Many Thousands Lost
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Family
A hyper-imaginative young girl inadvertently sparks a fight for her father's retrial as his execution date looms.
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This campaign raised $9,082 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
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A hyper-imaginative young girl inadvertently sparks a fight for her father's retrial as his execution date looms.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
"I hope that no one has to ever look at someone they love through glass."
The Story
Poppy Blane, a highly inquisitive 7-year-old, attends her father’s, Alonzo, murder trial, where he is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death row. Looking to shield his young daughter from the horrors of what goes on in the prison industrial complex, Alonzo devises an elaborate facade, telling his daughter that he is part of a secret spy organization, the prison being a front for it, and that he cannot come home until his mission is complete. All the while, Poppy’s mother, Adelaine, works tirelessly toward appealing for Alonzo’s retrial while terminally ill. Poppy works hard to help Alonzo with his spy case, thinking it would bring him home sooner. Adelaine passes away, and it is revealed to Poppy that her father has been lying about everything and is, in fact, on death row.
Poppy confronts him about this and is heartbroken to learn the truth. This disappointment becomes an estrangement as an adult. Poppy now works tirelessly to grant Alonzo a stay of execution; the struggle is upended when Alonzo refuses to sign the petition to grant him his stay. Poppy goes to plead for Alonzo to sign the petition, but he laments that his story has ended; Poppy’s has yet to be written, as he is taken to the death chamber, never to be seen again.
Why I Want To Tell This Story?
My experience being part of this system that has taken members of my community and extracted their life force has affected my childhood and adulthood alike. I have watched firsthand as this system has sucked the humanity from these people and left shells in their place. These adults included uncles, cousins, and childhood friends, many of whom I would come to know under a separate lens from how society would realize them. I must tell their stories because they mattered; the love they shared, the joy they had, and the sadness they felt matter and deserve to be seen. I wish to give these people the empathy in death that they were deprived of in life.
This story is pertinent for me to tell for many reasons, One reason being that it acts as the goodbye I never got the opportunity to say to my family members or my childhood friends who would go on to be incarcerated, to speak to them one last time through this profoundly spiritual art form. Another reason is that the humanity of incarcerated people has always been essential to reflect. When the adults of my life had been indoctrinated into the prison system, they did not take a blank slate, a statistic, or a prisoner; they took a human being who lived, loved immensely, laughed, danced, felt shame and depression, and deserved their stories be told. I believe that telling someone’s story is the most significant labor of love possible to give a person. I also believe that the stories of my formerly incarcerated family, my friend’s story, and my story are, in many ways, the same. It is perhaps most important to me because through telling this story, I get to tell these adults and my childhood friend’s story, and they, along with the many thousands Lost, can finally be heard and seen in a way they hadn’t been while living.
Why Now?
“There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now.” James Baldwin
Currently, in the United States of America, African Americans make up 39% of those incarcerated while only making up 13% of the population. 1 in 3 black men in America will be incarcerated in their lifetimes, and the pipeline to that starts with the black child who’s forced to become an adult at a drastically premature age. As the days pass, the complex only grows and mounts in power. The best time to challenge this system, built on the debilitation of people of color, was 20 years ago. The second best time to challenge that system is right now.
Our Budget
We are currently in pre-production and seeking any contribution to help with the production costs of telling this incredible and heartfelt story. Our principal photography starts in mid-July. Our goal is $11,000. The costs include compensation for our artists and crew, locations, food, Production Design, Equipment Rentals for our Camera Department, and post-production.
Our Film's Future
We plan to take this film to film festivals around the country and the world and partner with non-profits to hold screenings. The film aims to be used as a tool or talking point to encourage people to challenge this overbearing norm in society. We appreciate any support or contribution of any size! If you cannot contribute at this time, please share it with friends and family.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera and Lighting Equipment
Costs $3,000
To create Poppy's imaginative and heartfelt world, we plan to use a variety of camera accessories and lighting equipment.
Location Rentals
Costs $4,000
We are filming in various locations including a field, a house, and a visitation/holding area.
Cast and Crew Meals
Costs $2,000
Seven twelve -hour filming days can be demanding for our crew. We want to make sure our team is well-fed and nourished.
Production Design
Costs $2,000
We plan to design a prison visitation/holding area and house. Contributions will help with the costs of materials.
Share this update!
About This Team
Jehan Patterson-Writer/Director
Jehan Patterson is a Writer/Director based in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. He studied at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, and is currently an MFA student at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His work aims to encompass nuanced and honest presentations of the human experience of members of the African Diaspora. His work includes PSAs and short films that have premiered across film festivals such as the Pan African Film Festival and have been shown on international media outlets such as AJ Plus. His work has been focused on fighting injustices while humanizing individuals from oppressed or marginalized groups. He has also worked on stage productions spanning Chicago and Atlanta theater circuits.
