A WORD FROM DIRECTOR, ARIC AVELINO
It started off with the Oregon story line.  I think there was something on Nightline, where a police officer was being questioned for his role, his accountability, in the Columbine shootings.  I always thought that was interesting because we never really got to see it from their perspective.  There were people saying "Could you have done more?" "What could you have done?"  But, then there was a series of articles that came out, and there was a headline in the LA Times that said "Two Years Later, Town Wrestles With Accountability."  And then there was a quote from a local woman who said, "I don't have any regrets.  I don't question myself.  I wake up every morning and, you know, I'm okay."  And I knew that was a lie because she was one of the mothers of the school shooters.  And I was really interested in telling that story. I thought it was really important that if we talk about guns in America that we talk about what's going on in the inner city.  And at the time the producer, Ted Kroeber, was working in Chicago in the Inner City Teaching Corps program, and a lot of his stories were being relayed back to me about what was going on.  It's very important to me that different people be able to relate to the different characters in the film, and it's important to me that African American characters find a role because what we see in the media is often not what's reflecting what's really going on. 
The film's about three communities, and how they've been affected by the presence of guns in those communities.  It takes place in Oregon, Chicago, Illinois, and Virginia.  And it's how these families have been affected by the presence of guns in those communities.
I think the overall message is that we tend to focus on I think the wrong parts of the story.  I feel like oftentimes the news creates an "us" and "them."  What the film does is force you to look at other people from a different perspective.  We look at a mother of a school shooter, we look at a gun shop owner, we look at a kid who brings a gun to school.  These are all people who normally wouldn't be heroes in a film, but by the end of the film it's our hope that you get to understand these people's perspectives. 
It's really just about understanding the people that live next to you and understanding the people that live three states away from you.  I think a lot of people go to see films that are directly about them.  And in our film, we ask people to look at characters that might be similar to them and we bring them together.  And it's always been said by both Ted (the Producer) and I that it's our hope that a white woman in Oregon can associate with this black kid in inner-city Chicago, and a black kid in the inner-city Chicago can associate with the white gun shop owner, and it all happens as a result of the stories they are weaving.   So, it's that texture I think that makes up this country, and it's that failure to understand that has plagued us.

A WORD FROM MARCIA GAY HARDEN
My character is a woman named Janet and she's the mother of the shooter in a Columbine-type situation.  She also has another son, David, and he's still alive.  Her first son, Robbie, was the shooter and died in that shoot-out.  But it's not based on Columbine.  It's taken more from another incident of similar tragedy that occurred in Southern California.
There were a couple of things that attracted me to American Gun.  And it's true, I was the first one to sign on, which I feel very proud of.  The script came, and EAric had a very unique vision for it. 
Meantime, the story is about the disintegration of relationships, in this society, in which guns are so acceptable.  So, I thought that was interesting.  He's a young director, that's always interesting.  He was a young black director; I thought that was interesting because I think that's a voice that we don't hear much of.  So, I wanted to meet him.  I didn't need to see what the guy had to say, because I had his script, and I thought, he's got a lot to say.  And--and he says it in a unique and wonderful way,.  And hhe seems like he absolutely knows what he's doing.  There was nothing green about this guy.  I felt like he knew what he was doing.
So, he came over, and we met, and we had a long, long conversation.  I live up in Harlem, and he came up there, and it was clear that he's a voice that we want to get to know in this business.  And so, I said, "Absolutely, I'll sign on, I want to do it."
Our story is about how we exist in this neighborhood, how we exist in this same community of people, where I'm surrounded by parents who've suffered tragedy at the hands of my son.  Meantime, I loved my son.  Even though he was a monster in this moment, I loved him before, and I love him after.  So, how do we continue to live in this community, and make peace with ourselves, and with the community?
I think it's about relationships ... family relationships that are disintegrating as they trudge through the detritus of real life.  These are real people.  These are real, middle class people.  These aren't a Hollywood version of anybody.  These are people who have trouble paying their bills, who have trouble fixing the car because they can't afford it, who have trouble having their kids in school because of what the educational system is.  This is mid-America and this is about Americans.  But Americans that are a voice that we haven't heard in a realistic way in movies in a long time.
It harkens back to something that feels a little "Norma Rae."  They're blue collar, they're middle class. 
And in each situation, there's a school involved in this story.  So, it's about what's happening in our schools.  In one school, you're afraid to send your kids, because they could get shot by some other person.  In another school, the kids are going through X-ray machines to make sure there are no guns.  In another school, there's a gang rape of a girl at a party, practically.  I mean, what's going on?  What is that?  That's in school.  That's wrong.  That's the place where we send our kids to be educated.  That's supposed to be something that aspires for a higher mindset.  And this is what the kids are worrying about, and the parents are worrying about.  And you know, it's mandatory that you go to school.  It's not like they can go, "I'm not going to school, because I might get shot."  You have to go.  So, it seems to be we have an obligation to make it a safe place to be.

