Gun violence is a problem in Kalamazoo, and Ashley Lanting set out to discover the root causes of it directly from people in our community with lived experiences.
Her short documentary, titled “Trigger Warning”, features the stories of Big B Harris, Michael Wilder, Michael Monroe, Dominica Sims and Alejandro Rodriguez and their work with the Gun Violence Initiative in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ashley Lanting produced, wrote and directed the documentary that dives into the interviewee’s personal experiences with gun violence and explore the root causes.
“The purpose is not to do a documentary… the purpose is to have an impact – people get to think about it, people get to know about it,” Ashley shared about her goals for the project. “I’m wanting people to ask ‘why?’ I want people to have a critical view,” Ashley said. “Who gets a benefit from this? What impact are we gonna have? What problem are we gonna solve?”
Ashley and previous PMN Technology & Workforce Program Director Anthony Griffin worked closely to ensure that the documentary aligned with those goals, including working closely with those who were interviewed, and were always careful to ensure the stories were told in a thoughtful way.
Over 50 community members and organizations attended the screening last year, showing how important this topic is to the people of Kalamazoo. Ashley shared that working on this project was “very special” and spoke about those featured in her documentary, who were involved throughout the entire process. “These people are so brave… their stories needed to be told.”
The documentary was created during the fellowship program Next Lens, aimed at providing resources and mentoring to media makers who may face structural and technical barriers. Ashley has no current plans to create more documentaries, but is very passionate about helping local nonprofits get their stories out to the public, and is often helping them out at PMN behind the scenes.
And afterwards, one of our previous media interns created a re-edited version of the documentary. Check out Trigger Warning, re-edited by Caitlyn Onderlinde, by clicking here.
If you want to support the creation of important local stories about hard hitting topics from media makers like Ashley and Caitlyn, donate today.
If you’d like to hear more from those featured in the documentary, check out these Narrative Lab videos featuring them:
Michael Wilder: My Solution Story
Alejandro Rodriguez: My Solution Story
Yafincenio Harris: My Solution Story
Dominica Sims: My Solution Story
Michael Monroe: My Solution Story
Michael Monroe: My Redemption Story
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