New Documentary by James Sanchez Premieres on Rolling Stone Films and Documentary+
Growing up in Texas, James Sanchez, associate professor of writing and rhetoric, never gave much thought to state-sanctioned executions. They happened regularly and didn’t seem out of the ordinary. That perspective shifted over time, heavily influenced by a recent meeting with Reverend Jeff Hood—a national death row spiritual advisor and subject of a new film produced by Sanchez.
“After meeting Reverend Jeff Hood and witnessing his work, it made me reevaluate the way states use the death penalty as ‘justice,’” said Sanchez. “Justice for whom? Executions feel like they only cause pain, and I think we as a country have never reckoned with why the state should ever be compelled to take someone’s life.”
Sanchez was fascinated with Hood’s commitment to men on death row—counseling them, preparing them for death, advocating for stays of execution, and, at times, holding their hands and praying with them in the execution chamber. Since a 2022 Supreme Court ruling allowed death row inmates to have one person accompany them in the execution chamber, Hood has been present for 11 executions.
In September 2024, Sanchez and a film crew followed Hood for five days as he traveled from his home in Arkansas to McAlester, Oklahoma, in an effort to stop the execution of Emmanuel Littlejohn for his role in the 1992 fatal shooting of a convenience store owner. They followed Hood as he petitioned Oklahoma officials for a stay of execution, led protests, comforted Littlejohn’s family, and remained by his side until his death.
As a producer of The Spiritual Advisor, Sanchez secured initial access for filming, raised funds to support the project, and helped shape the narrative, both as a writer and editor. His business partner, Joel Fendelman, served as director, with their company, A Pound of Snow Productions, producing the film in association with Rolling Stone Films and Documentary+. The film is based on a feature story in Rolling Stone magazine titled “The Last Face Death Row Inmates See.”
“Our film team has been with Jeff during four executions now, and each one is as intense as the last, even as we remain outside the walls and procedures of the process,” said Sanchez, who is currently working on a feature-length film on Hood. “As a filmmaker, I am less interested in the political and religious lenses through which most people view Reverend Hood and more interested in understanding what compels him to show up for some of the most vulnerable in our society.”
The film premiered at DOC NYC in November. On April 3, in Little Rock, Arkansas, Sanchez and Fendelman participated in a panel discussion following a public screening and press conference for The Spiritual Advisor, hosted by Rolling Stone Films and Documentary+.
In 2018, Sanchez produced his first documentary, Man on Fire, which won an award from the International Documentary Association and aired on PBS’s Independent Lens. He currently has two films in postproduction: North Putnam, a feature-length observational documentary about a rural Indiana school district, and In Loco Parentis, an investigative documentary that explores the historical cover-up of sexual abuse at elite New England boarding schools.