Amirah Adem-Producer
Amirah Adem, a budding filmmaker pursuing her MFA at USC, brings a unique perspective to the industry. Hailing from Stone Mountain, GA, she is a first-generation South African and Ethiopian American. Her aspiration is to be a versatile creator, weaving multicultural narratives across various film elements and genres. Her work emphasizes the importance of understanding diverse ethnic and cultural complexities, a perspective that is sure to captivate audiences and industry professionals alike.
Chirsten Vanderbilt-Producer
Chirsten Vanderbilt Ellis’ passion for storytelling began on an ordinary day in a 4th-grade classroom on Chicago’s Southside. A typical spelling assignment turned into her first thirty-eight-page adventure short story. That experience transformed how she wanted to see herself and others represented in film and television. Thus, her curiosity for potent cinematic storytelling led her to the University of Southern California MFA Film and Television Production program. For her, every story is an adventure. She aspires to tell stories of the unknown and make an impact on youth aspiring to be in the entertainment industry.
Marlana Dunn-Producer/Editor
Marlana, a Pittsburgh native with a nomadic performance history, is pursuing an MFA at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Inspired by her father's perspective on humanity, especially regarding the incarcerated, she aims to tell stories that inspire, captivate, and foster connection. She contributes to the team behind "Many Thousands Lost," driven by a passion for exposing diverse perspectives.
Caileigh Gold-Cinematographer
Caileigh Gold, a Virginia Beach filmmaker pursuing an MFA at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, is acclaimed for her cinematography. Former ODU Film Club Secretary and Cannes attendee, she's the Annenberg Fellow and USC's Trojan Society of Cinematographers President. Eager to contribute her skills to advanced USC projects, she embodies a fervent passion for cinematography.
Lisa Hu-Editor
Lisa Ranran Hu is a Beijing filmmaker pursuing her MFA in film production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in psychology and a double minor in film and theater. Hu began making films at 14 and has since created a diverse range of work, from documentaries to narratives and family dramas to sci-fi. Her 75-minute feature film "Escape" has been featured in TIME magazine's "30 Most Influential Teens" list and Forbes' "30 Under 30 Asia," and she has received the MTV EMA "Generation Change Award." Before coming to SCA, Hu was part of the development team for the Taiwanese TV show Taiwan Crime Story, which has been released on Disney+. As an independent filmmaker, Hu has worked in all major positions from pre- to post-production, with her current focus primarily on editing and directing.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
"I hope that no one has to ever look at someone they love through glass."
The Story
Poppy Blane, a highly inquisitive 7-year-old, attends her father’s, Alonzo, murder trial, where he is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death row. Looking to shield his young daughter from the horrors of what goes on in the prison industrial complex, Alonzo devises an elaborate facade, telling his daughter that he is part of a secret spy organization, the prison being a front for it, and that he cannot come home until his mission is complete. All the while, Poppy’s mother, Adelaine, works tirelessly toward appealing for Alonzo’s retrial while terminally ill. Poppy works hard to help Alonzo with his spy case, thinking it would bring him home sooner. Adelaine passes away, and it is revealed to Poppy that her father has been lying about everything and is, in fact, on death row.
Poppy confronts him about this and is heartbroken to learn the truth. This disappointment becomes an estrangement as an adult. Poppy now works tirelessly to grant Alonzo a stay of execution; the struggle is upended when Alonzo refuses to sign the petition to grant him his stay. Poppy goes to plead for Alonzo to sign the petition, but he laments that his story has ended; Poppy’s has yet to be written, as he is taken to the death chamber, never to be seen again.
Why I Want To Tell This Story?
My experience being part of this system that has taken members of my community and extracted their life force has affected my childhood and adulthood alike. I have watched firsthand as this system has sucked the humanity from these people and left shells in their place. These adults included uncles, cousins, and childhood friends, many of whom I would come to know under a separate lens from how society would realize them. I must tell their stories because they mattered; the love they shared, the joy they had, and the sadness they felt matter and deserve to be seen. I wish to give these people the empathy in death that they were deprived of in life.
This story is pertinent for me to tell for many reasons, One reason being that it acts as the goodbye I never got the opportunity to say to my family members or my childhood friends who would go on to be incarcerated, to speak to them one last time through this profoundly spiritual art form. Another reason is that the humanity of incarcerated people has always been essential to reflect. When the adults of my life had been indoctrinated into the prison system, they did not take a blank slate, a statistic, or a prisoner; they took a human being who lived, loved immensely, laughed, danced, felt shame and depression, and deserved their stories be told. I believe that telling someone’s story is the most significant labor of love possible to give a person. I also believe that the stories of my formerly incarcerated family, my friend’s story, and my story are, in many ways, the same. It is perhaps most important to me because through telling this story, I get to tell these adults and my childhood friend’s story, and they, along with the many thousands Lost, can finally be heard and seen in a way they hadn’t been while living.
