Shreveport native releasing new movie on Amazon Prime

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Human trafficking is a growing problem, with an estimated 27.6 million victims worldwide. One Shreveport native captured the horror of the experience in his new action movie, The Next 24 Hours, which will release on Amazon Prime this week.

Carl Millender is an alumnus of Caddo Magnet High School and an experienced director. He got his start filming for Ms. Britton, the choir director, when the choir went to Los Angeles for winning the state championship. His previous projects include nine feature films and two documentaries. Millender says this is his first feature action film. Andre Buckner is the co-producer, director, and writer for the movie.

His new movie takes a hard look at how young girls are targeted and lured into human trafficking, then bought and sold for profit. It also stars Clifton Powel, Lisa Wu and Toni Hudson. Millender says it took 7 years to shoot the film. Due to a pause in production during the pandemic, completing it took about 3 years.

He and Buckner were inspired to make the movie while living in Atlanta.

“We both have daughters. I have three, he has two. And there was this news story that came across where a young lady went grocery shopping and never came back,” he said. “We found out that Atlanta, which was where we were living, is the number one capitol of human trafficking in the United States. So we said, ‘We have to bring light to this subject’.”

The film brings light to how easily these things can happen. Millender says although there are hundreds of ways that people disappear, the movie focuses on some of the more shocking that still happen often.

They hope the movie can keep something similar from happening to their loved ones, or others. He says victims often get snatched during daylight hours when others may witness it. Millener says witnesses need to act quickly to tell someone and get the license plate of the vehicle if possible.

The title, The Next 24 Hours, comes from law enforcement working to find victims of human trafficking.

“You have about 24 hours to track someone down who has disappeared before they get lost into this environment forever,” he said. “They can be drugged, raped, even if they recover them after 24 hours, their minds are messed up and often times they end up walking right back into this industry afterward.”

It’s a problem that affects the Shreveport-Bossier area as well. In early February the Shreveport Police Department arrested eleven suspects in a human trafficking ring for soliciting prostitution.

SPD Public Information Officer Chris Bordelon most of their arrests are people seeking money for sexual acts.

“The seeking out of sex workers creates a market for those that work as prostitutes. The prostitution market then uses young people that are vulnerable and manipulateable to these predator types.”

He says many of the victims are between the ages of 15 and 18 and often runaways from a broken family. Bordelon added that these families often don’t notice the changes in the teenager’s behavior.

“The best prevention is to be mindful of the actions and locations of our young people.”

If you or someone you know have become a victim of human trafficking the National Human Trafficking Hotline is available to help at 1(888)373-7888. You can also contact the Coalition to End Human Trafficking in Northwest Louisiana or the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Division.

You can watch The Next 24 Hours on Amazon Prime beginning this week. In two weeks the movie will also be available on Tubi.