Brief Description

“Take No Prisoners” is a thought provoking urban drama about  survival in the streets of Brooklyn where every choice has a consequence. Three young men painfully lean about loyalty, betrayal, greed and deception.  It is a story with a strong street attitude and positive messages.  From a youthful pact to be friends forever, three young men put their friendship to its ultimate test

About the Story 

Synopsis

“Take No Prisoners” is a contemporary story with all the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy: love, power, honor, betrayal and death. The story takes place in the housing projects and streets of  Brooklyn, New York.

From a youthful pact to be friends forever, Razz, Dizzy and Key‑O put their friendship to its ultimate test. But it is a socially conscious student, Cynthia, that helps Razz understand the power of community and teaches him about love and commitment.

The conflict begins when Razz, a socially conscious college student studying to be a photojournalist is recruited by his friend Key‑O to become a drug dealer for his employer, KingPin. But an argument develops when Raz refuses the job offer and KingPin becomes insulted. Razz is troubled by the argument with his childhood friend and decides to find  Key‑O to apologize.

But on the way to find his friend, Razz witnesses a shoot-out between rival drug dealers. An innocent woman is wounded and her baby is killed in the crossfire. Always with his digital camera in hand, Razz takes pictures of the entire shoot out while the drug dealers escape the neighborhood and the police. Razz leaves the scene and goes to the office of his mentor, community activist, Jem‑K to review the photos in Jem-K’s computer.

The third member of the trio, Dizzy has earned his living by being a “booster" in some of the finest department stores in New York City. His girlfriend Keisha is pregnant and Dizzy must expand his entrepreneurial spirit to prepare for the birth of his child. After sharing his impending fatherhood with his “boys” he is hired by his friend Key‑O to become a drug deliveryman.

Soon, however, word spreads through the community that Razz has photos of the shootout.  A gunman  breaks into Razz's apartment, points a gun at Razz’s mother's head, and Razz gives up the photo disk to the gunman.

Keyo, meanwhile, has been given a $50,000 drug stash by KingPin, which Key-O  hides in his bedroom. But his mother, an active drug addict, finds the stash, uses it up and replaces it with aspirin unbeknownst to him.

Jem‑K hears of the robbery and presents Razz with a computer disc of the shoot-out photos that were saved on his computer hard‑drive. As Razz reviews the photos he soon recognizes one of  the masked men inside the shootout car.  Subsequently, Razz makes a decision that changes his life and his friends’ lives forever;  and when questioned by the detective handling the case, Razz lies and tells the detective that  the photo was deleted because it was underdeveloped.

While Dizzy is selling drugs for Key‑O to a rival drug gang, Razz has become even more politically conscious. With the help of Cynthia, and members of the Brooklyn community, they organize a self‑defense group called the "X Squad". The “X Squad” is organized to keep the dealers, junkies, and gangs out of the neighborhood and to take the neighborhood back.

Cynthia and others organize a political rally which is a huge success in the Brooklyn community. Poets and artists from throughout the city perform, a voter registration campaign is initiated and volunteers are solicited for numerous community projects. The “X Squad” gains support from church and community leaders and the neighborhood is empowered. But the success of the rally puts Razz against Key‑O and KingPin.

Through Jem‑K's contacts, Razz sells one shoot out photo to a local newspaper for an article about street violence. Due to this and another development, KingPin and Key‑O are at odds with each other. But Key‑O is given one chance to redeem himself to KingPin: he must kill his childhood friend, Razz.

When Key‑O refuses KingPin's ultimatum to kill Razz, KingPin puts out a contract on Key‑O, Razz, and Dizzy. The housing project triumvirate, Key‑O, Razz and Dizzy must die.

But will they?