TRACE THE LINE CONVERSATIONS

Bravebird strives to offer a forum for connection, catharsis and hope. We feel the most powerful way to do so is by partnering with leaders and local organizations to highlight community-led efforts that address critical human and societal healing and transformation.
transform the narrative
Wednesday, Feb. 24
7 PM CST

Join Bravebird's Alejandro Miranda Cruz for a virtual conversation with leaders from three Midwestern cities significantly impacted by appalling violence against Black Americans in their communities. The discussion will focus on topics that inform viewers how to grapple with the nationwide struggle to overcome and move forward. The conversation will also highlight footage from the upcoming film, Trace the Line, as it addresses the critical human and societal issues we are all facing.

JOIN THE VIRTUAL EVENT

TOPICS

Minneapolis
Not Being a Bystander

with Angela Rose Myers, President of the Minneapolis NAACP

Chicago
Black Excellence and Trauma

with Joselynne Joy Gardner, Assistant Deputy General Counsel, Board of Education of the City of Chicago — Law Department

Kenosha, Wis.
Connecting Across Divides

with S.R. Mills, CEO of Bear Development

Kenosha, Wis.
Moving forward

with Porche Bennett-Bey, Founder of United As One and the Moorish Outreach Coalition

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transform the narrative

SPARK THE CONVERSATION

Our film, Trace the Line, strives to offer a forum for connection, catharsis and action. We feel the most powerful way to do so is by partnering with local organizations to highlight community-led efforts that address the critical human and societal issues the film touches on.

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Bravebird Co-Founders, Alejandro Miranda Cruz and Noel Miranda.Behind the Scenes for "Trace the Line" with Director Alejandro Miranda Cruz, Cinematographer Greg Hatton, and Actors Brooke Leland and Matthew Charles Bogart.

VIRTUAL EVENT
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24
7 P.M.

Over the past year, we have witnessed appalling violence against Black Americans and a nationwide struggle to overcome and move forward for a virtual conversation bringing together communities in three Midwestern cities significantly impacted: Minneapolis, Kenosha, and Chicago. The event will feature "spotlights" for each city — combining footage from Trace the Line with a discussion with a local community leader to address the critical human and societal issues the film touches on, helping to ground our cinema in the real-life human missions it explores:

Black Excellence + Dealing with Trauma
Connecting Across Divides
Not Being a Bystander

Quotation marks.
"Without dance, without drama, without photography, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings." – Congressmen John Lewis

TRACE THE LINE

Learn more about the film

OUR COMMUNITY LEADERS

Introduction by

Diem Van Groth

Founder of GV Back and The Urban Impact

Diem Van Groth is a visionary leader and connected entrepreneur with over 25 years of extensive experience building and growing companies and communities internationally. He is the founder of GV BACK, a California-based minority tech company, and The Urban Impact, which supports groups working to stabilize North Minneapolis after the George Floyd murder. Diem also filmed the front lines of the Minneapolis protest. He currently provides strategic advisement to the board of directors of ReconnectRondo Inc., the group developing the plans for the Rondo Community Land Bridge, a proposal to build a land bridge over the I-94 freeway that in the 1960s destroyed and cut through the historic black neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota.

SPEAKER

Angela Rose Myers

NAACp Minneapolis President

Angela Rose Myers is the president of the Minneapolis NAACP and research assistant to the director of the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice. After graduating with a Bachelor's in Arts from Barnard College, Columbia University, in Africana Studies and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, she returned to her hometown to make change on the local level. As a social justice advocate, organizer, and researcher, Angela’s goals are to create bridges between community members, elected officials, and experts in critical race theory.

SPEAKER

Joselynne Joy Gardner

Assistant Deputy General Counsel, Board of Education of the City of Chicago — Law Department

A graduate of the John Marshall Law School at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Joselynne is a former prosecutor and city leader who participated in the University of Chicago Civic Leadership Academy that connects government and nonprofit leaders with experts to find innovative solutions to problems in Chicago like housing equity, gun violence, and community based government initiatives. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Minority Legal Education Resources, Inc. whose mission is to increase diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Joselynne was recently featured in the Chicago Sun-Times discussing the struggle of having the "The Talk” with her son following the death of George Floyd about how to be safe during encounters with the police.

