The Documentary

On February 12, 2020, 23 Crew Members, including Academy-Award nominated Director of Photography Rodrigo Prieto, Producer Monica Chiapa, Grammy-Award winning producer Fritzi Horstman, producers Vivianne Nacif and Ted Kamp began filming the documentary “Step Inside the Circle,” a penetrating examination of how childhood trauma is one of the key factors behind America’s levels of incarceration.

Filmed at a maximum security prison in Lancaster, California, the focus of the day was filming the Compassion Trauma Circle where 235 incarcerated men stepped inside the circle for each traumatic event they experience in their childhood, roughly based on the Adverse Childhood Experiences survey created by Dr. Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many of the men and women who are incarcerated aren’t aware of their Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Compassion Trauma Circle is one of the ways to raise awareness about what happens when the brain and body are traumatized before the age of 18. What naturally follows is an urgent call to change how we treat and care for individuals who are traumatized, 95% of whom will become our neighbors and community members again once they leave prison.

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Watch the Documentary PSAs

Those who have experienced the Compassion Trauma Circle and have learned about the symptoms of trauma feel a sense of relief and self-forgiveness. It has given them understanding about their past behavior and opens a doorway to forgiveness, making amends and healing.

The first PSA is a call to action: to spread the word about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), to understand the physical, emotional and social impact ACEs have wrought on our society and to stress the importance of care (not punishment) going forward in the carceral system. The second PSA, Honor Yard, describes the impact of childhood trauma.

PSA 1: Step Inside The Circle

PSA 2: Honor Yard

You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge.

Eckhart Tolle

Our filming goals include...

Interviews with Trauma Experts, Doctors and Neuroscientists who will give us the game-changing information about how trauma affects the brain and body
Interviews with the men and women who are currently incarcerated
Interviews with CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) leaders
Film the Compassion Trauma Circle in a women's prison, with correctional officers, first responders and in other community-based organizations