support the film TODAY
Contribute to The Dead Zone to shine a light on a life-and-death crisis and support a powerful tool for education and dialog.
Justice Shouldn’t Have to Wait.
Duane Lake spent six years in pretrial detention, presumed innocent, before a jury found him not guilty.
His story isn’t an outlier. Every day in the United States, two people die waiting for trial. More than 400,000 others sit in jail on any given day, trapped in a legal limbo known as pretrial detention.
The hidden crisis
Pretrial detention is one of the least understood crises in American justice. It disrupts families, destabilizes communities, and erodes constitutional rights — all before anyone has been convicted of anything. In Mississippi people have been held years without continuous legal representation in a situation called "The Dead Zone." The urgency of this moment is hard to overstate.
The story only film can tell
Rather than oversimplifying the issue, The Dead Zone humanizes its complexity. Filmed over four years across the American South, the film follows four people who hold real power inside the system: a district attorney, a public defender, a criminal court judge, and a man who lost six years of his life to pretrial detention before being found not guilty.
The film breaks down silos to reveal where their interests unexpectedly align: community safety, fairness, and dignity. Weaving their stories together, the film exposes how pretrial detention actually works, and how it can change.
This is not an abstract policy film. It is a cinematic, emotionally grounded documentary that replaces fear-based narratives with truth, nuance, and accountability.
400K +
Unconvicted people detained in jail every day
2 PEOPLE DIE
Waiting for trial each day in the U.S.
4+ YEARS
Reporting and filming
your contribution TODAY matters more than ever
The Dead Zone equips audiences with the understanding needed to recalibrate public opinion and help save lives.
But only if it reaches audiences. You can transform years of reporting and filming into a finished film with national reach and long-term relevance.
Over 90% of the vérité footage has been filmed, capturing pivotal moments that cannot be recreated. Your contribution directly funds:
Final editing
Archival licensing
Music composition
Impact planning
As a fiscally sponsored project of Women Make Movies (501(c)(3)), all contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
OFFICIAL FILM SUPPORTERS
Meet the contributors who have generously pledged their support to help bring it to as wide an audience as possible.
JUSTICE LEADERS
Chris Browder
Anne Meyers
Melody Stewart
AMBASSADOR OF JUSTICE
Douglas Wang
FRIENDS OF JUSTICE
Olivia Dawn Rempel
Abigail Blanks
Scott Anderson
Andrew Yackel
Will Smith
Kevin McDrmott
Marc & Kathy Dann
Alex Chivescu
Francis Springer
Matthew Justus
Yukari Kane
Ryan Nazar
JUSTICE SUPPORTERS
Aaron Field
Aaron Schock
Alyssa Keast
Amanda Meadows
Amy Kellogg
Andrea Lampros
Angela Gott
Ariel Plotnick
Atossa Alavi
Betsy Schindler
Bob Mo & Loesch
Bryan Eslinger
C Jetton
Christopher
Cristina Ibarra
Dana Kuznetzkoff
David Goodman
Durie O
Elivia Shaw
Erin Persley
Frankie Lasley
Gabe Long and Rebecca Atwood
Hanna Miller
Hannah Hearn
Holly Chapman
Ilham Askia
James Ma
Jeff Dunlap
Jennie Toner
Jessica Epstein
Jessica Hargrave
Jessica Hept Bailey
Jessica Jones
Jillian Kalosky
Joe Leach
John Beder
John Sweeney
Jonathan Rapping
Joshua Davidsburg
Juyoon and Durie O
Kali Summer
Kimberly Harrison-Day
Lauren McGarry
Lindsay Brian
Margaret
Margaret S
Maria Bowen
Marji Vecchio
Martina Radwan
Melanie Shakarian
Michael DeAloia
Michelle Gcola
Rajal PItroda
Ray Whitehouse
Samantha Clark
Sara Gates
Sara Maamouri
Sean Geraty
Sean Wheeler
Shelby-Rae Jones
Summre Garber
Susan Beck
Terry and Sue Warco
Todd Gurney