The MPI Original documentary short A Clean Slate will have its world premiere August 23, 2023, as an Official Selection at the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. This Oscar-qualifying festival was previously ranked according to FilmFreeway “in the top 1.5% of more than 8,000 film festivals and creative contests around the world.”

A Clean Slate was developed by MPI filmmaker Trần Hoàng Calvin in MPI’s 2021 Documentary Production Lab. This uplifting documentary follows Shanyeill McCloud’s work with Clean Slate Milwaukee, a nonprofit she founded in 2012 which helps formerly incarcerated people expunge their records and start their lives again.

In 2007 Shanyeil was convicted of misdemeanor battery protecting herself and her daughter from her abusive husband, a record that upturned her life making it nearly impossible to find employment. After almost 16 months unemployed, Shanyeill learned she was not eligible for expungement under current Wisconsin state law. Despite this, Shanyeill has dedicated herself to helping others navigate the process of expungement using the knowledge she gained.

Trần writes, “this film is meant to highlight the life-changing liberation that a second chance can have. It touches on all the massive topics we are reconciling today as a nation, such as racial injustice, economic freedom, and the over-criminalization crisis.”

MPI has worked with Trần since he was in high school. Over the years he has participated in numerous labs and workshops including the Dramatic Shorts Screenwriting Workshop and our Directing Workshop. He is the founder and executive of NODEHAUS, a Gen Z digital media agency. His previous producing and directing credits include CoinDesk’s Rizqi Presents Blockchain, Refuge: The Story of Viet Tran, and Arbitrary Lines: The Free Spirit of Caroline. He is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in film and television production as well as a double minor in cinema studies and business of entertainment, media, and technology.

Watch the trailer for A Clean Slate above. To learn more about the BronzeLens screening and purchase a pass to attend, click here.