May 3, 2022
ArchCity Defenders (ACD), a holistic legal advocacy organization in St. Louis, Missouri, is seeking proposals from creatives to manage and execute a multimedia project with video and photography components that will be incorporated into a publication, community events, and social media, with an anticipated release in January, 2023. This project will center the stories of individuals whose loved one has been killed by police or died in jail custody, a term ArchCity characterizes as ‘fatal state violence.’ The focus of the January 2023 report is how fatal state violence impacts women and femmes.
“There is little worse than watching mainstream media criminalize and demonize a loved one who has been murdered by the state,” said Emanuel Powell, Skadden Fellow & Staff Attorney at ArchCity Defenders. “We are making this call to artists, creatives, and narrative changemakers to help us center and uplift the inspiring and powerful stories of St. Louis families impacted by fatal state violence.”
ArchCity Defenders is seeking proposals from creatives to:
- Film B-Roll footage and seven video interviews with families impacted by fatal state violence (June to July)
- Produce seven videos (under 3 minutes) featuring each family’s story (July to November)
- Produce one compilation video (10 minutes) (July to November)
- Create a series of artistic/illustrated portraits that honor the person who was killed, and their surviving family members (July to October)
A link to the application can be found here.
Submissions will be accepted from Tuesday, May 3rd through Tuesday, May 17th. TO APPLY, email a cover letter to ArchCity’s Communications Director, Z Gorley zgorley@archcitydefenders.org with the following: a brief introduction to you and your team members, a summary as to why you feel you are best suited to manage this project, any prior work experiences and samples (include references and links), an estimated breakdown for production and post production costs, your thoughts on the proposed timeline and your capacity to execute each portion, and any follow up questions you may have or additional resources you may need.
Since 2014, ArchCity Defenders has worked with families impacted by state violence, centered their stories, filed litigation, published research and raised awareness of police killings and jail deaths, and organized for meaningful change with surviving loved ones and community partners.
In January 2021, ArchCity Defenders formally introduced the “Fatal State Violence” program which stems from a history of working with and representing individuals and families impacted by state violence. Concurrent with the announcement, ArchCity also released a policy report, “Death by the State: Police Killings and Jail Deaths in St. Louis,” and hosted a webinar featuring stories from family members, key findings from the report, and input from community advocates. ACD produced and digitally rolled out infographic content that shared highlights of the family stories and report findings in 2021.
In November 2021, ArchCity Defenders and Faith for Justice launched the Fatal State Violence Response Program which includes the inaugural team of Crisis Responders and Hotline Responders. In May 2022, both organizations announced a call for applications for the second cohort. More information can be found online here.
A link to the Request for Proposals and more information about the Fatal State Violence Project is online at www.archcitydefenders.org/fatalstateviolence.
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Media Contact:
Z. Gorley, Communications Director
ArchCity Defenders
zgorley@archcitydefenders.org