One of the most anticipated series release which was delayed for over 4 years due to covid and then the SAG writers & actor’s strike now officially Alliance Entertainment Group Actor Producer Writer DTeflon is ready to make a statement once it airs in Feb of 2025.
We recently sat down with him on the set of DORNER American Crime Story at Vision Films Studios He joined the project as a producer but will also be starring as Sergeant Derrick Gardner in the upcoming 6 Part Television mini-series which is based on real-life events of the 9-day Manhunt for former US Marine and LAPD officer turned murderer Christopher Dorner.
DORNERMOVIE.COM
Christopher Jordan Dorner was a former US Marine and LAPD Officer Dorner committed a series of shootings in Orange County, Los Angeles, and Riverside, and Big Bear California. The victims were LAPD law enforcement officers and civilians, including law enforcement families. The aftermath of the manhunt killing spree killed four people and wounded three others.
This combination of photos shows, from top row left, NCCA college basketball coach Monica Quan, USC Department of Public Safety Officer Keith Lawrence, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremiah MacKay, and Riverside Police Department Officer Michael Crain, bottom row right, who were killed by rampage suspect, former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner. (AP Photo/Cal State Fullerton, USC Department of Public Safety, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department via The Press-Enterprise, Riverside Police Department)
The victims were law enforcement officers and the daughter of a retired police captain. Dorner killed four people and wounded three others. On February 12, 2013, Dorner died during a standoff with San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies after a shootout at a cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Now the most anticipated series is coming to hear the full story of the Victims…The Heroes and the Truth!
This film series will recap the shocking events of the manhunt that shattered many lives of families as well will show the bravery of courageous men of law enforcement who risked and lost their lives as well the various mistakes that were made by the police in their pursuit to hunt a killer on the run and the unanswered questions that remain surrounding the events leading up to the Manhunt and it’s final conclusion…and bring accurate facts of this story and truth brought to light from all sides.
A manifesto posted by Dorner on Facebook declared “unconventional and asymmetric warfare” upon the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), their families, and their associates unless the LAPD admitted publicly he was fired in retaliation for reporting excessive force.
In two separate incidents during the manhunt, police shot at civilians unrelated to Dorner, mistaking their pickup trucks for the vehicle being driven by Dorner (which was a dark gray 2005 Nissan Titan).
Torrance Swat Police department in the early am in the manhunt for Christopher Dorner opened fire with over 100 rounds of ammunition on 2 of the civilians who were hit by the police gunfire, another was wounded by shattered glass, and a 4th individual was injured when police rammed his vehicle and opened fire. The officers involved were not charged with any crime.
This moment has been a long time coming “This was the role I knew I was meant to play.
We sat down on the set with the Florida native dual citizen who was born in Bayshore Long Island New York and grew up in Toronto Canada feels this is was the role he knew he had to play.
“I don’t want you to just watch me; I want you to feel me and no different from my personal life, you either love or hate me and as I know my character is gonna bring out a lot of anger which is what intrigued me to this role.
I understand as a producer and an Actor a TV show can’t fix the problems that are going on in the United States and around the world in regards to police brutality and corruption…” DTeflon said.
DTeflon Believes the Show ‘Can Create a Different Mindset’
However, he does believe this show can help people. It can help its viewers to see the world in ways they haven’t before even while it is entertaining them.
“I don’t expect it to change the way things are done by police but it can create a different mindset in how they go about doing their job if people really want a chance at faith, hope, and trust in those that took an oath to serve and protect to hopefully bring a belief of a better, safer, united place if we bring conversations that may make some uneasy to light that needs to be addressed in order to make sure tragedies like this never happen again.
I want “DORNER” to be a television drama that allows you to get to know the stories and lives behind the victims and the heroes of this story and their families affected and, he wants the audience to come along for the ride.
I want the audience to also to learn the story of the heroes of this manhunt like officers Detective Alex Collins , Andrew Tachias, and a civilian by the name of Karam Kaoud
DTeflon’s character Seargent Derrick Gardner will be introduced in the series during the manhunt, as law enforcement officers around the region were on edge during the massive manhunt.
8 Torrance California Los Angeles Police officers opened fire with over 180 rounds of ammunition in the predawn hours of Feb. 7, 2013, and shot Margie Carranza and her mother, Emma Hernandez, who were slowly cruising through a Torrance neighborhood in a pickup truck delivering papers.
None of the officers were charged or faced any discipline.
As for my character, I want to have someone throw a rock at the tv and say I hate this guy and what all those officers did and they should have faced punishment or even jail as that could have been one of my family members in that truck, It was reckless and they should be changes in how police go about conducting investigations like this as just as the victims of Dorner’s crimes were innocent so were the public that was treated like target practice.
To me when you are able to spark emotion out of an audience in a way they truly can sympathize not only with the victims but also realize that not everyone is perfect and they make mistakes but also that everyone should be held accountable when mistakes happen and no one is above the law, not even police is the only way we can make real change.
