Skip to content

About the film

“This is not about making art, it’s about changing the system”  – Mark Strandquist, teacher/activist featured in Virtually Free

Every year about 300,000 kids are confined in youth detention in the US, limiting their potential to succeed in life.

  • 70-80% will be re-arrested within 2 or 3 years of being released
  • Nearly ⅔ will never complete high school.

Richmond, Virginia’s families, police, judges, artists, and activists have united to change this in their own community. 

Virtually Free is a documentary about unlikely allies who partner to transform the juvenile justice system and stop mass incarceration. 

Produced by the non-profit media company Shine Global, Virtually Free is directed by André Robert Lee

In the film, we meet Sid, Taee, and AR, three teens currently being held in a Richmond, VA detention center who are offered the chance to become activists speaking truth to power. Participating in a local arts organizations’ program, Performing Statistics, they are taught by different artists to deliver their powerful, authentic messages to the public, law enforcement, and government officials using their art, including a virtual reality jail cell they’ve helped create. 

We also hear from Richmond police officers, including Richmond Chief of Police Alfred Durham. He’s requiring all officers to go through a special training that incorporates the VR jail cell experience the teens created. We meet the first officers in the rookie police class as they go through the training, and hear them reflect on how it relates to their new job.

Virtually Free ultimately looks at how a community can work together to create a city that is livable for all its citizens and the challenges they face in doing so. Knowing that youth in trouble need education, guidance, and a network of support to get back on track, Richmond’s families, police, judges, artists, and activists are trying to work together to empower teens. e

The Team

Virtually Free - Director André Robert Lee

André Robert Lee

Director

André has taken a unique path from teaching in the NYC public school system, to graduate school, and then the Ford Foundation before finding his way to the entertainment business. André wrote, directed and produced the feature documentary The Prep School Negro (2012) which has had hundreds of screenings and workshops at high schools, colleges, universities, gatherings and conferences. He also produced the documentary feature I’m Not Racist…Am I? (2014). In the past, André served for two years on the Miramax Films Academy-driven Marketing team, was Director of Marketing for Urbanworld, and produced short films at Film Movement. André’s work as a freelance producer has included a music video for The Churchills, numerous segments for German television, and directing an episode of “The Election Effect” digital series with Shine Global for Paramount Network.

Susan MacLaury headshot 2020 copy

Susan MacLaury

Producer

Susan MacLaury produced the documentary The Wrong Light (2016) and executive produced the Academy Award®-winning film Inocente, the Academy Award®-nominated War/Dance, The Harvest (La Cosecha), 1 Way Up in 3D, The Eagle Huntress, and Liyana. As Shine’s co-founder and executive director, she directs the outreach and engagement for all of Shine Global’s films.  Susan is also dually degreed in social work administration and health education and recently retired from teaching at Kean University.

Alexandra Blaney

Producer

Alexandra Blaney was Co-Producer of The Wrong Light and 1 Way Up in 3D and Associate Producer of Shine’s Academy Award®-winning short documentary film Inocente. She is the Director of Marketing and Production at Shine Global and also helps develop and manage the outreach programs for Shine’s films.

Executive Producer Albie Hecht has produced narrative, animated, and documentary films, television series, and specials for film and TV for more than 20 years. He oversaw production at Nickelodeon Movies and developed hit series for Nick TV. After creating Spike TV, Albie executive produced the award -winning series, Untold and True Dads. For Shine Global, he produced the Emmy Award®-winning, Academy Award®-nominated War/Dance, the Academy Award® winner Inocente, and 1 Way Up in 3D and executive produced The Harvest (La Cosecha).

Executive Producer Hiry West was a private investor and co-Founder of Medicaid Advisory Group and Zwoosh Media. Hiry was born and raised in New York City. He attended the University of Rochester and graduated with a BA in History. He began his business career as a Financial Advisor. For the past fifteen years he was involved with a number of different entrepreneurial ventures. Hiry was always dedicated to charitable causes and was a passionate advocate for children.

Executive Producer Dawn Porter is an award-winning filmmaker whose 2013 documentary, Gideon’s Army, won the Sundance Film Festival Editing Award, the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and an Emmy. The film broadcast on HBO in July 2013 and has been used to engage local communities about indigent defense, the U.S. justice system and socioeconomic influences on crime. 
Dawn’s other films include Trapped (2016), Spies of Mississippi (2014, PBS) and Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeper.

CREDITS

Shine Global Presents
A Many Things Management Production
In Association with PROM Creative

Directed By
André Robert Lee

Produced By
Susan MacLaury
Alexandra Blaney

Executive Producers
Albie Hecht
Hiry West
Dawn Porter

Edited By
Nick Clark

Cinematographer
Brendan Hall

Co-Producers
Charlie Sadoff
Graham Raubvogel

Music By
Rick Witkowski

Animation & Graphics
Whitney Hudson

Associate Editor
Sean Conrad

Associate Producer For PROM
Sandra Tan

Additional Cinematography
Cody Powers
Ahad Mahmood

Field Producers
Adam Bova
Amanda Ricks

Sound Mixers
Nicholas Heppding
Matt Blackerby
Ken Altman

Production Associates
Kiana Jackson
Caitlin Glasgo

Legal Counsel
Roy Langbord

Color By
Irving Harvey

Colorist
Matthew Greenberg

Finishing Producer
Samuel Gursky
Kerry Mack

Systems Administrator
Lyle Zanca

Supervising Sound Editor & Re-Recording Mixer
David Forshee

Dialogue Editor
Noelle DiMarco

Vocals On “Love Does” — Stevee Wellons

Funding Provided By
National Endowment For The Arts
Chicago Media Project’s Impact Grant Fund
Brooksville Company LLC
Empire Core Group
Anonymous
And the generous support of individual donors
to Shine Global Inc and through Kickstarter

Shine Global is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media company with the mission to give voice to children and their families by telling stories of their resilience to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children and their families. Through tailored distribution and outreach, we connect with our audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on capitol hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.
Learn more at www.shineglobal.org

Copyright © 2020. Virtually Free LLC. All Rights Reserved.