A WORD FROM ARLEN ESCARPETA
I think the best thing that the movie offers is just to be aware.  To be aware and realize ... and not be ignorant about the fact that we work with guns, you know, we go to war with guns, people protect themselves with guns.  And some people live with guns and some people don't.  Just being aware and realizing that, you know, that's where we live and that's what we deal with.  And don't try to act as if it doesn't happen, or "not in my neighborhood," or you're exempt.  It affects everyone.
I'm deathly afraid of guns.  I worked on a couple of films where my character had to hold a gun.  And it was weird because they have so much weight.  And you know, it feels weird, and I have never fired a gun.  When I was in college, two high school friends of mine that I ran track with, unfortunately were murdered by guns.  And even dealing with that, it just really reinforced for me that I don't want that in my life personally.  I don't want to deal with guns.  But it doesn't make me ignorant of the fact that there are people out there that have them.  So that's my personal opinion, but I don't try to knock anyone for dealing with them or for what they believe in.  If that's what you believe in, you have that right.
I'd tell a friend, I'd tell the general public, and I'd tell everyone: Go see this movie because it challenges you.  It challenges you to think, and it challenges you to face what's in front of you on a daily basis.  And it challenges you to open your eyes, and not be ignorant, and to be aware.  And I think that's something that everyone can benefit from.  It's a move that everyone can get something from.  You know, you can watch this movie, and then have a discussion about it afterwards.  You can ask questions.  And more importantly, it raises questions that need to be answered. 

A WORD FROM NIKKI REED
I don't think people are as aware as they should be about the gun violence in this country, and I don't think that kids are aware of the power that guns have, and it's actually a very sad story. 
Tally is wise beyond her years, and I think that's part of what draws people to her.  She surrounds herself with people that need help in a way, and that's part of what her and David see in each other, and the dynamic of that is very interesting. He doesn't have many friends, and he is just placed in a new school and he doesn't know many people, and he doesn't talk to many people because of what happened with his brother, so Tally's the first person he really opens up to, and they get to know each other.

A WORD FROM FOREST WHITAKER
I thought that the project had something to say.  And it was dealing with different issues, dealing with not just guns, but with healing.  And so I wanted to be involved in making it move forward. I think they talked to me about the character, but growing into finding the character was a very slow process because of my initial commitment to the project, which was to help get it made. 
I think most of the characters are dealing with some issue that in some way revolves around a weapon or a gun.  And that gun is a catalyst for them to deal with certain issues.  In the case of the character that I play, he's moved his family into a community and a school where issues with guns and problems with guns in school is a large one.  And I have to examine my life, and examine how I can help the situation.  If I'm able to help in an administrative capacity, or if I really need to get more on the micro level of first healing myself, and my family, and then healing like students and kids who I work with.
Carter is the Principal of Pierce High School.  And he had left his original town, which is in Ohio, with his wife and his child to try to help the students there.  He was initially a teacher.  His wife had a good job.  He just had his child.  And he was offered this job where there were about 2,000 students that he would be able to go in and hopefully move forward towards college, and move forward in their lives in some way.  And so he took this job, and when he gets there, he finds that the job is very difficult.  And his wife starts to point out that their life is starting to suffer because of it. And so he makes the decision later, inside of the film, to help his family.
I just hope that people examine their choices,  examine their lives, think about what choices do to other people's lives.  I think sometimes it's easy to see the surface of something, and not look deeply into what occurs, and the consequences.  And I think this movie makes you think.  It will make you think about yourself, and it'll make you think about others. 

ARIC AVELINO (DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER)
Aric Avelino directed, photographed, and edited his first short film, Just a Game of Dominoes, at the age of 17-- -- the same year that he completed his first full-length script, Thieves Among Us. Since then, he has photographed and directed three short films: Central High, April '18, and American 1938. He has also photographed, directed, and edited several spec commercials.
Avelino has a diverse body of work as a cinematographer, serving in this role on nine short films and a public service broadcast for the LMU Health Center. He has also worked as an editor for MGM, the Long Beach Aquarium, and on productions for the following companies: Fahrenheit Films, Bedford Falls Productions, Millennium Sound, Sato Films, Green Dot Films, and Palomar Pictures.
Avelino is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University with Honors and a Presidential Citation, and a two-time recipient of the Alfred Kilp Award for Leadership.  American Gun  is his first feature.

STEVEN BAGATOURIAN (WRITER)
When Steven Bagatourian was a 20 year-old, his screenplay Weasel won the Grand Prize in the Cinestory Screenwriting Competition. Shortly after, John Cusack's company, New Crime Films, optioned the script. With early success under his belt, Bagatourian wrote several more stories that garnered the attention of filmmakers, including American Gun.
His recent script, Hearts of Men, is a coming-of-age drama that follows three inner-city teens--strangers from different cultures, yet all with a passion for Tupac Shakur. Since Tupac's music is essential to the story, the script has been blessed by Tupac's estate. Several production companies are currently considering this script.
Other stories include Perseus Complex, a thriller that has caught the interest of noted writer/producer Bo Zenga, and the sci-fi thriller Radio Babylon.

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