March 4, 2020 – Founder of Operation Underground Railroad & Author, Tim Ballard, has recently joined Emmy® Award Winning Director, Nick Nanton, in the filming of It’s Happening Right Here. A new documentary that sheds light and awareness on the more than 300,000 American minors being lured into the sex trade every year.

Tim Ballard joined the Emmy® Award Winning DNA Films crew for a day of principle filming in San Diego in late January.

Tim Ballard was on set for Nanton’s interview with Tim Ballard, the founder of Operation Underground Railroad. Ballard and his organization will be highlighted in the film for their work in fighting trafficking, specifically in cases that involve women and children being brought into the U.S. from other countries.

He then joined the film crew for a behind-the-scenes tour of San Diego’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The Task Force Commander spoke with producers about cases involving minors who are trafficked online and through social media. Tim Ballard got to ask questions as the Task Force Commander gave a look into how police are working to fight trafficking and child exploitation in the U.S.

An investigator with San Diego ICAC gave Tim Ballard and his fellow producers a demonstration with one of the K-9s the task force uses for electronic detection of devices that store child pornography.

The interviews with Ballard and San Diego ICAC investigators will serve as two elements in this film which aims to give an overall view of the many ways trafficking is happening right here in the U.S.

Coming Fall 2020, It’s Happening Right Here follows the men and women who have joined together to make it their mission to rescue the millions of women, men, and children trapped in sex trafficking and make a difference in the lives of victims of this trade that is happening right here in our own backyards, in America.

About Tim Ballard:

Tim Ballard is the founder of Operation Underground Railroad, a nonprofit that fights against child sex slavery. Ballard began his career with the CIA and then spent over a decade working as a Special Agent for the Department of Homeland Security where he was deployed as an undercover operative. He has worked every type of case imaginable in the fight to dismantle child trafficking rings. He has worked undercover in the United States and in multiple foreign countries to infiltrate child trafficking organizations. In 2013, Ballard and a team of former government operatives left their careers to go about the work of saving children as a private foundation.

Ballard has briefed the President of the United States and other cabinet members on issues of child trafficking. He has also testified before the US House and Senate on several occasions. In 2019 he was appointed by the President to chair the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking.

Ballard has been featured on many national news outlets to discuss his efforts to combat child trafficking. He was featured in a story by ESPN with Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach, Mike Tomlin. He also has appeared on CBS Evening News, Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, The Ingraham Angle, The Glenn Beck Program and many other outlets.

Ballard is the principal subject of two full-length documentaries: The Abolitionists, by Academy Award-winning producer, Gerald Molen, and Operation Toussaint, by Emmy Award-winning director, Nick Nanton. His life story will also be depicted in the upcoming feature film, The Sound of Freedom, where he will be portrayed by actor Jim Caviezel and his wife Katherine is portrayed by Academy Award Winner, Mira Sorvino.

Ballard is the best-selling author of six books including Slave Stealers: True Accounts of Slave Rescues-Then and Now, The Lincoln Hypothesis and the Washington Hypothesis. He was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. He also received the distinguished George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and now resides in Utah with his wife and nine children.

About DNA Films®:

DNA Films® is led by 15-time Emmy® Award Winning Director and Producer, Nick Nanton and 7-time Emmy® Award Winning Producer, JW Dicks. Dicks and Nanton have produced multiple award-winning films including Rudy Ruettiger: The Walk On, Operation Toussaint, A New Leash on Life: The K9s for Warriors Story, Triple Take, and Visioneer: The Peter Diamandis Story. Combined, they have produced and directed more than 500 television episodes and dozens of films.

Dicks and Nanton’s goal is to bring inspiring true-life stories to the screen as a means of encouraging and inspiring positive change.

Learn More: www.DNAFIlms.com
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Contact:

Megan McPhillips
Dicks and Nanton Celebrity Branding Agency®
[email protected]