At Planet 9 Films, we believe that film is a uniquely powerful vessel for empathy. It’s a way to step into someone else’s life, see things from a new perspective, and emerge from the experience a little bit changed. As a producer, I’ve sought out projects that capture this transformative potential and, as a result, have had the honor of working with some truly gifted artists, helping to bring their stories to life. The following projects showcase the stories we have been drawn to and sought to amplify. 

Completed Projects

Marshall (2017), starring Chadwick Boseman, is a courtroom drama set in the 1940s, based on a case tried by the then young NAACP lawyer, Thurgood Marshall. It follows a defining moment in Marshall’s early career, when he is teamed up with Sam Friedman (Josh Gad), a young Jewish attorney who is moved by the persecution of his people in Nazi Germany to take up the case of racial injustice at home.

Day of Days (2017), starring Tom Skerritt, is about a dying man who happens to spend his final day on Earth with a substitute caregiver, a recently arrived Cuban immigrant, who helps him confront his mortality and rediscover his grace. 

Tyson’s Run p.g.a. (2022), starring Rory Cochrane and Major Dodson, is a family drama about a boy with autism who achieves his unlikely dream of running a marathon as a way to repair the broken relationship between him and his father. 

A Snowy Day in Oakland p.g.a. (2023), starring Loretta Devine, Nicole Ari Parker, and Deon Cole, is an ensemble comedy that finds lightness, laughter, and healing while exploring the powerful convergence of mental health, faith and community.  

Límite (2023), is a Spanish-language award winning short film based on a little-known tragedy that occurred at the US–Mexico Border when a young boy in love became the victim of a dangerous, faceless system. 

In Preproduction or Development

A Study in Love (pre-production for 2026), is a coming-of-age story about a Yemeni-American high schooler who is caught between competing sets of cultural expectations. Through her passion for science and dogged curiosity, she forges her own path in love and in life. 

Mother Johnson’s Christmas Miracle (pre-production for 2026), is a comedic, family-friendly film about a Christmas-obsessed woman of unshakable faith (Loretta Devine), who fights to keep her single-member church from being closed and her neighborhood’s hopes alive.  

Yasuke: Soul of a Samurai (in development for 2027), set in 16th Century Japan, is a true story about an African slave of a missionary priest who transcends his servitude to become a Samurai legend.

– John Cappetta (PGA member)