Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story

On March 23, 2017, it was announced that The Weinstein Company and Jay-Z had won a heated bidding war for the screen rights to two books, Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It by Lisa Bloom and Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. The producers' plan was reportedly to take the novels and adapt them into two separate projects: a six-part documentary television series and a narrative feature film. Other studios had been interested in the screen rights such as Fox Searchlight and Universal Pictures (who had been attempting to obtain them for Will Packer and Ted Field). The Weinstein Company's Harvey Weinstein and David Glasser had a meeting during the weekend of the Academy Award in their Los Angeles office with Jay-Z and Martin’s parents. The pair was able to win them over by making it clear that their greatest concern was seeing their Martin's life and legacy honored.[2]

On April 6, 2017, it was announced that the Paramount Network had given a series order to the production, now titled Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story. The series order consisted of six episodes for the program with executive producers including Jay-Z, Harvey Weinstein, David C. Glasser, Chachi Senior, Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin, Jenner Furst, Nick Sandow, Julia Willoughby Nason, and Michael Gasparro.[3] On October 9, 2017, it was announced that following reports of sexual abuse allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein, his name would be removed from the series' credits as would The Weinstein Company as well.[4]

On July 2, 2018, it was announced that the series would premiere on July 30, 2018.[5]

On December 16, 2017, George Zimmerman claimed in an interview that a production team for the series led by executive producer Michael Gasparro made unannounced visits to his parents' and uncle’s homes in Florida in an attempt to get them on camera. He alleged that the crew harassed his family and that they refused to pay his parents or family members if they did decide to participate in the series. He went to remark that, "I know how to handle people who fuck with me, I have since February 2012." He further said that he holds producers Jay-Z and Gasparro responsible and that, "anyone who fucks with my parents will be fed to an alligator."[6] A day later, rap artist Snoop Dogg commented via Instagram post saying, "If one hair on jays hair is touched that’s when the revolution will b televised". He then went on to criticize “the system” and called Zimmerman a “Bitch ass muthafucca”.[7] On March 2, 2018, Jay-Z himself seemed to respond to Zimmerman's threats in a rap verse of his in the song "Top Off" by DJ Khaled saying, "Meanwhile Georgie Porgie sinnin' and sendin' me threats/Save your breath, you couldn't beat a flight of steps/Try that shit with a grown man/I'll kill that fuckboy with my own hand"[8] On May 7, 2018, Zimmerman was charged with stalking, against a private investigator who had been working with the producers of the series. According to the investigator, Zimmerman contacted him with 21 phone calls, 38 text messages and 7 voicemails in two and a half hours.[9][10][11]

On February 26, 2018, the Paramount Network released the first trailer for the series announced that the series would premiere in July 2018.[1][18][19][20][21][22][23] On July 2, 2018, a second trailer was released.[5]

On April 20, 2018, the series held its world premiere at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York City, New York during the annual Tribeca Film Festival. Following the screening, a question-and-answer session was held moderated by Joy Reid and featuring co-directors Julia Willoughby Nason and Jenner Furst, the parents of Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, and executive producers Mike Gasparro and Chachi Senior.[24][25] On May 30, 2018, a private screening of the series' first episode was held for Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin at the Lyric Theater in Miami, Florida.[26] On June 16, 2018, an episode of the series was screened at the Colony Theater in Miami Beach, Florida during the American Black Film Festival.[27][28]