When a criminal court judge starts a running club on LA’s notorious skid row and begins training a motley group of addicts and criminals to run marathons, lives begin to change.

Interview with Producer Gabriele Hayes

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

We read an article in the LA Times about a Judge who started a running club on LA’s skid row. We used to live downtown and we were very aware of the thousands of homeless people living on the streets. It all seemed so hopeless and depressing. When we saw that Judge Mitchell was actually doing something about it, we were inspired. We thought from the beginning that this was a story worth telling.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

There is so much to get depressed and discouraged about in the world right now. But, believe it or not, there are still good people doing good things. Judge Mitchell is one of them. Hopefully, our film will give you a more optimistic outlook on life and inspire you to get involved in solving some of the more difficult problems we face as a society by just getting involved even if it’s in a very small way. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

You will laugh and you will cry and you will come away with a new perspective on what people are able to achieve when given a second chance.

We hope to show that even when a social problem seems insurmountable, there is always something we can do to become part of the solution. Judge Mitchell certainly demonstrated this with his running club.

When Mark and I lived in downtown LA, we would see people living on the streets and think to ourselves that this is an impossible situation and there is no way to help. The Judge saw the same people and started a running club and has made a difference in so many lives. He truly believes that people on skid row have the potential to achieve great things.

We hope that after seeing the film the audience will be inspired to get involved in their own way.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The film is about a running club made up of formerly homeless people, addicts, and a guy on parole for a serious crime. They start training to run marathons. It’s not so easy to run 26.2 miles. First you prepare, then you run, and hopefully you finish. The marathon became a theme of sorts for the runner’s lives and for us as filmmakers.

One of the women from the club borrowed some money from me during the actual marathon. I asked her what the money was for. “Cigarettes,” she said. She was having a lousy run and it was pouring rain. I gave her the money. Who was I to judge? She had a smoke and a slice of pizza. She got back on the course and finished the race.

It made me think about my own life. Sometimes you need to take a break or even a step backward. But then get back on track and finish the race. There were many occasions when we thought of quitting during production. There’s never enough money or time or good footage. But somehow you keep going. We were very inspired by the runners. We thought if they can finish the marathon, despite everything that was happening in their lives, then we could finish, too. It took us longer than we thought, but we finished!

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

The shooting took over four years. At the beginning, we really thought the story was about the Judge. Here’s a guy who was using his own money to take people from skid row around the world to run marathons. But as we started filming the stories of the characters over a period of time and saw how they were really changing their lives in major ways, we realized that the documentary was more about the runners than it was about the Judge.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

The feedback we have received at festivals and screenings has been very gratifying. We have been lucky enough to win several Best Documentary and Audience Awards. The most memorable screening to date was to an auditorium full of 450 high school students. The film is a cautionary tale about drug addiction, gang life, and living on the streets. When the Judge took the stage for the Q&A the students jumped to their feet cheering and gave him a sustained standing ovation. If just a few of the students were inspired to make better life choices than the people in the film, then we have succeeded in a way we didn’t imagine when started the project.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

When the Judge or some of the runners join us on stage after the screenings, they always get a warm reception. But perhaps the reception that Rafael gets surprises us most. Rafael committed a serious crime as a gang member and was paroled after a long prison sentence. You get the impression that the people in the audience are telling Rafael that they forgive him for his crime. They admire him for his efforts to turn his life around and make amends for his crime. They are ready to accept him back into society. We are, too, which is not how we felt when we first met him.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

Having Skid Row Marathon featured on www.wearemovingstories.com would help get our message to more people around the world. Hopefully, it will inspire them to get involved in their own communities and to make better life choices.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We would like to meet with sales agents and distributors as well as journalists to get our message out. The film is finished but there is still a lot of work to be done. We are still looking for distribution. Film festival directors would also help since the festival route is one of the best ways to get press and interest from distributors.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

We would like the film to inspire people to get involved in their own communities to address problems they may have thought were insurmountable. They don’t have to start running clubs necessarily but they may be inspired to come up with a program of their own.

Make people believe that all people are good and that helping others has its own rewards.

Would like people to question their preconceived ideas about who becomes homeless and why. Reaching out to these “outcasts” is easier than they might think.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Why is it important to give people a second chance?

Does one horrendous act define a person in his or her entirety?

Can those who have nothing and have hit rock bottom still achieve great things in life?

How can we this become part of a solution for some of societies most intractable problems?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

We re working on a feature narrative film based on a true story about how Mark picked up a Communist hitchhiking in the former East Germany and lived with her behind the Iron Curtain, finally getting out when the Berlin Wall fell.

Interview: December 2017

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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Skid Row Marathon

When a criminal court judge starts a running club on LA’s notorious skid row and begins training a motley group of addicts and criminals to run marathons, lives begin to change.

Length: 84 min

Director: Mark Hayes

Producer: Gabriele Hayes

Writer: Mark Hayes and Tchavdar Georgiev

About the writer, director and producer:

Director, Mark Hayes

Mark Hayes studied documentary filmmaking at New York University under the renowned documentarian George Stoney. He produced and directed several documentaries including One Germany, The Other Side of the Wall (2011). Mark has taught screenwriting at Southern Methodist University and is a member of the Writers Guild of America.

Producer, Gabriele Hayes

Gabriele grew up in the former East Germany. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, she moved to the US and now lives in Los Angeles. Gabriele produced several documentaries including One Germany, The Other Side of the Wall in 2011. She has been running with the Skid Row Running Club since 2013.

Key cast: Judge Craig Mitchell, David Askew, Ben Shirley, Rafael Cabrera, Rebecca Hayes, Mody Diop

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Yes

Social media handles:

Facebook: facebook.com/skidrowmarathon

Twitter: @skidrowmarathon

Instagram: skidrowmarathon

Other: skidrowmarathon.com

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

PSIFF Screenings:

Thursday, January 4, 2018 12:30 pm

Palm Canyon Theatre, Palm Springs, CA 92262

Saturday, January 13, 2018 10:00 am

Mary Pickford Theater, Cathedral City, CA 92234

Saturday, January 20 at 6PM

State Theater, 1307 J St, Modesto, CA 95354