HIGH POINT, N.C. -- It is an initiative that has received national recognition and now a filmmaking group is looking to put it on the big screen.
The documentary is called "High Point 10-79," which focuses in on the city's effort to combat domestic violence.
10-79 being a code for a domestic violence call.
However, for Tom Parr, he didn't expect that a chance phone call would be the inspiration behind this documentary.
“She called me and said, 'Hey, would you be interested in doing a video about this town? It is amazing." I said, 'Sure.' At that point I thought it was going to be just a weekend,” said Parr, co-director of the film.
"She" is Parr’s friend Susan Scrupski, who came up with the idea after she came across the city's initiatives two years ago.
“Susan, Igor [Kovalik] and Parr came together. They loved the story idea and they loved the success we are having. Thought it would be a great opportunity to share that with people,” said High Point police Chief Kenneth Shultz.
The three come from different parts of the country and spent a couple of years documenting the "High Point Model.”
The model, in part, focuses on the community and law enforcement getting face-to-face with domestic violence offenders and putting them on the right track.
"I’m a father and I have daughters and I’ve known people [in these situations]. When you do something creative you try to not only do your day job but want to try to find something that makes a difference,” Parr said.
“We are all about sharing what we've learned. It is not a competitive, corporate world that law enforcement lives in. If one of our agencies finds something that works that is showing a lot of promise we are quick to share that,” Shultz said.
The documentary provides stories from community leaders, victims and even offenders.
It also tells the story of how the initiative began to now, over a decade later.
"If you watch any other film on domestic violence they are always depressing. It never has a good ending. Even if the guy goes to jail, you feel like you've been through a prize fight and nobody feels good. High Point gives you hope,” Parr said.
The trio have partnered with the Documentary Group in New York. They say the next step is getting the documentary into film festivals and eventually distribution.
