Keith Beauchamp (filmmaker)

[8] In 1997, Beauchamp moved to New York City where he worked writing and producing music videos for Big Baby Films, a production company owned by friends.

[4][2][8] Beauchamp began his research using public library microform archives, where he encountered several names of witnesses and alleged accomplices who had never been questioned by authorities regarding the Till case.

[8] A 2003 article in The Nation explained that Beauchamp "located and earned the trust of traumatized [B]lack witnesses from Mississippi’s back country who haven’t spoken of the case in nearly fifty years.

[10] During the film's research and production, Beauchamp worked closely with Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who famously insisted that her son's body be returned to Chicago and that his casket would remain open during the funeral.

[2][11] Over the course of the nine years Beauchamp spent researching the documentary, he identified several individuals, including five Black men, who he suspected had been involved in Till's murder in addition to the two who were arrested and acquitted of the crime in 1955.

[8][11][3] Throughout the film's production, due to extensive research into witnesses and potential accomplices who had never been questioned, Beauchamp advocated for reopening of the Till case.

[15][16] As a result of his documentary work, Beauchamp was approached by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s civil rights division to collaborate on cold cases.

[17] Beauchamp has expressed his desire for this film to help viewers become familiar with Till-Mobley's story and how significantly the Emmett Till case contributed to the beginnings of the civil rights movement in the United States.