Steve Hoggard
	Hoggard Films - Writer/Director

Getting to the kid gunners from the other side (East Coast Crips) involved in the war was also problematic. Our concerns were various:

1) Would they rob us in this private location and take our 100k gear etc, or worse
2) we would get caught in a crossfire between the warring gangs as drive-bys were very likely or
3) they would think we were bad guys in the drive up (an ongoing concern) and fire on our vehicle.

We were repeatedly threatened by various subjects - both telling me that their leaders had ordered me 'hit' and by simply pointing loading guns (while getting loaded on weed, booze and crack themselves) at our crew – really mostly at the DP, Ryan Hill...

Still – Ryan stood his ground and kept rolling, (It’s good one of us did!). Once trust was built and we’d spent time with some of these guys – they didn’t seem all that threatening…

But having covered the war in Afghanistan and the Bosnian Serb massacre at Srebrenica – having waded through mass graves -- interviewed mass murderers, SS Nazi veterans and the like – I’d long since learned that the faces of those capable of extreme violence are always very, very human.

Getting permission from parents and guardians for the SEA Compton school kids to participate in the film was and is tough. Very tough. Many of these kids have parents who don't show, who are in prison, on drugs, etc. To get permissions signed, we and Father Stan visited some homes three and four times, often to no avail. You’d find out where a kid ‘stayed at’ one day – and the next day he’d of moved to a different house.

One of our featured kids, Everardo, whose father was put away for being a gang leader, had told his 16-year-old son, 'if you're not calling shots by the time I get out I'm going to kick your ass." These are the male role models who set many kids off on their journey into life.

At one point Everardo looked at me during an interview and said, “I'd hate to have to kill you because one of my OG’s ordered me to take you out.” I looked at him and he didn't smile --- and to this day I'm not sure whether he was kidding or not (although I have to think he was – if not joking – just trying to scare me…) What I am sure of is that this little boy has willingly shot people for his gang.