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What Is It About?

Writer's picture: Life After the Gunshot Life After the Gunshot

The first question people ask when they hear you are working on a documentary is “What is it about?” 


Somebody asked us this question in between plays of the Ohio State, Texas game while we were relaxing in the lobby of the hotel after a long day of filming around Dallas.


One of us answered “Gun Violence”, it might have been me or maybe it was Doc. 

And while that was true and an appropriate response to make during the twenty-five seconds between snaps of a football game, the guys reaction and the personal stories and perspectives that he responded with let me know that we did him and maybe the project a disservice by framing it that way.



In the case of this documentary project, the answer to the question “what is it about” is right in the in title. 


Life After The Gunshot. 


The series presents a deep dive into the challenges that face people who survive a violent injury as well as the heartbreak of those who are left to mourn the ones who don’t make it. 


The filmmakers, Dr Joseph Richardson and Che Bullock, saw the immediate aftermath of violent injury countless times at the bedsides of survivors in a hospital-based violence intervention program. The stories of some of those survivors and the complex trauma they experienced both before and after the gunshot are chronicled in the first episode of Life After The Gunshot.


The making of the first episode unfolded over the course of several years of building connections and gathering stories, on top of the decades of academic research and hard-earned life experience. The experimental creative vision for the first episode came together with editing session over Zoom during the depths of the pandemic.


The second episode, Life After the Gunshot: Dallas…a love story, embarks on a new experiment that we will explore in detail over the course of the few months leading up to the premiere at the Texas Theatre in Dallas on April 27, 2025.


During the course of this exploration we will answer more in more detail, What it is about? 


But more importantly, why you should care. 


If you watched this new episode today without any context or prior knowledge of the people, places, and issues it touches upon, you would appreciate the story and learn a lot. What we hope to do ahead of the premiere and eventual digital release is offer you the opportunity to see the episode the way see it: with insights into the social, political, and cultural forces at play in the story and a deeper appreciation for the creative process behind this type of work. 


The story takes place in Dallas Texas, one of a handful of major cities that saw gun violence increase while others cities saw declines; in an area, Oak Cliff, which has the the highest incarceration rates in the state of Texas. And it’s about a husband and wife building a life after the gunshot, with grit, hustle and a lot of joy. 


Prepare to be inspired.







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