Metamora Films: Transforming Hearts and Minds through Film

FREE tickets available starting January 1st, 2017.  Only 100 tickets will be available due to the theater’s capacity.  Book early to guarantee your spot! NOT FOR RENT! , Metamora Films latest documentary film is being released and screened at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.   The feature length documentary film,  looks at rental housing barriers ex-felons face as they attempt to rebuild their lives in our communities.  With over 95% of the American prison population being released at some point in the future, millions of ex-inmates struggle with ‘red tape’ and strict criminal history rental requirements property managers and landlords enforce. In this unique and powerful film, you’ll meet several people who’ve been personally affected by housing restrictions due to felony convictions.  The film screening is scheduled for April 5th, 2017 from 12:30pm to 2:30pm at the Wildcat Theater .  The event is FREE and open to the public including Weber State students

   ‘Everyone Deserves A Place To Live’ – NOT FOR RENT! Documentary Film In Post-Production Phase November 11, 2016 NOT FOR RENT! , our latest documentary film project is currently in the post-production and pre-release marketing phase.  An April, 2017 release is planned. We’re excited to be promoting this eye-opening documentary film about people living with a felony record and the housing restrictions they face everyday in the United States.   With new announcements from HUD earlier this year and talk of more rehabilitation rather than prison sentences, we feel this is a perfect time to release a film about former inmates and the challenges they face during community reentry. Why produce a film about rental housing and ex-felons?  Here are some stats that are worth reading: Ex-felons suffer a higher rate of homelessness. People convicted of certain sex offenses and drug crimes are prohibited from public housing and Section 8. Most a

We are excited to be launching a complete overhaul of our Metamora Films ‘ website.  Since our website launch May 2013, we’ve undergone two website re-designs.  I remember designing our first simple layout during that spring and was excited to get Metamora Films and our mission out to the world.  Since our inception, our website traffic has grown significantly.  Generally, we advertise our films and projects by word of mouth, social media, and interaction with the public during our film releases and public speaking presentations such as the workshop I gave earlier this year at the InterNational Prisoner’s Family Conference in Dallas, Texas.  You can also check out our new logo film opener which was released in June: In addition to our new look, we’ve revamped MetamoraTV and introduced our first video podcast, ‘ Solitary Nation ‘. MetamoraTV produces thought-provoking journalism through video, photography, artwork, writing, graphic arts and any form of media that is

We are changing MetamoraTV’s focus.  Over the last two years we’ve mainly covered celebrity charity events including the 2016 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.  Though this has been informative and exciting, we feel that our online TV podcast will be more beneficial by covering one of America’s biggest embarrassment:  The Criminal Justice System.  ‘ Solitary Nation ‘, hosted by Matt Duhamel , will officially launch September 20th, 2016 with interviews from professionals, organization leaders, dignitaries and everyday people.  Topics will include:  the prison system, probation/parole, sex offender registration, the affects of incarceration on children and families, and much more.  (Note: Metamora Films will continue producing documentaries and short films with our latest project, NOT FOR RENT! planned for an April, 2017 release.) If you or someone that you know is interested in being on the show, please contact us .  Interviews require a high speed internet c

Jail is a scary place.  I know, I’ve been there (luckily only 5 days, but it was hell because of my charges!)  The general public often does not know the differences between jail and prison.  According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics ,  jails are locally-operated, short term facilities that hold inmates awaiting trial or sentencing or both, and inmates sentenced to a term of less than 1 year, typically misdemeanors. Prisons are long term facilities run by the state or the federal government and typically hold felons and inmates with sentences of more than 1 year.  This means that in local jails, there’s a HUGE mixture of inmates with a wide variety of low and high level offenses all together in the same pod!  For example, to the left of you is an inmate with twenty-five unpaid parking tickets; to the right is an inmate with armed-robbery charges.  I think of Tom Hanks famous line in the film, Forest Gump , “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never

When I was incarcerated,  I loved listening to radio shows on National Public Radio (NPR) such as ‘Fresh Air’ and ‘All Things Considered.’ To be honest, I had never listed to NPR before I was incarcerated and had no idea the wide variety of shows that they aired across the country.  These shows served as a life line for me personally and helped me get through the darkest times of my life. But what about the average listener or viewer?  Is public broadcasting still a viable source for information, news and entertainment?   YES . WHAT IS PUBLIC BROADCASTING? America’s unique public broadcasting system is a collaboration of 1,300 local non-commercial radio and television stations that meet the standards of and are supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting .  They work with each other and with hundreds of national and local producers and community partners to ensure that Americans have universal access to high-quality non-commercial programming with a particul

What is International Megan’s Law (IML) and why should you care? And why the controversy about ‘unique identifiers’ on registered sex offenders’ passports? Our  video coverage  of the Oakland, CA protest is getting a lot of attention lately.  Organized by Attorney, Janice Bellucci of  Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) and Vicki Henry, President of Woman Against Registry (WAR), the July 27, 2016 gathering at the U.S. District Courthouse was organized to educate the general public and to protest against ‘unique identifiers’ being placed on registered sex offenders’ passports. Bellucci argued that notifications sent to foreign countries have a “chilling effect” upon registrants, many of whom are now afraid to travel overseas.  She also argued that notifications are harm registrants’ ability to travel overseas in order to meet with family members, conduct business and pursue cultural interests.  She further argued that they place registrants and anyone wh

Metamora Films to Film Protest Against International Megan’s Law (IML) Metamora Films heads to Northern California to film the peaceful protest at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, July 27, 2016 to show support against H.R.515 , a bill that was signed by President Obama on February 8, 2016. The International Megan’s Law bill was first introduced by the U.S. Representative Chris Smith. Rep. Chris Smith The international law authorizes the United States to alert foreign countries when a convicted registered child sex offender is entering their country. As part of that effort the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has expanded the efforts of the Angel Watch Center.  The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) and bears the laborious title: “The International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders.” You might be thinking that sounds like a gr