Represent Justice, the organization that began as an impact campaign for Destin Daniel Cretton’s wrongful-conviction drama, Just Mercy, announced today via press release a three-year strategic plan, “a roadmap for building narrative power and infrastructure around people impacted by incarceration and creating a justice system that is focused on healing, rather than punishment.” New this year is the Speakers Bureau, which will represent “the extraordinary ecosystem of system-impacted movement leaders, exonerees, artists, campaign leaders, filmmakers, and film participants who work in partnership with Represent Justice to transform the legal system. The Represent Justice Speakers Bureau will be a full-service bureau that provides mental health support, capacity-building opportunities, in addition to traditional speakers bureau services.”

More from the press release:

[Just Mercy] told the story of Bryan Stevenson, a young lawyer fighting the wrongful conviction and death sentence of his client, Walter McMillan. The accompanying impact campaign launched Represent Justice, and helped to grow a movement and a demand for stories that restore dignity to system-impacted individuals and create lasting change in the legal system.

“Over the past four years, Represent Justice has reached millions of people with firsthand stories about the legal system, generating hundreds of thousands of advocacy actions, and growing the influence of dozens of system-impacted movement leaders,” Represent Justice CEO Daniel Forkkio said. “Our 2024-2026 strategic plan is a response to a need that has become urgently clear through this work. When system-impacted storytellers have the tools, knowledge, confidence and platforms to reach the right audiences with firsthand stories, it empowers audiences to act.”

Following their work on Just Mercy, Represent Justice led impact campaigns for for six feature-length films “that highlight the experiences of people impacted by incarceration, and has trained 30 formerly incarcerated movement leaders to become strategic storytellers and filmmakers. Short films and aligned advocacy campaigns produced through the program have addressed issues ranging from the power of commutations in Louisiana, to felony disenfranchisement and forced prison labor in Georgia, and the need for a more humane, rehabilitative youth justice system in California.”

Kelley Kali’s Kemba, released in February by BET+ following a premiere at the Pan African Film Festival, was the first recipient of an Impact Campaign Open Call for “films helmed by people who are currently or formerly incarcerated…. The campaign is being led in partnership with executive producer Kemba Smith Pradia, whose story is featured in the film. The film shows the lasting impacts of mandatory minimum sentencing and harsh drug laws of the ’80s and ’90s — particularly for women of color.” (In the case of Kemba it is executive producer Pradia who was incarcerated, not director Kali.)

In addition to the Speakers Bureau, an element of today’s announced Strategic Plan is an expansion of the group’s activities to seven more states, bringing Represent Justice’s work to a total of 16 states representing over 70% of the country’s incarcerated population.

Undergirding today’s announcement is a 2022 American University Center for Media and Social Impact study that examined 48 legal-system-focused documentary films streamed by major networks over a six-year period and determined, based on publicly available information, that only one was directed by a formerly incarcerated director.

From the press release:

It is within this cultural and entertainment landscape that Represent Justice has led national impact campaigns for six feature-length films that highlight the experiences of people impacted by incarceration, and has trained 30 formerly incarcerated movement leaders to become strategic storytellers and filmmakers. Short films and aligned advocacy campaigns produced through the program have addressed issues ranging from the power of commutations in Louisiana, to felony disenfranchisement and forced prison labor in Georgia, and the need for a more humane, rehabilitative youth justice system in California.

Late last year the organization launched their inaugural Impact Campaign Open Call for films helmed by people who are currently or formerly incarcerated, with the feature film Kemba as the first recipient of a fully funded Represent Justice impact strategy. The campaign is being led in partnership with executive producer Kemba Smith Pradia, whose story is featured in the film. The film shows the lasting impacts of mandatory minimum sentencing and harsh drug laws of the eighties and nineties — particularly for women of color.

“Mainstream media and entertainment do not do a good enough job telling the truth about the prison system and its impact on our people and our communities,” said Denise Beek, VP of Original Storytelling. “Too often, these stories sensationalize, trivialize and perpetuate harmful narratives and stereotypes. Represent Justice’s film campaigns, the Ambassador Program and Speakers Bureau redistribute power, facilitate healing, and transform policies and systems.”

Represent Justice was recently awarded a large grant from MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving and CEO Daniel Forkkio as an Elevate Prize Winner. For more details of Represent Justice’s new Strategic Plan, visit the group’s website.