ABOUT US
The Human Trafficking 101 - Presenter’s Kit was established
in 2008 by Journey Film Group and founder/C.E.O, Michael
Cory Davis. Prior to the creation of the kit, Davis wrote
and directed the Hollywood Film Festival’s 2005 Best Short, Svetlana’s
Journey, a film based on the true story of a young sex trafficking
victim, Svetlana. Davis became involved in human trafficking issues
while acting in a movie on location in Bulgaria and began volunteering
with Face to Face Bulgaria an organization that works to educate children
on the dangers of the sex trade. Upon returning to the U.S., Davis kept
in touch with the organization and received a letter about Svetlana.
Moved by her story, Davis wrote the film in six hours, flew back to
Bulgaria and shot the film in one week with non-English speaking Bulgarian
actors.
Upon completion of Svetlana’s Journey, Davis helped organize fundraising
events that provided financial support to a number of orphanages. Davis
prolonged his stay in Sofia and toured the country pre-screening Svetlana’s
Journey in 20 public schools and orphanages. In 2005, Svetlana’s
Journey aired on Bulgarian national television to more than two millions
viewers.
In addition to the Hollywood Film Festival, Svetlana’s Journey
won Best Short Subject honors at the 2005 HD Film Festival
in Los Angeles. Davis was also honored with runner-up for Best
Director. The film had a huge impact with Non-Government Organizations
and government agencies like the FBI and I.C.E that used and continue
to use Svetlana’s Journey as a training tool in their departments.
Svetlana’s Journey has been screened at a number of events, sponsored
by non-government organizations and human trafficking task forces throughout
the world.
While screening Svetlana’s Journey throughout the United States,
Davis learned of the same atrocities happening within the country and
decided to establish the Journey Film Group, a production
company that creates socially themed content for the betterment of our
world.
Cargo: Innocence Lost, a documentary on sex trafficking
in America, was the first film released by Journey Film Group in 2007.
The film has been certified by the Peace Officers Standards and Training
and the Board of Behavioral Sciences for continuing education credit.
Cargo: Innocence Lost has been used by more than 100 national and international
organizations, churches, universities, and agencies to educate individuals
on the reality of sex trafficking.
In 2007 Journey Film Group focused its attention on educating the public
safety agencies and law enforcement officers who may be the first to
respond or the first to come in contact with victims of trafficking.
To meet this goal, Journey Film Group joined forces with Ti Training
Corporation, a supplier of law enforcement training material, creating
a 20-minute training video designed to quickly train individuals on
the issue of human trafficking, including the identifying signs to look
for.
In March of 2008, Journey Film Group officially released Human
Trafficking 101- The Presenter’s Kit, to further continue
the dissemination of information about human trafficking and create
a portal way in which individuals and organizations can obtain the resources
necessary to become abolitionists.
Davis, has appeared on a number of press outlets such as CNN,
World News with Charles Gibson, KNBC, KTLA, KABC, and the Tyra Banks
Show, as a subject matter expert.
Davis serves on the advisory board for Artist for Human Rights, Global
Angels, and Face to Face Bulgaria. Davis is an artist who took a detour
and found a passion in advocating for the rights of those without a
voice. These projects are all self-funded and the proceeds go to the
proliferation of the nationwide “I Stop Traffic”
awareness campaign.