From rapper to cop, to filmmaker

He was first a rapper. Then he became a cop. Now Jinho Ferreira is turning into a filmmaker. Ferreira is among 15 participants of the Sundance Institute’s 2017 Screenwriters Lab, an immersive writers’ workshop currently going on at the Sundance Resort in Provo, Utah. An annual tradition, the workshop precedes the Sundance Film Festival, which this year is slated for Jan. 19 through 29.

AN OAKLAND STORY “Cops and Robbers” is Ferreira’s screenplay that became his ticket to Sundance. The story is set in his home city of Oakland, a place that has made headlines in cases of police brutality and corruption and which has had a long history of strained relations with blacks. In the dramatic film, a police officer searches for his identity but instead finds in what is also known as the “other city by the Bay,” whose troubled reality provides a backdrop of inner-city violence, oppressive police tactics, and a furious anti-police movement.

All these elements are themes familiar to the screenwriter, who holds a bachelor’s degree from in black studies from San Francisco State University.

SINGING & LAW ENFORCEMENT The son of an African-American mother and Brazilian father, Ferreira is a rapper known as The Piper who formed the band Flipsyde and toured with Black Eyed Peas and Snoop Dogg. Incidents of police brutality and community activism reportedly led him to become a cop with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Academy, which serves Oakland. PLAY, BOOK, MUSIC... In 2012 and with a few years as a sheriff’s agent under his belt, Ferreira turned to theater penning “Cops and Robbers”, which played at Berkeley’s Marsh theater. The play is also available in audio and book versions. Furthermore, the play’s title also names a Flipsyde album and single. It now looks like “Cops and Robbers” the film could be next. Check out this video of Ferreira talking about 'Cops and Robbers.'

–CESAR ARREDONDO

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