"Who is Charlie Kirk?" A Quest for Truth

I spent the last two weeks tackling one of the most controversial topics I have ever worked on. After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I posted my support on social media, then decided to travel to the Memorial and Tribute in Glendale, Arizona. There, I asked several audience members the question: “Who is Charlie Kirk?” The responses and experience overall were opening and inspirational to say the least.

Some of you may remember that back in 2020, I traveled the country during the COVID lockdowns, filming the empty cities of LA, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, D.C., and more. The trip was to create the film Empty America, which was also controversial. During that time, I faced plenty of criticism and pushback on social posts for my choice to go and share, as well as my counter-culture take on the experience. To my surprise, the reactions to this project, both praise and criticism, were many times greater.

So why do it, you might ask?

I feel strongly that it is important in life to follow one’s convictions, even if those convictions are unpopular. After all, life is not a popularity contest, and one must choose at some point what they believe in and stand up for it. And to the point of this project, one should not have to fear that they could be killed for that choice, which seemed obvious to me upfront. Would anyone say MLK, JFK, RFK, Lennon, Malcome X, or the like, deserved what they got because of what they said?

Strangely, that was the interpretation I got from anyone saying, “…but Barry, you know Charlie Kirk said, [fill in the blank].”

My point is that talking and listening are the only paths forward. No matter your view on Charlie or the topic itself, I encourage you to take a few minutes to watch this piece. I believe you will be as inspired and moved as I was.

VISION:
We started small with a BIG vision. From here, we would like to connect with Turning Point to gain their support in sharing the project. We hope to go on to make a longer full-length documentary answering the question, “Who is Charlie Kirk?” That project would encompass a larger group of interviewees and subjects, giving voices to all sides of the story and building a timeline of Charlie’s life in parallel. To do that, we set a goal for the project to raise $15,000 in grassroots donations and combine that with an investment from Turning Point or an alternative investment source (i.e., Hillsdale College, Liberty University, Elon Musk, etc.). Hey, why not dream big!!

CURRENT DONATIONS:
This project was made possible by the kind donations of 10 people via two platforms totaling $2375.00.

Special thanks go out to:
Mark Gilligan
Steve Koroloczuk
Doug & Susan Parkhurst
Amanda Swiggum
Michael Wish
Lauri Lilly
Mark Eckel
Mikel McClellan
George & Judy Walton
Kecia Rodreguez

We were also blessed by the Space Coast Creative Center (SC3), which donated the use of their studios for a half day (a $500+ value).

*Big thanks must also go to Brian Leman for producing this shoot and leading the charge to Arizona and Jesse Hall for producing in the studio. I am so thankful for the generosity of both him and the people who stepped up to support us in this endeavor. It is easily one of the most impactful projects I have worked on in years.

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Endless Media is a video production and digital media agency that helps businesses grow through storytelling with powerful videos and the distribution of content through email and social media platforms.

#charliekirk #turningpointusa #tribute #memorial #provemewrong

Endless Media is a video production and digital media agency that helps businesses grow through storytelling with powerful videos and the distribution of content through email and social media platforms.