REST IN POWER | The Trayvon Martin Story
6-Part Docuseries | Paramount Network | 2018
In collaboration with executive producer Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, The Cinemart partnered with Paramount Network to produce Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, a six-part documentary series that examines the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the controversial acquittal of George Zimmerman. Drawing from firsthand interviews, legal footage, and previously unseen material, the series places Martin’s death in the broader context of race, justice, and systemic inequality in America.
The Cinemart led production from development through post, shaping a series that not only reconstructs the events surrounding Martin’s death, but also explores its cultural and political aftershocks — from the rise of Black Lives Matter to the way the case reshaped national conversations around self-defense laws and racial profiling.
The series was honored by the Television Academy with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and praised for its thoughtfulness and emotional weight.
CREDITs
Julia Willoughby Nason: Director, Executive Producer, Writer
Michael Gasparro: Executive Producer
The Cinemart: Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production
AWARDS
Featured Press
“Rest in Power is a powerful, painful gut-punch...this series wants the viewer to hurt, to be angry, to refuse to look away.”
“In the six-part docu-series ‘Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story,’ the filmmakers... recount the teenager’s life and his deadly encounter with George Zimmerman in a gated townhouse community outside Orlando. Through interviews with key players, including Mr. Martin’s family and Don West, a defense lawyer for Mr. Zimmerman, the directors zero in on what they see as a flawed criminal justice system.”
“Rest in Power is a triumph.”
“It’s the way in which directors... connect new and old details of the case with its wide-spread effect that makes “Rest in Power” a comprehensive, emotional and brutally honest look at America since that fatal shooting.”