In the fall of 2009, Virginia Commonwealth University students Emma Ellsworth, Kenyatta Watts and Nathan Madden walked into a documentary film class as strangers—not only to each other, but to the art of film-making as well. The trio quickly developed an idea, narrowed a focus and began developing an outline for their film that was tentatively expected to explore the graffiti culture in Richmond.
In the three-months that followed, the trio worked diligently to learn all they could about graffiti’s history, purpose and perception. The team had no delusions that they would create the first film of its kind, as each knew graffiti has been well documented. The only hope was to produce a film that introduced graffiti in a different light and informed audiences from all cuts of cloth about an art form that is, at its roots, controversial yet beautiful. Their final product, 'Get up.' aired on PBS in January.