Notable figures were in attendance for the DC premiere of “Shots Fired” starring Sanaa Lathan, Stephan James, Mack Wilds, Richard Dreyfus and Helen Hunt at the Newseum building in Northwest, DC.

Hundreds were in attendance for the screening of this series premiere that depicts a story of a flipped perspective.

This 10-part episode/series stars Deputy Joshua Beck (played by Mack Wilds).  Beck shoots and kills an unarmed white male in a small southern town.  The town goes into an uproar about this case because, in the same area, an unarmed Black male was also killed by a cop.  The difference with these cases (however) is that one story has an abundance of media coverage, while the other was sworn to silence.

Ashe Akino, played by Sanaa Lathan and Preston Terry, played by Stephan James is a little sandwich of chemistry in this series (can you tell I’m hungry?).  I love the versatility in Sanaa’s role because it truly seems to hit every area of the spectrum – from assertiveness to vulnerability.

Richard Dreyfuss was in attendance at the Q&A session that was held after the pre-screening.  His character’s name is Arien Cox and while he was not seen in the initial episode we viewed for the pre-screening, he contributed beautifully to the discussion of topics that this mini-series brings up in our current society.  He gave so much praise to Sanaa’s execution and honestly, I was right along with him because she really brought the story to life with her character Ashe.

I believe all of us in attendance appreciated the sincerity and vulnerability displayed by Mack Wilds, who admitted that after reading his script and all that came with the role, broke down emotionally because of how loaded the plot is.  He also brought his adorable son to the stage with him and it was truly amazing to see as a whole.

There are so many caveats to observe, contemplate and discuss within this series.  The major ones in my radar (however) were the inclusive nature of Blacks toward Whites depicted, as well as the relationship of racism and sexism in the workplace.

It would truly be a loss to miss out on this awesome series that was created, written and produced by Reggie ByTheWood and his beautiful wife.  I learned that he was also responsible for being a contributing writer on “A Different World”, “New York Undercover”, “Notorious”, and many other great works.