On March 12, 2020, I returned from film projects in Haiti and Guatemala to a nearly deserted Miami airport. Airline travel had ground to a halt, and soon after, my work began to dry up. A three-week client trip to Africa was scrapped, and other projects were canceled as the pandemic wiped creative projects off the books.

Many months later, with no work in sight, I received an intriguing call from Obadiah Baker, founder of a Cleveland nonprofit. Following George Floyd’s death, Obadiah asked himself how he could help white people understand the struggles and lived experiences of African Americans. Inspired by a NYC mural that read, “No one is above or below, that’s why we all have the same color shadow,” he pondered a powerful question: “What do we all have in common?”  His answer: “Our shadows.”

Obadiah's determination to turn his ideas into reality is perhaps his most remarkable quality. While most of us let great ideas pass through our minds without acting on them, Obadiah ignores the nagging no’s" and "can't dos" to bring his creative vision to life. In this case, he was aiming to heal racial division by connecting a group of shadow dancers in Colorado with a filmmaker (me) to capture the process.

Initially, I was hesitant—not due to his idea but because there was a performance concept without a compelling story. Powerful profound storytelling is essential to the success of any film. After some in-depth story finding conversations, I wondered how Obadiah’s nonprofit in Cleveland might connect with a Colorado-based troupe of shadow dancers. Obadiah thought of dancer Nehemiah Spencer who taught workshops for his nonprofit youth. He decided to ask Nehemiah to join the project.

Nehemiah was a revelation. Raised in Cleveland's historic Glenville neighborhood, he earned a coveted spot at Juilliard before touring the world. He returned to Cleveland to give back to his community, but like many creatives during the pandemic, Nehemiah struggled to make ends meet, working at a Post Office warehouse.

Over the next few months, I got to know Nehemiah, digging deep into his life. As a storyteller, I always seek the universal truths that connect us. Filmmaker Werner Herzog states, “in the fine arts, in music, literature, and cinema, it is possible to reach a deeper stratum of truth—a poetic, ecstatic truth, which is mysterious and can only be grasped with effort; one attains it through vision, style, and craft.” This ecstatic truth is not found in the literal facts but rather in the deep emotional resonance of a story. My probing conversations with Nehemiah formed the backbone of the first half of the film and became a blueprint for what I would later film in Cleveland

Obadiah also introduced me to Lynne Waggoner-Patton, the brilliant founder of The Silhouettes shadow dance troupe. I had seen them win the Golden Buzzer on America’s Got Talent (AGT) but had no idea that their theater was a few miles from my home. Lynne and I began to engage in similar conversations about her life and about the upcoming performance. She invited me to come witness her troupe practice behind-the-scenes and I was blown away by her creative vision and the artistry of her dancers.

Once the elements of the story and principal characters were established, I flew to Cleveland at the pandemic’s peak. Over eight days of filming, my camera followed Nehemiah passing the frozen shores of Lake Erie, dancing inside an abandoned observatory and moving like a tree inside Cleveland’s Botanical Gardens.

We filmed his home, his mother’s home and his train ride to work. We met his pastor and the curator of the Cleveland Art Museum. We shared a fantastic lesson in Cleveland’s civil rights history from James Robenalt, author of Ballots and Bullets. Finally, I accompanied him as he traveled to Denver to join Lynne’s Silhouettes for the creation of the shadow dance.

The first half of the film turned out beautifully and Obadiah’s request for a short film eventually grew to a feature length documentary which I produced solo - shooting, writing, and editing over the course of a year. A larger crew would have been great, but there was no budget for this, and the pandemic created huge roadblocks for filming anything. Lynne produced and edited the shadow dance portion of the film - which we later filmed in front of a live audience.

Enriched by the inspiring stories of Lynne and Nehemiah, as well as pandemic adversities and racial injustice, the film transcended its original concept. Upon release, it enjoyed a successful festival run worldwide, including notable domestic festivals like Newport Beach and Sedona. The Cleveland Film Commission sponsored workshops and screenings for a DEI-focused event, and Cleveland PBS aired the film in 2023. Early in 2024, we secured a national release on PBS, where it’s still playing.

You can watch it on PBS here: The Shadow Between Us.

This weekend, during the 55th Emmys celebration in Cleveland, our film received four nominations and won two Emmys—for Cinematography and Music Composition. It was a beautiful celebration with many friends and supporters, and a fitting end to this journey, which began and ended in Cleveland.

POSTSCRIPT: Obadiah remains a force for positive change, earning a Doctorate in Education, a Fulbright Scholarship in Israel, and serving in the Pentagon during the making of the film. Lynne continues to inspire audiences with her astonishing creativity and resilience, including a recent performance for presidents and Hollywood A-listers. Nehemiah is inspiring Cleveland youth as a dance teacher in a Cleveland charter school, and his Reflections Dance Company has earned national recognition within its first year of operation. As for me, I've become a big fan of Cleveland and its support of a vibrant arts community. More importantly, I’m always seeking another great project to work on, large or small, as well as inspiring collaborators.