In 1967, Lee Pennington moves to Eastern Kentucky and encourages his poetry class to write about everyday life in Harlan County and is rewarded with a contract taken out on his life.

Songs of Bloody Harlan gets closer to being a reality. Thanks to my partners in crime Jamezz Hampton, Lee Pennington and Juan Rodriguez. That’s actually Lee holding the book, in a picture taken by Juan. And the cover of the book is the same as the poetry book released in 1967 which leads to the story we are telling.

The film is being directed and produced by Jamezz Hampton and is inspired by the time spent by former Kentucky Poetry Laureate and three-time Pulitzer nominee Lee Pennington, in Harlan County, Kentucky, deep in the heart of coal country.

My screenplay won Best Long Format Original Screenplay this year at the Imadjinn Film Festival.