Synopsis
A professional, middle-class African American homeowner has begun to spend her evenings after work at handgun training. She is still getting comfortable handling a gun as she is not a gun enthusiast but feels it is a necessary means of self-protection. When leaving the gun range, she proudly shows her support for the Black Lives Matter movement through the bumper sticker affixed to her SUV.
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As she prepares for her workday, rings of the doorbell suddenly interrupt her morning. Viewing her home security cameras, the homeowner can see the person ringing her doorbell is a teenager. He’s not there to offer a product or service. This ill-intentioned teenager wants to know if anyone is home so that he can decide whether or not he’ll rob the place.
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When the homeowner doesn’t reach the door before the teenager decides no one is home, she is met with loud, pounding thumps shaking her door. She realizes he’s there to break into her home, and now she must act quickly.
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Once inside the house, the teenager, now robber comes face-to-face with the homeowner. She is prepared to defend herself and her property, but she really has no desire to shoot anyone. She brandishes the gun to clearly show she can and will fire it if provoked. As she shouts instructions to the robber to remove the hood from his head, she notices he’s wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.
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The irony of him being a young, black male wearing that T-shirt while committing a robbery was not lost on her. It makes her furious that he would have so little regard for the ideals of the movement while purposefully putting his own life in danger. She becomes a scolding, lecturing maternal figure expressing what she feels is the downside of the Black Lives Matter movement and why it wouldn’t benefit him in the present situation. The robber acknowledges the points being made by the homeowner and pleads to be let go.
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The homeowner decides to call the police. A single, white male officer rushes to the door. The robber’s back is to the door, but the homeowner can see him approaching. She quickly lays her gun on the floor, and the audience is left to decide what the officer does.
Shawn Harris
S.B. Harris made her fiction-writing debut in 2017 with her first short film, "Doorbell", which was inspired by a real-life event. She went on to produce and direct the film on a micro-budget over the summer months. It tells the story of a courageous and passionate woman who takes a controversial stand on the Black Lives Matter movement during a tense confrontation with an ill-intentioned teenager.​
Preceding "Doorbell" was "Celebrating Freedom", S.B.’s first documentary short that she wrote, directed, and produced. It is a film centered on how members of one family view freedom in the USA. It debuted to rousing applause and critical acclaim at the family’s annual reunion.
Alongside producer and director, S.B. has served as cinematographer, production manager, and editor on short video and film projects. S.B. formed Lazy Park Entertainment, LLC as home base to her creative vision. She is currently writing two short films and has plans to create a documentary of social importance over the next year.
S.B. holds a B.S. in Finance and an M.S. in Technical Communication. She loves to spend time with her husband, travel, read, and study films.
