Florian's Knights the Movie - From the impact of 9/11 to the front lines of the opioid crisis in Vancouver and Toronto, and across the bridge to the arson epidemic in Detroit, Florian’s Knights travel to the darkest pits of the human experience. The real trauma of firefighting is exposed in ways never-before-seen. As the Florian’s Knights full patch motorcycle club, the freedom felt on two wheels is the unifying force that has inspired these firefighters from across North America. Standing behind their bike, they speak truth against the stigma of first responder mental health. Depression, substance abuse, and suicide. Issues that have been swept under the rug for generations. For these Florian’s Knights... The motorcycle is their medicine and vehicle for a changed perspective.
How I Became Involved
Panayioti Yannitsos was in the middle of filming his fourth documentary, Florian's Knights, when he came across an article in The Metro Times about my graphic novel Inferno City Firehouse. Noticing my novel, like his movie, is a serious look at the mental struggle firefighters face due to the horrors they see on the job, he reached out to me. Pan decided to fly to my house with his film crew to film me and my book Inferno City Firehouse. I also set them up to film ride-alongs with the same Detroit firefighters I did my research with for Inferno City Firehouse. It turns out that many of the same firefighters in my book are in his movie. The footage of me discussing my book should be coming out as its own short film sometime soon.
Pan also hired me to create the movie's official poster along with designs for their advertising, streaming, and social media headers. See the official movie trailer and poster below.
Florian's Knights Poster by Jay A DeFoy and Brian E Lau
