I am an award-winning producer, director, and editor, as well as a mother of four.

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I first became aware of Tyra Patterson's case in 2015 while working as a senior producer at the Guardian US. I had set off to make a short documentary project, but once on the ground, I realized there was a bigger story to tell.

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With the Guardian's support, senior reporter Ed Pilkington and I set out on a six-month investigative journey, digging deep into Tyra's case to expose the dysfunction of America's criminal justice system, one that disproportionately incarcerates people from marginalized communities. Our three-part interactive series, published in 2016, received a World Press Photo Award and drew international attention. When one of the victim's sisters came forward later that year to plead for Tyra's freedom, we followed the story further. Governor Kasich ultimately granted Tyra clemency in 2017, and she walked out of prison on Christmas Day of that year.

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I thought, at the time, that her walking free was the end of the story. I was wrong. What I didn't yet understand was that freedom is not a single moment, it is a process, one Tyra is still living through today. Over the eight years since, I have watched her fight to clear her name, rebuild relationships strained by decades apart, and face a life-threatening illness, all while working to give others the same chance she was given. That fight, and everything it has demanded of her, is the story I set out to tell with this film.

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Tyra and I have developed a powerful bond in the years since her release. She is heavily involved in the arts community of Cincinnati, advocating for the hiring of artists directly impacted by incarceration and for pathways to entrepreneurship. She also uses art to educate people on issues of social, racial, gender, and economic justice. Until I'm Free is my attempt to honor that work, and to ask, alongside her, what it truly means to be free.