we are taking action.
Though we firmly believe the 2nd amendment clearly defines the right of the common citizen to bear arms we also believe that this right comes with great responsibility, which, at the moment, our culture has largely ignored. The result? A second amendment that has been distorted into a travesty of it's original intent.
What are we doing?
We are producing a documentary film (OREGON DIVIDE) focused on the gun control/gun rights debate in Oregon – currently a hotbed of potential gun-safety legislation, against a backdrop of national dialogue on the issue.
Our intent with OREGON DIVIDE is to drive the cultural debate on the issue of gun safety towards real change. Among those we are filming with are family members of the Clackamas Town Center shooting victims, Oregon Senator Ginny Burdick (a long-time gun-safety advocate who regularly sponsors gun safety bills before the Oregon Senate), a number of gun rights advocates spanning the rural/urban divide in Oregon, and media personalities such as KXL 101 FM's Lars Larson and KINK 101.9 FM's Sheila Hamilton. We have also interviewed no less than 8 Oregon Senators and Representatives on the issue during the course of the 2013 legislative session.
By painting sympathetic portraits of victim’s families from the Clackamas Town Center shooting paired with profiles of both gun-safety and gun rights advocates (as well as extremist factions active in the debate surrounding gun-safety legislation) we are creating a film that is capturing history as it unfolds. The film will appeal to the majority of Americans who believe the moment has come for a meaningful cultural shift that will help prevent future Sandy Hook-like tragedies.
So, who are we?
We are experienced documentarians. We have worked with:
The Sundance Institute
Dateline NBC
CNN
The History Channel
The Travel Channel
The Weinstein Co.
Mercy Corps
MSNBC
ABC
The Fulbright Commission
The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP)
U.S. Dept. of State
and many more…
What reviewers have said about our previous work:
Variety: “emotional and artful treatment …deserves considerable exposure for the impact of its story and an acute sense of injustice that goes beyond the usual document of human-rights violations.”
LA Weekly: “An infuriating study in the ways that power greases the wheels of justice...”
Voice of America: “…confronts us with injustice”
The Oregonian: “…[the filmmakers] weren’t just committed to telling a story. They quite possibly held the lives of their subjects in their hands.”
Why now, why you?
Due to the immediate and on-going nature of covering the story as it has unfolded here in Oregon, we find ourselves turning to new funding sources. We believe strongly that we must act now if we are to achieve lasting change on the issue of gun safety in Oregon, and in America. As much as legislative efforts are needed, we also need to change our attitude towards guns in America. Our intent is to be a part of this much-needed cultural shift.
