PROTECT & SERVE

After her 12-year-old son is killed by police, Carla confronts Jim, a cop and a friend of the family. Her search for answers tears Jim between his duty and his humanity. Based on the true story of Tamir Rice in Cleveland.

It all started when…

Chalk Reperatory Theatre in Los Angeles comissioned Brian James Polak to write a short play to be set and performed at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. The death of Tamir Rice in Cleveland had been haunting Brian, especially the fact that he was alive after he was shot and the police didn’t provide him medical care and let him lie in the park, dying alone. So Brian wrote a short play imaging what the mother of someone like Tamir would say to a cop she knew if she could and what that cop’s justification would be. People were really moved by the performance, so we decided to give it a wider audience and turn it into a short film.

Written by Brian James Polak and Kate Jopson

Produced by Tunde Skovran, Jaquita Ta'le, Sylvia Epure, & Kate Jopson

Starring: Ray Ford & Jaquita Ta'le

Featuring: Jo'ell Jackson & William Salyers

Director of Photography Roman Zenz