Behind the Camera
Jay Mallin, writer/director
Writer/director Jay Mallin is a photographer and filmmaker based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Like many initiatives uncovering the history of lynching, this film had its beginnings when Mallin read Bryan Stevenson’s book “Just Mercy” as recommended reading by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in April 2015. (Mallin was also photographing events in Baltimore around the death of Freddie Gray at the time.) Toward the end of the book Stevenson asks readers to acquaint themselves with their local history, and Mallin went to do just that.
What he found was — not much. Local histories either lacked the lynchings completely or had partial or misleading information. But about half a year later, when Mallin tried looking through historic newspapers, he found extensive coverage of the incidents and realized it would be possible to identify the locations of the lynchings and other key events.
He asked the help of his sister, librarian and genealogist Linda Mallin Frydl, and together they started to piece the stories of the lynchings together. Eventually they realized that two other groups — Montgomery History and the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project — had embarked on similar initiatives, and they and members of these groups soon began to share information and compare notes.
Linda Mallin Frydl, historical and genealogical research
Linda Mallin Frydl is a public librarian and avid genealogist. At the start of the “Three Lynchings” project, when there was little publicly available information on these incidents, Frydl worked to uncover contemporary accounts, identify present-day locations, and provide census and other information on the people involved and their relationships. She’s also worked with Montgomery History’s Sarah Hedlund to provide additional genealogical information for that research effort. Frydl has a Master of Arts focused in English/Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University.
Ryan Gary, composer and sound recordist and mixer
Ryan Gary is a musician/composer based in Richmond, VA. He studied Music at the University of South Carolina and acheived his bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies. With his passion and background in music and love for film, Ryan has been working as an audio engineer on sound design, scoring and audio post-production for many musical artists and film productions in the Virginia area. You can contact Ryan at ryangary@protonmail.ch
Alec Gary, director of photography
Alec Gary is a filmmaker/musician based in Richmond VA. He graduated with a BFA in photography and film from VCU, and has over seven years of experience as a freelance filmmaker. You can see some of his work here.
Jacob Mallin, director of photography
Jacob Mallin is a NYC-based cinematographer with a background in narrative and documentary filmmaking. His work has been screened at a variety of short film festivals in the US and internationally. More info can be found at www.jacobmallindp.com