PARKLAND RISING

On February 14, 2018, a school shooting took the lives of 17 people and suddenly changed the conversation about guns in America. Local and national news crews descended on the suburban town of Parkland, Florida in droves. A handful of media-savvy student survivors saw that all eyes were on them and seized the opportunity to be heard.

Spurred by raw emotions, outrage and the desire to honor the friends they lost, David Hogg, Jaclyn Corin, Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky, Jammal Lemy, and their classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School suddenly became the faces of the largest movement for gun reform in the country’s history. These vocal teens demanded to be heard by their local and national politicians and quickly gained hundreds of thousands of supporters.

Manuel and Patricia Oliver lost their son, Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, in the shooting. The 17-year-old senior was beloved by his classmates and teachers. In the wake of Joaquin’s murder with an AR-15, the Olivers founded a non-profit called Change The Ref to try change the NRA-backed political leadership they believe are making “bad calls.” Manuel Oliver, an artist, used his pain to create provocative and emotional “Walls of Demand,” and found a unique way to bring Joaquin’s voice into the movement. Manuel and Patricia stood alongside David, Jaclyn, Emma, Cameron, Sam and the March for Our Lives students forging a deep bond, supporting and motivating each other in their fight to prevent other families from experiencing the tragedy of a mass shooting.

Our production team was embedded with these students and families over the course of nine months, from before the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. through the midterm elections. With rare ongoing access to the March For Our Lives youth leaders, as well as the founders of Change the Ref, we joined these activists in their homes in Florida and followed their journey all across the United States, including the NRA’s national convention in Dallas.

PARKLAND RISING documents the teen-led gun reform movement as it unfolds with a wealth of raw and illuminating content. We witness their grassroots efforts to get the gun lobby out of politics by turning out record numbers of youth voters while facing gun-carrying counter protesters, an onslaught of online vitriol, and even death threats.

Through intimate verite storytelling, PARKLAND RISING reveals the ways that ordinary citizens rose together in an extraordinary effort to end mass shootings in the country.