The Truth is on Fire documentary (housing for all)
Donation protected
100 x 100
100 people, each give $100, by June 16th
so a marginalized filmmaker can change the narrative and ignite ACTION in Minnesota
Directed by formerly incarcerated writer, filmmaker, and organizer Tommy Franklin, who thirteen years after leaving prison continues to struggle to find a place to live, THE TRUTH IS ON FIRE is a short documentary bringing audiences a pivotal look into returning citizens who experience the single most pressing barrier to re-entry: access to safe and sustainable housing. We follow three resilient incarceration survivors fighting to become independent renters in a world rife with gatekeeping landlords who hold a crucial key to their liberation.
In a tale of two cities, a Minneapolis city government is in a race to be the top gentrifier in the nation, and just across the Mississippi River, a minority of residents engage with the Mayor of St. Paul to reimagine justice for people returning home to their rightful freedom to live without fear of imminent homelessness. The burden often weighs heavy on the loved ones of people searching high and dry for housing, and these family members advocate for a more just process for all renters. Is there such a thing as a “good landlord”? We find out from the people impacted by the after effects of the criminal legal system.
This film is an intimate portrayal of Amreya and Randall, who want nothing more than the independence they’ve earned, free of the systematic crutches that can often hamstring them after the fact. For Daniel, taking on additional caseworkers to achieve opportunities an otherwise oppressive society denies him comes with its challenges. For all of them, maintaining employment that barely keeps them financially afloat cannot jump the hurdle of stringent potential tenant prerequisites as they try to keep life’s priorities afloat. Their self-esteem is tested as they try to rise out of a personal darkness, but they stop at nothing to gain more than they’ve lost.
This film is only possible if I can raise the $10,000 necessary to independently produce, shoot, and edit this powerful piece.
Feel free to contribute more than $100 if you can. For those of you who are able to give $100 or more, I'll be offering you special acknowledgement for your support, and an exclusive private screening and signed poster for the film.
IF YOU CAN'T GIVE AT LEAST $100, THAT IF QUITE ALRIGHT! YOUR SUPPORT COULD GO A LONG WAY BY SHARING FAR AND WIDE WITH YOUR NETWORK TO HELP REACH THE deadline of June 16th. SINCE I'M TRYING TO RAISE A LARGE SUM IN A SMALL WINDOW OF TIME, YOUR WORD OF MOUTH ABOUT THIS FUNDRAISER TO THOSE IN YOUR CIRCLES ABLE TO GIVE AT LEAST $100 WILL MAKE A FAR GREATER IMPACT THAN GIVING A SMALLER CONTRIBUTION.
For this project to go down in Year 2 of a pandemic, I'm specifically asking people with enough disposable income to give $100 or more to help fund my vision.
Much love and THANK YOU!
Tommy
*this film will be shot and edited Summer/Fall 2021 and submitted to 2022 film festivals, ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!
Tommy Franklin is a filmmaker, writer, producer, creator of the art-meets-activism interview show Weapon of Choice Podcast, Founder and President of Special Menu Productions, an independent production company with an eye toward art that changes narratives and disrupts. Tommy collaborates in philanthropic and grassroots organizing communities to produce content he believes in, indiscriminate of form or medium. As a survivor of incarceration (born in prison and having served time as an adult), Tommy works to radically reimagine power structures across issue work while focusing his advocacy efforts in criminal legal reform and visions for liberation. Tommy is a 2020 SPNN New Angle Docu Fellow, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council 2020 Next Step Awardee, 2020 Kartemquin Diverse Voices in Docs Fellow, a 2020 Sundance Short Documentary Film Fund Grantee, and currently a finalist for the 2021 Sundance Episodic Lab.
100 people, each give $100, by June 16th
so a marginalized filmmaker can change the narrative and ignite ACTION in Minnesota
Directed by formerly incarcerated writer, filmmaker, and organizer Tommy Franklin, who thirteen years after leaving prison continues to struggle to find a place to live, THE TRUTH IS ON FIRE is a short documentary bringing audiences a pivotal look into returning citizens who experience the single most pressing barrier to re-entry: access to safe and sustainable housing. We follow three resilient incarceration survivors fighting to become independent renters in a world rife with gatekeeping landlords who hold a crucial key to their liberation. In a tale of two cities, a Minneapolis city government is in a race to be the top gentrifier in the nation, and just across the Mississippi River, a minority of residents engage with the Mayor of St. Paul to reimagine justice for people returning home to their rightful freedom to live without fear of imminent homelessness. The burden often weighs heavy on the loved ones of people searching high and dry for housing, and these family members advocate for a more just process for all renters. Is there such a thing as a “good landlord”? We find out from the people impacted by the after effects of the criminal legal system. This film is an intimate portrayal of Amreya and Randall, who want nothing more than the independence they’ve earned, free of the systematic crutches that can often hamstring them after the fact. For Daniel, taking on additional caseworkers to achieve opportunities an otherwise oppressive society denies him comes with its challenges. For all of them, maintaining employment that barely keeps them financially afloat cannot jump the hurdle of stringent potential tenant prerequisites as they try to keep life’s priorities afloat. Their self-esteem is tested as they try to rise out of a personal darkness, but they stop at nothing to gain more than they’ve lost. This film is only possible if I can raise the $10,000 necessary to independently produce, shoot, and edit this powerful piece. Feel free to contribute more than $100 if you can. For those of you who are able to give $100 or more, I'll be offering you special acknowledgement for your support, and an exclusive private screening and signed poster for the film.
IF YOU CAN'T GIVE AT LEAST $100, THAT IF QUITE ALRIGHT! YOUR SUPPORT COULD GO A LONG WAY BY SHARING FAR AND WIDE WITH YOUR NETWORK TO HELP REACH THE deadline of June 16th. SINCE I'M TRYING TO RAISE A LARGE SUM IN A SMALL WINDOW OF TIME, YOUR WORD OF MOUTH ABOUT THIS FUNDRAISER TO THOSE IN YOUR CIRCLES ABLE TO GIVE AT LEAST $100 WILL MAKE A FAR GREATER IMPACT THAN GIVING A SMALLER CONTRIBUTION.
For this project to go down in Year 2 of a pandemic, I'm specifically asking people with enough disposable income to give $100 or more to help fund my vision.
Much love and THANK YOU!
Tommy
*this film will be shot and edited Summer/Fall 2021 and submitted to 2022 film festivals, ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!Tommy Franklin is a filmmaker, writer, producer, creator of the art-meets-activism interview show Weapon of Choice Podcast, Founder and President of Special Menu Productions, an independent production company with an eye toward art that changes narratives and disrupts. Tommy collaborates in philanthropic and grassroots organizing communities to produce content he believes in, indiscriminate of form or medium. As a survivor of incarceration (born in prison and having served time as an adult), Tommy works to radically reimagine power structures across issue work while focusing his advocacy efforts in criminal legal reform and visions for liberation. Tommy is a 2020 SPNN New Angle Docu Fellow, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council 2020 Next Step Awardee, 2020 Kartemquin Diverse Voices in Docs Fellow, a 2020 Sundance Short Documentary Film Fund Grantee, and currently a finalist for the 2021 Sundance Episodic Lab.
Organizer
Tommy Carbo Franklin
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN