About the Screening
In the aftermath of the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead, filmmakers Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman traveled to Parkland and began filming with students who endured gunfire and the parents who lost their children in the crosshairs. “After Parkland” is an intimate chronicle of families as they navigate their way through the unthinkable: reckoning with unexpected loss, journeying through grief, and searching for new meaning.
Screening of film is followed by Q&A with Directors/Producers Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman, as well as film subjects Victoria Gonzalez, Dillon McCooty, Brooke Harrison and Denise Harrison, moderated by Spectrum News Morning Anchor/Host Alex Cohen.
Emily Taguchi, Director/Producer
Emily Taguchi is a producer for Nightline, and a filmmaker whose work has been recognized with multiple Emmy nominations and a duPont-Columbia Award. She has directed and produced stories throughout the U.S. and abroad, which have aired on ABC, CNN, The New York Times Op-Docs, and PBS, among others. In 2016, she produced "Taller Than The Trees” (AFI, Tribeca), a documentary short about aging in Japan by Academy Award winning director Megan Mylan. Previously, she worked as a Coordinating Producer on "In Defense of Food," an Emmy-nominated film on the politics of what we eat, and as Field Producer on "Growing Up Trans," a duPont-Columbia Award-winning film on transgender children. Her next film with co-director Jake Lefferman, follows the journeys of asylum seekers from Central America and Americans who live and work on the southern border.
Jake Lefferman, Director/Producer
Jake Lefferman is a journalist and filmmaker for ABC News Nightline. His work includes award-winning coverage of prison programs connecting inmates with families, a crime miniseries and podcast for the network and long-form reporting from breaking situations including the Parkland and Pittsburgh shootings and Hurricane Harvey. His next project with codirector/producer Emily Taguchi follows the paths of asylum seekers from Central America. Jake grew in Los Angeles where he spent summers working odd jobs on film sets. He holds a M.S. from Columbia Journalism School and a B.A. from UC Berkeley.
Victoria Gonzalez, Film Participant
Victoria Gonzalez was a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when the February 2018 shooting took place. She lost her boyfriend Joaquin Oliver that day; while continuing to cope with her loss and grief, she has become a powerful voice against gun violence.
Brooke Harrison and Denise Harrison (mother), Film Participants
Brooke Harrison, then a freshman, was in the very first classroom that came under attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Three of her classmates were killed, with students to the left and right of her also injured. Brooke has since spoken about her experience to communities around the country to raise awareness about gun violence.
