STATUS: ON HIATUS/IN EARLY PRE-PRODUCTION
GENRE: Docudrama
THE PITCH: TBA
TAGLINE: [working] Money can't buy everything, but there are some things money should not have to buy.
LOGLINE: TBA
Detailing one of the most unbelievably corrupt cases of an easily-proven innocent young man going to prison for a crime he didn't commit because, not one but, EVERY level of our broken injustice system failed him!
Beginning pre- production in 2026. Hopefully filming in summer 2027.
Originally, this was going to be a standard documentary with a LOT of re-enactments. However, the end-game of producing this project necessitated a change in format.
The goal is to create an open-ended story so that the audience will feel compelled to make donations in order for Anthony to be able to finally afford a $155,000 criminal attorney in order to right this wrong and for Anthony to get legally exonerated, thus the audience is able to take on the role of giving this mostly-dark story a positive, happy ending.
In order to connect with the audience as much as possible and to allow them to truly feel and experience Anthony's plight, it was decided to show-not-tell, to dramatize the situation instead of having a standard documentary of a bunch of people simply talking about the situations with some cheap, quick re-enactments with low production values. The reasoning is: If the audience emotionally connects to the true story instead of passively hearing about dry facts, there is a better chance they will feel inclined to donate to his cause.
A prime example of this type of docudrama that puts the audience in the person's shoes to experience what the subject went through is the Apollo 13 movie starring Tom Hanks
Originally we had hoped that, unlike many Hollywood adaptions of true events, almost no part of this docudrama would incorporate any artistic license, as the TRUTH is so unbelievable there is no need for added drama. The only deviation from precise reality would have been some (true) dialogue spoken by certain people but was not the person that said it, which allows the story to flow better in lieu of having too many "characters" to muddle the story.
Unfortunately, the extremely DARK nature of this story - child sex trafficking, child abuse, corrupt injustice system - DEMANDS that the film take SOME MINOR liberties with some of the characters personalities in order for the film to be more palatable to audiences.
Yes it IS very serious subject matter, but if depicted as straight-forward as possible, the overall "feeling" the audience would get from the experience is dark and depressing. We ARE telling a serious story, but in CINEMATIC FORMAT. Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem without totally compromising our vision. One of the THEMES in this story is about how even in the darkest times, hope cuts through. hope is the light that lifts us out of the darkness. The theme resonates that no matter how bad your existence is, you can focus on the GOOD, happy, positive aspects in life to get you through those tough times. Life may indeed be bad - sometimes unimaginably HORRIFIC for the most part, but it isn't bad 100% of the time. In order to lighten the overall 'mood" of the cinema experience, we will now BOOST those moments that allow the characters to stay positive.
Since the exoneration has not happened (yet), and a lot of the backstory and main story deals with minors, only Anthony's name will be unchanged and all relationships between characters will not be disclosed to avoid any unfounded, frivolous lawsuits of defamation. After exoneration, it's all fair game, but Anthony will simply want to move on and finally put this horrific chapter of his life behind him.
Much care will be taken during the early portions of the story since Anthony's backstory deals with dark, sensitive subject manner such as child abuse and child sex trafficking. This is not meant to be exploitative, but rather for the audience to fully comprehend how those events affected Anthony in a way that he would never subjugate anyone else to that torture - the entire inexplicable basis for the police to file an arrest warrant on Anthony. The filmmakers will use care that audience know what evil is about to transpire without actually showing it and then cut away from the scene at that juncture. If Quentin Tarantino has taught audiences anything about violence in film is that sometimes, what is NOT seen, what is merely inferred can be just as horrific, violent, and dramatic as actually showing the moment.
While the role of some people in Anthony's life will be downplayed simply for pacing issues, after the repercussions of the 2024 documentary "Quiet on the set: The Dark Side of Kids TV", it has been determined to expand one rather-minor Mcguffin role of Anthony's mother in order to get inside her head - which can explore several meaningful issues as well from drug addiction to personal relationships and the reasons that motivate life choices - so that the audience will not jump to conclusions or too harshly-judge Anthony's mother based on what little information they see in the docudrama just as a lot of audience members of the Quiet on the Set documentary had some intense backlash against Drake Bell's mother. Granted, Anthony does not have the same public stature as Drake Bell, but it is not the intention of the filmmakers of this docudrama to inflict any unnecessary stress on someone that does not deserve it simply because the constraints of a film's runtime does not allow sufficient time to fully explain everything. While the best films do not preach to an audience, there is always a certain degree of manipulation of audience (using music, performances, editing, camera angles, selective dialogue), it is always best to allow audiences to come to their own conclusion on themes and characters from a non-biased perspective presented - but in this specific case with the mother, there will be a a small degree of "hey! before you judge her, just know there is way more to it than what you see on the surface since things are not as black & white as some folk may perceive" - whether that may be a member of the audience or some of the people involved in the actual story who can not help but be extremely biased from their perspective.
PRE-PRODUCTION GOALS:
While the CONTENT of what is being recorded is more important than the equipment being used to record the content (there have been award winning films shot on an iPhone!), THIS particular film is of so much importance it needs to be seen on as many festivals and streaming networks as possible, thus, we are saving a couple years for a professional-quality camera to get the highest possible quality possible that as many networks will have no problem accepting. In professional terms, $10,000 for a professional camera with cinema lenses, et al isn't much, it IS better than HDSLR or lower-quality cameras.
Save up as much personal financing as possible to go toward the budget of this film.
Make a quick, low budget CONCEPT TRAILER to entice donations to help fund this important film.
PRODUCTION GOALS:
To make an film that engages the audience without being exploitative while sticking to 100% TRUE FACTS - some dialogue by some characters may have been said by other people in real life, but will be said by our main characters for the sake of maintaining a smaller, non-convoluted cast!
To tell a story that the audience can empathize with so much, they will be moved to help give this story a happy ending.
POST-PRODUCTION GOALS:
To encourage audiences to consider donating to a fund for Anthony to get an expensive lawyer who can finally get him exonerated and bring this nightmare of injustice, corruption, & horror to a close!
GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT
THE REAL-LIFE ANTHONY PERRY
MISSION STATEMENT
Even with the highly-improbable, near-impossible outcome of a studio buying the rights to this film/story, Shannon Shaw would prefer to direct the film himself; however, he would consider selling the rights only if the buyer agreed to maintaining the integrity of this important film. Selling the rights would actually solve half the reason why we are making this film, to pay for an attorney to get Anthony exonerated!! But selling the rights, would have a few nonnegotiable stipulations that MUST be followed, the other half of the reason for/GOAL of the film, which is NOT exploitative:
The plight of child sex trafficking and sexual abuse. Shown in a way that connects to audiences so that they can truly empathize with the characters. If done properly, we would not need to tack on the obligatory "If you or someone you know is being sexually abused or involved in sex trafficking, please call this phone number"-type of title-card at the end of the story. That title-card is near-cliché and no research is known whether they truly work or not, thus, it is more important to DRAMATIZE ("show not tell") the plight of the protagonist in order for an audience member who is in this situation can FEEL the need to get help, not just by showing a phone number. We want any current victims of sexual abuse/trafficking to KNOW they can speak up, get help, and turn in the sick perpetrator without shame!
Showcase the broken injustice system of innocent people going to prison from plea deals when they are innocent but simply can not afford to buy their justice from expensive attorneys.
Really get the audience into the mind of the mother on why she made the choices she made that endangered his children at the time, and that people DO change, especially after a few years of life experience and especially after DECADES, We are NOT the same NOW as we were years or decades ago.