An eight year journey into Chicago’s wrongful convictions continues
In 2018, a billboard at Grand and Harlem reading Help Free Me, I Am Innocent caught my attention. I didn’t know then that my curiosity about that sign would lead to an eight year journey documenting Chicago’s legal system.
Over the next eight years, we filmed more than a dozen cases, capturing what has become the largest wave of murder exonerations in modern U.S. history.
Today, To Catch A Case is in post production. To complete this work, we’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $35,000 for post production.
At a time when PBS and other public media institutions are being defunded, this campaign is about more than finishing a film. It is about building a model for storytelling that is community funded and community made.
The project is Executive Produced by Adrian Rodriguez, Director of Community Engagement at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC). Adrian and I first met while working on the Emmy Award winning PBS film Firsthand: Peacekeepers. Our collaboration has continued through PRCC, where we are developing youth media programming that will launch in early 2026.
To Catch A Case is about truth, accountability, and persistence. These stories do not end when the cameras stop. They live in our communities, and we are asking the community to help bring this film to completion.
Join us in supporting independent filmmaking in Chicago.