Can a television show lead to progress and change in the way police do things? DTeflon says he hopes it raises questions. “I hope it feeds dialogue. … I hope it inspires people to talk to each other rather than to just look at each other and judge each other or pretend like there is no systematic change needed in our police forces.
We can’t just keep having the same conversation saying all cops aren’t bad and we need to listen to everybody’s stories and judge from there,” he said. “There’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of racism, police brutality and unarmed killings black, Latino and white and we already know there’s a lot of distrust going on in this country, and I think DORNER. is going to address that, but … not in a preachy way.” Innocent lives were lost in this tragedy but there are 3 sides to every American Crime Story…The victims…the heroes and the truth
Up to this point, we have only heard one side of this story mainly from police officers and as horrific of the crimes that were committed by Christopher Dorner and the innocent lives of the police officers taken Michael Crain and Jeremiah Mackay along with the innocent civilians who were murdered Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence and my heart goes out their families we need to understand what lead up to this tragedy and if it could have been prevented.
What’s the key to your consistency?
I don’t know if it’s consistency or just being hardheaded! It refuses to go away. I always want to challenge myself. I’ve taken what’s given to me and I try to put my mark on it, make it my own. Hopefully, I have a performance that makes people feel. I don’t want you to just watch me; I want you to feel me. This is a show that’s not only going to be fun to watch, it’s going to mean something. It’s going to be valid. It’s going to be relevant to what’s going on today.
It feels like DORNER itself is directly challenging the conversation about the systemic racism problem in the LAPD.
I knew that was the intent before I sat down before I ever signed up. I said, ‘I wanted to tell stories that truly pushed the envelope that while many are tragic that have affected many lives of the families of the victims but when it comes to issues like this stories are usually sided and while I don’t commend what Dorner did I felt that there is a deeper story and 3 sides of this story that needed to be told.
Producer Mallory Scott & DTeflon @WIREIMAGE-GEORGE PIMENTEL
When decided that I wanted to produce and be involved my partner Mallory Scott and I had a meetings with several networks until we got what we wanted and that a 4 picture deal for other American Crime stories we wanted to tell and along with our producing partners to discuss Dorner and how to come at it from a different angle…It was simple?
What’s the vision of this show?
So many shows admittedly so have been lacking in talking about real issues that affect the black community and interactions with police but also the problems within the system itself as many to me fail to tackle these issues and more just ignore it because they are afraid of ruffling feathers. This was one of the ones that truly I felt we needed to tell first which will be many more to follow but the stories we’re talking about are diverse from the victims involved to the effects it has not only on the families but society as a whole.
Even the content of the stories we’re talking about is diverse.
“We’re not going to talk about how horrific the crimes were but we want the audience when they view the show to spark conversation to talk about real issues, real topics.
Things that are being debated to this day on what led up to leading to the cause of Dorner’s mental break and what pushed him over the edge to commit such crimes and pull no punches in telling all sides of this story” Not just the one the media or the LAPD have shown up to this point as DORNER as just a homicidal maniac bent on revenge.
We need to stop just dismissing the fact there are real issues in the police forces where many of these incidents where African Americans who fall prey to violence from Brianna Taylor to George Floyd happen and a lot of times there are no consequences for the actions when mistakes and death’s that could have prevented are dismissed due to the fact of the police policing their own and why we need more independent investigations into the police just like a civilian would have to go thru a regular court if they were accused of a crime to prove there innocence to be addressed.
I found Dorner’s situation no different and the question remains if he had been allowed to get out of that cabin alive the many questions that still go unanswered.
What were the police trying to cover up…What would he have said…Would there be independent investigations into the alleged accusations he made against police officers been conducted and what would it have uncovered?
Does being a producer now change how you approach the material as an actor?
I also have to do my homework. I can’t just be cute. I can’t just be cheap with delivery. I have to do my homework and make sure that I make it as authentic as possible especially when there are real-life victims involved.
I want the facts to check out. I want the etiquette to check out.
I want the behavior to check out. I’m not just an actor with a gun or a producer looking to sell some wish-wash click bate product.
I’m researching every inch of this story from the ones that were already told as well as being trained by LAPD SWAT, Torrance PD SWAT. We have the men and women of the real law enforcement that are out in the trenches every day, teaching us how to move, teaching us how they maintain their temperaments, and hearing from officers that were involved in the manhunt to show just how scary the situation was and the pressure that was on to catch him while also not ignoring the mistakes that were made.
Then even after all these years how the police officers, the families of the victims disconnect from what they’ve been a part of, to maintain their own lives. To go home to their families, to their loved ones. To still fight for the rights of relative strangers. We’re playing pretend, but we’re trying to simulate real life. I want this show to resonate and to matter, and I want it to help change perceptions and views.
I would love it if, in some small form, this show could help change the temperament and the fear and the distrust. … Maybe there’s a different approach that will create a little more harmony than we seem to be lacking right now.
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Interview by Kim Yee AEPR MEDIA
