How is CHOKE’s team embodying innovativion?
CHOKE is unique in that it is a short film being told from the “inside out.” What exactly does that mean? In the case of most documentaries, an outside observer chooses a topic and says “I think this is a problem audiences need to know about, I’d like to shed light on it.” Money is found, filming is scheduled, edit rooms are booked. For the CHOKE team, this is completely the opposite.
As part of a now-defunct larger project called The Power of Protest, Editor/Producer Steff Sanchez spent a great deal of time viewing footage of three activists, Sarra Tekola, Sam Grant, and Tamara Toles O’Laughlin. While moved by all three, Steff felt particularly connected to Sarra, who believes that “without racial justice, there is no climate policy.” The original project’s aim was to detail the history of protest while focusing on these three activists in an hour-long film for public television.
As the edit process began, Steff had felt certain members of the previous team were advocating for sensationalized racial violence, and pushed back on adding the graphic archival footage prominent in the script. The proposed edit strongly conflicted with Steff’s morals, and she made the mainly white male gatekeepers aware she wasn’t going to complete the edit as scripted.
As the film failed to gain traction in fundraising and the original team eventually disbanded, Steff believed strongly that a different and powerful film could be made hand-in-hand with the participants. She knew a modernized film would let the characters and spirit dictate a new narrative. She then recruited Joe (another member of the previous team and current Producer/Writer), who agreed the story should continue, and together they hatched a plan to approach the original filmmakers for usage of the verite and b-roll footage they had captured as part of a new project. They were successful.
From there, they recruited Elizabeth (Director/Producer), and Jeremy (Co-Producer) to talk further about the proposed project. They all agreed to embark on this new project and formed a new team with a new title: CHOKE. Given Steff’s impetus, the first priority for the team was to make sure all three participants still wanted to be involved, and made aware they would have a part in telling their own stories. In the previous iteration of the project, each of them believed they - and those around them - were not given the respect in the space each of them deserved, so it was paramount to the team to embrace a different spirit of empathy and diversity. Fortunately, this is a strongpoint for both Elizabeth and Jeremy, as they are not only emerging, original voices, but ones that have lived experience in the same space as our participants.