Jimmie C. The Exoneree
After spending 27 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, Jimmie Gardner retells his perspective of this horrifying ordeal. Through his college radio show, Jimmie learns to become a DJ and shares his experience receiving a second chance at life.
Max Karpman is a first-generation American filmmaker who attends film school at Chapman University in California. At 19 years old, he’s created a multitude of short documentaries. From a bad concussion to his mother’s experience in an ultra-orthodox community, Max’s natural curiosity for the world has fueled his passion for storytelling. His most recent documentary, Jimmie C. the Exoneree, is the project he hopes to kickstart his filmmaking career.
Seth Karall is a 20-year-old filmmaker born and raised in Chicago, IL. He is constantly inspired by the city he grew up in to tell stories of injustice and human rights in a personal and meaningful way. At Chapman University, Seth creates short documentaries that detail the inspiring lives of his peers and important events in his community. His first documentary, Jimmie C. the Exoneree, is now entering the film festival circuit. Currently, Seth is a video editor intern at Splicer Films working on the docuseries, Unmasked.
Seth and I were partners for the final project of our documentary production class – a short 6-8 minute documentary about any subject. We struggled to come up with any ideas for a while. The day before our pitch was due, Seth had a conversation with the older student in his Spanish class, Jimmie. What started off as a common interest in Chicago sports revealed Jimmie’s story of a baseball player turned convicted criminal to exoneree. The story fell right into our hands. The next day, we asked Jimmie if we could make a documentary about him and he agreed. The following 2 months we spent alongside Jimmie; filming at his radio show, going on hikes, and recording sit-down interviews led to some of the most inspiring and thought-provoking months of our lives. As two 19-year-olds, the knowledge we were absorbing from being around Jimmie was at times so overwhelming that we would have to put our cameras down and just take a break. We would walk back to our dorm from the shoots and not even be able to talk to each other as we were so in awe of Jimmie’s story. It truly was an incredible privilege for us to document his story and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.