“SOLD”

“Making the film SOLD forever changed the trajectory of my life and career,” Impact Producer Jane Charles told Hollywood on the Potomac. “When I read the book SOLD by the globally acclaimed novelist Patricia McCormick almost 10 years ago and started researching human trafficking, I didn’t realize that this is the second highest grossing illegal crime (2nd only to drug trafficking) and that it is happening right here in the United States. I’m a filmmaker, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a good friend.  Making this film was both the most difficult and the most worthwhile thing I have ever done in my life, so far.”

“What began as a feature film to create global awareness of human trafficking has turned into an ongoing advocacy and impact campaign,” Charles added.  “We have had the opportunity to speak on panels at The United Nations, The Nobel Peace Prize Forum, The Rotary World Peace Conference and the film will be screened at The Trust Women Conference in London and The United Nations in Brussels and Vienna in the coming months.”  SOLD will be available in all digital platforms in January of 2017.

 Jane Charles

Deborah Sigmund, Founder and Director of Innocents at Risk … a non-profit established in April 2005 to help stop the trafficking of women and children … has been hosting SOLD screening events around Washington, DC, most recently at The Georgetown Club. “I got involved in 2003 when I first heard about the issue of child trafficking and I could not believe that this was happening to children. It was a business – a multi, multi, multi billion dollar industry. Trafficking happens everywhere. It happens right here in DC.”  Two million women and children are victims of human trafficking every year. In the United States, 300 thousand children are forced into child prostitution and child pornography each year. In Washington DC alone, trafficking innocent children is a $100 million industry. “We’ve had girls work for us as interns go on a what they call a ride along with some of the NGO’s who take care of victims and they go out and try to rescue them. They follow the girls and what amazes me is when the clubs close late at night, these girls come out. It’s 3:30 and 4 am and one of the young women that worked for me was so horrified and said, ‘You could tell that these girls had never even worn heels before.’  If they’re 12, they know how to make them look 18 really fast and unfortunately, a few nights on the street you look like you’re 18.”

“What most people don’t realize is that human trafficking is a 150 billion dollar industry; that children are being bought and sold in every city in the world, in every country in the world.  This is a global issue that has to be dealt with now.  There are no boundaries and no borders to this issue,” Charles explained.  “We have to join together and work to end this misery.  Millions of children are sexually abused, beaten, held captive and sold every day.  It’s hidden – the perpetrators would like us to believe that ‘it doesn’t happen here.’ Yet it does and we all have to act – governments, non-profits, business and citizens.  We all have to unify and join together and hit this issue on every level possible.  Jeffrey Brown and I traveled to India and Nepal several times before shooting the film and went back after to shoot some pick-ups and record needed audio.  I fell in love with India and Nepal and our extended families in both countries that we met along the way; especially the survivors, the many girls we met at rescue facilities and shelters, that we remember and carry with us every day.”

Nepal school children

“As we witnessed audiences watching the film and being moved to tears, gasping and cheering as Lakshmi’s story unfolds, I was reminded of the power of story,” Charles concluded.  “Stories have the power to ignite activism and to change the world.  With our film, 86 (soon to be 100) classrooms have been re-built in Nepal after the earthquake to prevent child trafficking; organizations have raised over 3.5 million with screenings of SOLD; and I am a co-founder and current board member of Stolen Youth in Seattle, a non-profit that raises funds and awareness to support the rescue and recovery of our community’s sexually exploited youth. This film has changed my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  There are children out there, alone, vulnerable, scared, that need us.  Now is the time to help them. We hope our film will inspire a global movement to address this crime domestically and internationally.”

Sigmund knew a young girl from Africa who was actually taken to Mexico City. “From Africa to Mexico City, that is pretty horrifying, Fortunately, she came through the United States and she was rescued at the border. Traffickers do it all the time. Traffickers are so manipulative and so corrupt. You have to think about this. It’s a 150 billion dollar industry. As Secretary Kerry says, ‘This is a business. We’re fighting a war. We’re fighting a war against money and it’s a war against evil,’ and that’s why everyone should be up in arms about it and protect our children. We’re not about talking about prostitution. This is about young girls who were taken and forced into sex slavery. Open your eyes in malls and streets and if you see a child that doesn’t fit, do something. This is how the flight attendants have been so successful. I’ve pointed out situations. I’ve made the call myself. I saw 2 children that were actually being trafficked and reported it myself because you know it’s wrong and everyone on the plane knew it was wrong, but no one was doing anything and everyone thought I was with the FBI because I was acting so secretive talking to the flight attendant. Anyone can report it. Just report it to someone in a uniform. Say, ‘I think this is happening. Please check it out.’ “

“Let me tell you what the federal government’s doing,” she explained. “Since we started the flight attendant initiatives in 2008 with one flight attendant this has expanded to thousands. In 2009 I took our program to Homeland Security and they have given us additional backup other than using the national hotline number. Homeland Security, ICE, and CBP, Custom Border Protection, are involved with meeting the planes if a report is made. If there’s a red flag, they check it out. Pilots are involved and we have had airline ambassadors involved since 2009 so everyone is working on this and it’s been huge. I met with Secretary of Transportation Raymond LaHood when he was here and told him what we were doing with flight attendants so he began getting everyone in transportation trained so it’s TSA and trains and boats and ships, cargo. – and sadly enough, cargo. It’s unbelievable the depth of this.”

Gillian Anderson and Jeffrey Brown

Academy award-winning director and writer Jeffrey Brown is equally as passionate about SOLD – so much so that the day after he read the book, he optioned the film rights the next day. “I was moved to tears,” he told us. Brown is no stranger to the plight of children having grown up with a pediatric epidemiologist father who spent his life in war zones helping children in refugee camps. Brown designed the film to last longer than the shelf life of a film and turned it into a campaign. He’s determined to get people globally involved to be part of the solution.  By using his creative expertise, he was able to balance the film by showing the audience both children being children and with the dark side of the world. “People are very moved by these moments of tenderness between the characters.”  Brown himself interviewed around 2,000 girls who were trafficked.  “The film stays with people and haunts them for weeks. We have heard so many people taking actions in all kinds of different ways. We want to inspire many, many more people to take action.”