Freedom Stories: Amplifying the Beauty and Power of Bail Reform

CHALLENGE

Criminal justice is one of the few public policies driven by fear of the exceptionally rare, sensational outlier failure. Advocates tend to try to fight fire with fire and put forward sensational outlier cases of injustice. Yet what's in the middle -- the everyday injustices and the everyday normalcy of freedom – gets overlooked. Bail reform–like other modest changes to the carceral status quo–is far from sensational. In most ways it’s mundane. Waking up in your own bed. Putting on your own shoes. Walking down the street. Getting your kids off to school. Searching for work. Roller skating with your kids.

These stories need to be told.

SOLUTION

Variant Strategies set out to tell the story of freedom through a powerful film that introduces Texans (and the world) to the real story of bail reform through the real people benefitting from it. Working with local partners in Texas from the Texas Jail Project, and national advocacy and education initiative, Zealous, we identified two compelling, representative subjects to produce a short verite style documentary film on one normal day of freedom in Harris County (Houston).

The Variant Strategies team, including co-Director and cinematographer, Milena Pastreich, and Production Associate, Asia Johnson from Zealous, connected with the subjects ahead of time to build trust, developed trauma-informed interview questions, a story with scenes, and two sound technicians Variant brought on. We then flew to Houston and drove to a small town outside of Dallas for a multi-day intimate shoot.

Variant then worked with Editor Pete Ohs, and developed a “paper edit,” which pieced together all of the powerful images we shot (“B-Roll”) with the interview responses (“A-Roll), and edited days of footage, went through many revisions, and finally, developed the work into a short documentary. When our client’s finally saw it to give feedback, they were beside themselves. We told them, just wait! Then the Variant team, with Milena, listened to dozens of songs, ultimately deciding to bring in a composer willing to work for the cause. We found and hired an amazing audio mixer and a colorist, also willing to work for the cause, and delivered a piece we are really proud of.

OVERVIEW

The film–This is Freedom–focuses on a day-in-the-life of two seemingly very different people--Gavin, a white ranch hand and construction worker from Dallas and Terranisha, a young Black mother from Houston--who were arrested but were among the lucky ones who were released under Houston's version of bail reform. Now with their families, they’re still working, supporting their loved ones, contributing to the economy, and free to fight their cases from freedom. And because both subjects Gavin and Terranisha were able to work collaboratively with their attorneys, their cases have already been dismissed.

Harris County, which includes Houston, is an outlier in the U.S. It is one of a few counties that allows for people charged with low level offenses to fight their cases from a position of freedom, without the threat of being detained pretrial on unaffordable bail. In most of this country, people await trial for weeks, often months, in jail. About half a million people at any given time are locked up pre-trial. The film intends to not only tell everyday stories of freedom, but also share two real stories of how pre-trial freedom worked, why it’s so important, with the goal, among many, of showing lawmakers and the broader country why people should be free before trial.

Impact

This is Freedom will be the centerpiece of a larger national campaign called Freedom Stories, a tapestry of real stories that breathe life into the growing body of data proving the success of alternatives to the current system of incarceration and punishment in a way that will appeal to the broadest possible audience and strategically increase support from key conservative political allies. The launch of the film will include an official premiere of the film, panel discussions, public art installations, and targeted teach-ins and public education events with stakeholders, as well as sustained messaging strategies. The goal: Not only views and awareness, but support for advocates, as well as partner and key ally lawmakers to defend and support, and expand bail laws around the country.

We will keep you up to date as more impact results from this work.