I know that sounds a little bit corny, but I've found some solace in that. I hope art can continue to do that for people, I really do.

Historically, you've had really muddy, unforgiving, unintentional images of black people.

I just remember not having access to films as a young person who loved films but living in Compton. In order to see the film, I had to get on the bus and travel quite a ways to get to an arthouse theater - none of which you're gonna find in black and brown communities - to see anything that was outside of what the studios fed me, and that's not the case anymore.

You know, often films that are deemed positive, nobody wants to see them.

Most of us think prison is a place where bad people go - which is what I thought for a long time - until you really start to look inside the system and you see, this is not right.

I'm a prison abolitionist because the prison system as it is set up is just not working. It's horrible.

I'm making and marketing my films, by any means necessary, and enjoying life while I do so.