Judd Ehrlich
Film Director Judd Ehrlich and Film Participant Mary Anne Franks Discuss Judd’s Film “The Price of Freedom”
Summary
After explaining the why the film was made, director Judd Ehrlich and Mary Anne Franks dive into an extensive and thought provoking Q&A on “The Price of Freedom” to help us understand the extraordinary power of the NRA and how America has found itself in such a precarious position when it comes to gun violence.
Judd Ehrlich
Judd Ehrlich is a Grand Clio, Cannes Lion, and Emmy® Award–winning director and producer who “clearly knows his craft” (New York Times) and “has mastered the art of exposing compelling and honest stories” (AOL). Ehrlich has premiered five films at the Tribeca Film Festival, including The Price of Freedom (2021), which was acquired by CNN Films. Ehrlich heads Flatbush Pictures, an award-winning, Brooklyn-based film, television, and content studio. He is also the director of We Could Be King (2014) and Keepers of the Game (2016).
Mary Anne Franks
Mary Anne Frank’s holds the Michael R. Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair at the University of Miami School of Law and is the author of the award-winning book, The Cult of the Constitution: Our Deadly Devotion to Guns and Free Speech (2019). A constitutional scholar with expertise in the First and Second Amendments, Mary is also the president and legislative & tech policy director of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating online abuse and discrimination. She frequently serves as a policy adviser to legislators, tech industry leaders, and advocacy organizations on issues relating to gun violence, privacy, sexual exploitation, and threats. Mary holds a JD from Harvard Law School as well as a doctorate and a master’s degree from Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She previously taught at the University of Chicago Law School as a Bigelow Fellow and Lecturer in Law and at Harvard University as a lecturer in social studies and philosophy.
I can start on this one. It was important to include the quote from the former president of the NRA towards the end of the film, David Keene, who says that the NRA has been counted out many times before. And they have, they’ve been scandal ridden, they’ve had all sorts of issues over the years and they’ve been written off and they’ve come back. But I think it’s important to really pay attention to what he says next because what he says next is, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a NRA member or not. Those people who are fundamentalists about the Second Amendment, when that bell is rung, they will heed that call and they will come out.” And we’ve seen that with, we’ve seen that time and again in recent history in this country. So I think even if the NRA were gone tomorrow, their message has become so saturated into a segment of the American population that it goes beyond the NRA now, that they have been pushing this message for decades.
Not yet, but we are planning for it to go internationally so stay tuned.
They have about four or five million members. Membership dues are one way they get their money. They have magazines that have a lot of advertisements. Most of those advertisements are from gun manufacturers. That’s another place that they get their money. In addition to the advertising, those gun manufacturers donate to the NRA and there is a lot of money in it, and that comes from gun manufacturers and the gun industry. And it is to the NRA’s benefit when more guns are sold in this country. And so by knowing that fact, their motives become clearer because their answer to everything is more guns. More guns are going to make you safer. More guns are going to defend and possibly save your life. And that’s the answer to every problem. If you feel uncertain during a pandemic, go out and get a gun. That’s why sales have gone through the roof in America, because the NRA has been so effective at making the gun a security blanket, making the gun the thing that you need when you feel afraid. Mary Anne talked about it earlier. So I think it’s important to really be aware of that relationship and aware that the NRA does get a lot of support from gun manufacturers.