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“Rest In Power” can be measured in vision and scope to the Oscar-winning “O.J: Made In America”, the 7½-hour documentary that used the murder case, trial and acquittal of the former football legend as a foundation to explore the social and political unrest of the nation.
The directors had previously teamed up on the Peabody Award-winning “Time: The Kalief Browder Story,” a documentary miniseries about the high school student, who was incarcerated for three years without being convicted for a crime. He killed himself in 2015.
Furst and Nason were approached by rapper Jay Z, who had secured the rights to Fulton and Martin’s book and who wanted to executive produce an on-screen adaptation.
“Jay is a very thoughtful collaborator and he understands the importance of all the legwork that goes into making a film like this,” said Furst. “We were grateful that Jay had the faith in us to hit the ground and investigate this. I think it’s a testament to his sophistication as an artist that he understands how these projects work. He’s an incredible partner, and we’re very grateful to have him onboard.”
The series features never-before-seen footage and audio recordings, including court depositions of Trayvon’s family members, home videos and interviews, 911 calls and surveillance footage from Zimmerman’s arrest.
More than 100 people were interviewed, and the filmmakers employed an investigative team that included a New York Times journalist for the series. “We’re very thorough,” said Furst. “Our approach to storytelling is based on characters. In the end, people don’t learn from statistics and headlines, they learn from human connection.”
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