Why Now?
“There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now.” James Baldwin
Currently, in the United States of America, African Americans make up 39% of those incarcerated while only making up 13% of the population. 1 in 3 black men in America will be incarcerated in their lifetimes, and the pipeline to that starts with the black child who’s forced to become an adult at a drastically premature age. As the days pass, the complex only grows and mounts in power. The best time to challenge this system, built on the debilitation of people of color, was 20 years ago. The second best time to challenge that system is right now.
Our Budget
We are currently in pre-production and seeking any contribution to help with the production costs of telling this incredible and heartfelt story. Our principal photography starts in mid-July. Our goal is $11,000. The costs include compensation for our artists and crew, locations, food, Production Design, Equipment Rentals for our Camera Department, and post-production.
Our Film's Future
We plan to take this film to film festivals around the country and the world and partner with non-profits to hold screenings. The film aims to be used as a tool or talking point to encourage people to challenge this overbearing norm in society. We appreciate any support or contribution of any size! If you cannot contribute at this time, please share it with friends and family.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera and Lighting Equipment
Costs $3,000
To create Poppy's imaginative and heartfelt world, we plan to use a variety of camera accessories and lighting equipment.
Location Rentals
Costs $4,000
We are filming in various locations including a field, a house, and a visitation/holding area.
Cast and Crew Meals
Costs $2,000
Seven twelve -hour filming days can be demanding for our crew. We want to make sure our team is well-fed and nourished.
Production Design
Costs $2,000
We plan to design a prison visitation/holding area and house. Contributions will help with the costs of materials.
Share this update!
About This Team
Jehan Patterson-Writer/Director
Jehan Patterson is a Writer/Director based in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. He studied at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, and is currently an MFA student at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His work aims to encompass nuanced and honest presentations of the human experience of members of the African Diaspora. His work includes PSAs and short films that have premiered across film festivals such as the Pan African Film Festival and have been shown on international media outlets such as AJ Plus. His work has been focused on fighting injustices while humanizing individuals from oppressed or marginalized groups. He has also worked on stage productions spanning Chicago and Atlanta theater circuits.
Amirah Adem-Producer
Amirah Adem, a budding filmmaker pursuing her MFA at USC, brings a unique perspective to the industry. Hailing from Stone Mountain, GA, she is a first-generation South African and Ethiopian American. Her aspiration is to be a versatile creator, weaving multicultural narratives across various film elements and genres. Her work emphasizes the importance of understanding diverse ethnic and cultural complexities, a perspective that is sure to captivate audiences and industry professionals alike.
Chirsten Vanderbilt-Producer
Chirsten Vanderbilt Ellis’ passion for storytelling began on an ordinary day in a 4th-grade classroom on Chicago’s Southside. A typical spelling assignment turned into her first thirty-eight-page adventure short story. That experience transformed how she wanted to see herself and others represented in film and television. Thus, her curiosity for potent cinematic storytelling led her to the University of Southern California MFA Film and Television Production program. For her, every story is an adventure. She aspires to tell stories of the unknown and make an impact on youth aspiring to be in the entertainment industry.
Marlana Dunn-Producer/Editor
Marlana, a Pittsburgh native with a nomadic performance history, is pursuing an MFA at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Inspired by her father's perspective on humanity, especially regarding the incarcerated, she aims to tell stories that inspire, captivate, and foster connection. She contributes to the team behind "Many Thousands Lost," driven by a passion for exposing diverse perspectives.
Caileigh Gold-Cinematographer
Caileigh Gold, a Virginia Beach filmmaker pursuing an MFA at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, is acclaimed for her cinematography. Former ODU Film Club Secretary and Cannes attendee, she's the Annenberg Fellow and USC's Trojan Society of Cinematographers President. Eager to contribute her skills to advanced USC projects, she embodies a fervent passion for cinematography.
Lisa Hu-Editor
Lisa Ranran Hu is a Beijing filmmaker pursuing her MFA in film production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in psychology and a double minor in film and theater. Hu began making films at 14 and has since created a diverse range of work, from documentaries to narratives and family dramas to sci-fi. Her 75-minute feature film "Escape" has been featured in TIME magazine's "30 Most Influential Teens" list and Forbes' "30 Under 30 Asia," and she has received the MTV EMA "Generation Change Award." Before coming to SCA, Hu was part of the development team for the Taiwanese TV show Taiwan Crime Story, which has been released on Disney+. As an independent filmmaker, Hu has worked in all major positions from pre- to post-production, with her current focus primarily on editing and directing.