SPEAKER

s.r. mills

ceo of bear development

S.R. Mills is the Chief Executive Officer and a principal of Bear Real Estate Group. Each company within Bear plays a pivotal role in the acquisition, development and construction of commercial real estate and master planned residential communities.  Bear is continually ranked as one of the top 20 largest developers of affordable housing in the country.  S.R. joined the Bear Family of companies in 2002. Prior to his career with Bear, he worked with several technology companies in northern California. He earned his bachelor’s degree in real estate, finance and investment from St. Cloud State University and his master’s in real estate from Roosevelt University. He also holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation and previously served as a director of the Wisconsin CCIM board.  S.R. is an active member of the University of Wisconsin Parkside Foundation Board, Mary Lou & Arthur F. Mahone Foundation and KAFASI (Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services).

SPEAKER

Porche Bennett-bey

Founder of United as One and the Moorish Outreach Coalition

Porche Bennett-Bey is an Army veteran, mother of three and a lifelong Kenosha resident active in the social justice movement, Porche is a racial justice advocate and founder of the Kenosha group United As One. She drew national attention when she told then-presidential candidate Joe Biden he needed to better understand the Black experience in her hometown during his visit to the city following the shooting of Jacob Blake. She was named one of Time magazine’s Guardians of the Year in 2020, honoring people who “put themselves on the line to defend the ideals sacred to democracy.”

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FILM
44
collaborators
55%
BIPOC
50%
FEMALE

Who we are

bravebird

Bravebird is an Indigenous and Female-owned video production company transforming the process of filmmaking to create authentic narratives that portray all people with dignity. Bravebird Co-founder and director Alejandro Miranda Cruz witnessed the lack of equity and diversity in front of and behind the camera during 15 years working in Hollywood, first as an actor in films and TV shows including The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Walker Texas Ranger, and then behind the scenes for a major studio. Co-founder and executive producer Noel Miranda partners with clients across industries to produce original content and has a background in the nonprofit sector. UCLA’s annual Hollywood Diversity Report shows a glaring absence of Women and BIPOC in leadership roles and still some ground to make up in front of and behind the camera. The cast and crew for Bravebird’s Trace the Line tells a different story: 55% BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of color) and 50% Female.

Behind the scenes with Director Alejandro Miranda Cruz and Producer Noel Miranda holding the slate for "Trace the Line".
3:15

who we are

B

ravebird is an Indigenous and Female-owned video production company transforming the process of filmmaking to create authentic narratives that portray all people with dignity.

Bravebird co-founder and director Alejandro Miranda Cruz witnessed the lack of equity and diversity in front of and behind the camera during 15 years working in Hollywood, first as an actor in films and TV shows including The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Walker Texas Ranger, and then behind the scenes for a major studio in creative development. Co-founder and executive producer Noel Miranda partners with clients across industries to produce original content and has a background in the nonprofit sector.

Cinema Dignité

There is high demand for narratives that depict the rich diversity of the ever-changing demographics in the U.S. Bravebird is pioneering a new wave of high-quality filmmaking to holistically depict the humanity of all people and empower communities. We develop and produce impactful, meaningful, and memorable stories with an equitable lens at every step of the storytelling process. Bravebird is also creating a “farm system” to build a pipeline of untapped BIPOC creatives and eventually deploy them on commercial projects.

Cinema Dignité
Watch What We Do
4:58
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
About Me

I was a professional actor in Hollywood for over 15 years. In that time, I was routinely cast-typed for delinquent roles. Now I am an independent filmmaker working towards restorative and transformative storytelling. I intimately care how communities of color are depicted on-screen and I personally work towards building more diversity behind the camera. I believe in empowering diverse communities to tell their stories. My hope is to see more authentic depictions of diverse lives in media.

Wishing you and all your loved ones much health and peace,

Alex Miranda Cruz
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Based in Madison, WI
alex@wearebravebird.com
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