When They See Us NetflixFYSEE Event

Event coverage from Moogega Stricker, entertainment correspondent for Red Carpet Report, Follow her on Twitter @Moogega

It takes a village to put together a miniseries and to do it exceptionally well while giving justice to every detail of the human story takes some very special people. Key members of the team that made “When They See Us” into a reality gathered for a Conversation on Crafts on June 14 at Netflix’s FYSee space. The panel was moderated by Ava DuVernay, Creator, Writer, co-Writer, and Director of “When They See Us”. The panel was comprised of Composer Kris Bowers, Music Supervisor Aaron Byrd, Production Designer Akin McKenzie, ACE and Editor Michelle Tesoro, Executive Producer Berry Welsh, Co-writer Michael Starrbury, Re-recording Mixer Joe DeAngelis, and Sound Dialog/ADR Editor Susan Dudeck.

Ava and team use their talents to bring awareness to the innocent lives that were disregarded by the criminal justice system: Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusuf Salaam, and Korey Wise. Before the panel discussion began, Ava wanted the audience and world to know that there were “unicorns” on her panel: the ever-elusive talented people of color and women who excelled in their respective roles. Her point was that talented composers, writers, production designers, and more were in fact not difficult to find, which gives a production no excuse for a lack of diversity on their team.

Akin McKenzie spoke about his journey to design the scenes to help the viewers feel the energy of these boys and to help translate their suffering. “It is about honoring them, understanding them, observing their humanity, observing their diversity, observing their individuality. We want to see where they put their toothbrush. We want to know where their fingerprints are on the wall. We want to see their indentation on their pillow. We want to breathe them in and understand them as deeply as possible, and Ava and I were in that, feeling that.”

Ava DuVernay NetflixFYSEE Event
(L-R) Executive Producer Berry Welsh, Music Supervisor Aaron Byrd, Sound-Dialog/ADR Editor Susan Dudeck, Production Designer Akin McKenzie, Writer, Director and Creator Ava DuVernay, Re-recording mixer Joe DeAngelis, Picture Editor Michelle Tesoro, Composer Kris Bowers and Writer Michael Starrbury attend the Netflix “When They See Us” BTL FYSEE Event at Raleigh Studios on June 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Michael Starrbury described his challenges to writing and the gravity of his work’s implications. “It’s important that we see that these guys are human and that they have emotions.” Much of the conversation was focused on this central goal. It was described to be a shame that such tremendous effort had to be focused on humanizing young, African-American boys to the general public. The goal was to not paint them strictly as the “Central Park 5”, as it takes away from each boy as an individual, and makes them into a statistic or a number free of emotion. We were charged to call them by their names: Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusuf Salaam, and Korey Wise. One of Michael’s many notable contributions in co-writing episode 4 was Korey’s Chia pet moment. Michael described it as something that everybody can relate to, which allows for all viewers to be drawn in for a moment of levity and pause.

Prior to the conclusion of the discussion, a pivotal point was raised about stories like this in general: there are countless innocent men and women behind bars today who are victims to a poor criminal justice system, and it is easy to forget them. When we as a society ignore it, it allows for these injustices to continue to happen.

Kris Bowers closed the discussion with a live performance of score that he wrote for the miniseries, which allowed the audience to have one last moment of pause and reflection.

About When They See Us

Based on a true story that gripped the country, When They See Us will chronicle the notorious case of five teenagers of color, labeled the Central Park Five, who were convicted of a rape they did not commit. The four-part limited series will focus on the five teenagers from Harlem — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. Beginning in the spring of 1989, when the teenagers were first questioned about the incident, the series will span 25 years, highlighting their exoneration in 2002 and the settlement reached with the city of New York in 2014. When They See Us was created by Ava DuVernay, who also co-wrote and directed the four parts. Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King from Participant Media, Oprah Winfrey from Harpo Films, and Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsh and Robert De Niro from Tribeca Productions will executive produce the limited series alongside DuVernay through her banner, Forward Movement. In addition to DuVernay, Attica Locke, Robin Swicord, and Michael Starrburry also serve as writers on the limited series. The series stars Emmy Award® Nominee Michael K. Williams, Academy Award® Nominee Vera Farmiga, Emmy Award® Winner John Leguizamo, Academy Award® Nominee and Emmy Award® Winner Felicity Huffman, Emmy Award® Nominee Niecy Nash, Emmy Award® Winner and two-time Golden Globe Nominee Blair Underwood, Emmy Award® and Grammy Award® Winner and Tony Award® Nominee Christopher Jackson, Joshua Jackson, Omar Dorsey, Adepero Oduye, Famke Janssen, Aurora Perrineau, Dascha Polanco, William Sadler, Jharrel Jerome, Jovan Adepo, Aunjanue Ellis, Kylie Bunbury, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Storm Reid, Chris Chalk, Freddy Miyares, Justin Cunningham, Ethan Herisse, Caleel Harris, Marquis Rodriguez, and Asante Blackk.

When They See Us premiered on May 31 only on Netflix

Watch When They See Us: https://www.netflix.com/title/80200549