Background
Producer and Director Tamara Perkins has been a leader in the social justice and juvenile justice reform movement within the Bay Area for over a decade. Her vision of creating THE TRUST was inspired while working inside San Quentin State Prison as a Yoga and meditation instructor in 2006. Compelled to expose the devastating impact of incarceration on urban communities and the opportunity for transformation, Tamara teamed up with Co-Producers Jesse Dana and Diana J Brodie to build support, access and collaborations to create THE TRUST .
Jesse is an Emmy-nominated cinematographer with a decade of narrative and commercial experience. He has completed three features in the past year, including Stitch in Time with award-winning actor Richard Riehle (Office Space). Jesse's interest in film began with the desire to affect positive social change through new media experiences.
Diana’s experience as an editor, filmmaker, and instructor spans 25 years. She has edited for networks such as: The History Channel, Logo, ESPN, National Geographic, Animal Planet, and PBS and has been an editor on several feature length documentaries. Diana is a lead editing instructor for the San Quentin Media Project, which trains incarcerated men in filmmaking. Diana is driven by a desire to create intelligent, innovative, and socially relevant media and films.
Setting THE TRUST apart from other prison films is the extraordinary access to the incarcerated men, facilities, experts, and leaders in the system of corrections. Through her background in grief support, Tamara creates a safe environment for each subject, bringing authenticity to interviews that cover sensitive, personal stories. From her relationships and connections within the Bay Area social justice community, Tamara and THE TRUST team have developed significant relationships with policy and public agencies including the ACLU of Northern California, Alameda County Public Health, Equal Justice Society, The San Francisco Foundation and PolicyLink as well as universities such as Saint Mary's University and San Francisco State University.
THE TRUST has an opportunity to bring a voice to an issue deemed the "silent crisis". With 1 in 31 American's under the umbrella of corrections, there has never been a more pressing time to mobilize the public toward significant prison reform. THE TRUST fulfills this opportunity by creating a contemporary documentary that creates intimacy for the viewer with an innovative photographic vision with the highest level of production. The film presents fact-based pragmatic arguments for change with an emotionally affecting visual representation to reach the broadest possible audience.
Since its inception, THE TRUST has evolved into a multi-faceted project led by a team with extraordinary access and ability to tell an authentic story that educates the public with a universal message shared through a character-driven story.
The Prison System
- The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 7.3 million (1-in-100) adults under Correctional Control.
- California boasts the highest recidivism rate in the country, with more than 70 percent of released inmates returning to prison within 3 years.
- As of 2007, California spends more incarcerating 167,000 adults than it does to educate 226,000 students in its 10-campus University of California system.
- States spend on average nearly three times as much per prisoner as per public school pupil.
- Approximately 93,000 American youth are held in Juvenile Justice facilities; 4,302 children arrested each day.
- As of 2008, 46 percent of the Corrections population had a family member who had been incarcerated.
- The highest rates of incarceration occur in poor urban areas and among Latino and African Americans males.
- One in 3 African American men, 20–29 years old, is under correctional supervision or control.
- 83 percent of individuals incarcerated in state prison have an identified substance abuse.
- In the Bay Area neighborhoods in Oakland, San Francisco, and Richmond are experiencing multiple generations of families behind bars.
The National Trust for the Development of African American Men
The National Trust for the Development of African-American Men is committed to restoring the values, dignity and vibrant culture in African-American communities. The NTDAAM program is a re-socialization program in which incarcerated men serving Life-terms mentor, train and prepare men serving shorter terms to become positive citizens. Founded by Dr. Garry Mendez, Jr. more than 20 years ago in New York, the goal of NTDAAM is to transform the incarcerated from social liabilities into assets for themselves, their families and their communities. This is achieved through a curriculum aimed at purging destructive value systems and instilling new pro-social values while cultivating self-awareness and personal responsibility. To learn more about the National Trust Program, visit their website at: keepthetrust.org.
