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Queer Youth: A Foster Care Story
TYPE: Documentary Feature
GENRE: Documentary
STATUS: Production
LOGLINE
Queer Youth: A Foster Care Story is a documentary feature about LGBTQ+ foster youth and families, and how they fight for a better future.
SYNOPSIS
Queer Youth features three LGBTQ+ former foster youth working to redefine child welfare and LGBTQ+ civil rights. The film shows us the history of a movement for LGBTQ+ families fighting for the right to love one another without shame or fear.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
In the United States we are living through a time of unprecedented focus on LGBTQ+ youth. The past three years have seen more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation than ever before. From the time of Harvey Milk to today, LGBTQ+ youth and families have been targets of political campaigns to dehumanize them. LGBTQ+ foster youth and parents routinely face challenges to their very right to exist, from civil servants to the Supreme Court of the United States. This documentary features young leaders who have grown up in foster care under the strain of LGBTQ+ discrimination, who fight every day to provide hope for a better future.
KEY CREW
Conor Fetting-Smith - Director/Produer
Conor Fetting-Smith (he/him/his) is a queer filmmaker based in Los Angeles whose work often touches on the LGBTQ+ experience. He recently produced Netflix’s documentary series, “Web of Make Believe,” which premiered in June of 2022 as the 3rd most watched title on the platform. In 2021, he produced “Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker,” which was short-listed for the Academy Award, won the Tribeca Film Festival for best documentary short, and was released by MTV Documentary Films on Paramount+. His directing credits include the web series “Butch & Nellie Take the Rap Game” (IFP Screen Forward Lab), “Thoroughly Melted Minnie” (SXSW premiere), and the documentary short “Bingo Night” (Big Sky Documentary Film Festival premiere). Other producing credits include Apple TV+’s documentary series, “Visible: Out on Television,” Netflix’s documentary feature, “They'll Love Me When I’m Dead,” and a forthcoming Netflix documentary feature with Luminant Media about the Boys Scout of America’s bankruptcy and history of sexual abuse.
Daniel Amigone - Producer
Daniel Amigone (he/him/his) is a father of three, and a New York based filmmaker working in the field and the edit room for the last 15 years. Over that span, Daniel has helped bring to life a wide variety of TV shows and feature length documentary films including: HBO's "24/7," Showtime's "The Circus," and National Geographic's "Chain of Command." He is a dynamic, energetic storyteller who is unabashedly passionate about bringing fascinating, previously untold stories to a wide audience in a smart and insightful way.
Jamari Perry - Producer
Jamari Perry (she/her/hers) is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker from the Bay Area, CA. Her films focus on popular culture and community empowerment. She has produced and directed several works of various genres including web interactives, documentary, media campaigns, and narrative films. Her experiences range from teaching as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts to producing award winning films, including an Emmy Award winning web interactive for PBS Frontline which examines a federal effort to investigate more than 150 cold cases that date back to the civil rights era. Jamari graduated with a MFA in Film and Television Production at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in 2013 and is currently working as founder and producer of a minority owned production company Hush Harbor Media. Hush Harbor Media creates high quality digital content for nonprofits and social justice organizations in order to amplify the work they are doing in their communities. This has been a through line in Jamari's career as she strongly believes in bringing humanity to the forefront of storytelling. When Jamari is not spending time with her biggest accomplishment to date (her son, Makai) she is continuously developing and pitching digital content, episodic, and feature films with her companions and business partners. Jamari lives by the quote that her father has instilled in her: “Great things can be slowed down but never stopped.”
Samantha Casey - Producer
Sam Casey (she/her/hers) is a creative producer with extensive experience in documentary, television, branded content, commercials and feature films spanning fifteen years. In her time as a director’s assistant, she worked with award-winning filmmakers Tony Scott and Davis Guggenheim, for whom she also produced U2’s From the Sky Down and President Obama’s accomplishments campaign film, The Road We Traveled. After over 50 episodes of television and a stint as a development executive, in 2015 Sam co-founded Studio 34, a film production and research company. Their clients have included HBO, Netflix, NBC Universal, Tremolo Productions, Boardwalk Pictures, and many more. Notable titles Sam's recently had the pleasure of producing include Val, The Fight, Q: Into the Storm, Law & Order: True Crime, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, and Wiener. Additionally, Studio 34 has also acted as a consultant for The Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson. Outside of her work in the entertainment industry, Sam is an accomplished photographer and fledgling drummer.
Alex Parker - Director of Photography
Alex Parker (he/him/his) is a queer Los Angeles-based cinematographer whose work includes feature films, documentaries, commercials and music videos. Over the past ten years Alex has contributed to a variety of content for Netflix, CNN, MTV, Tremolo Productions, Delirio Films, Luminant Media and The Guardian, just to name a few. This is his fifth collaboration with Conor Fetting-Smith.
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