ABOUT THE FILM

LOGLINE

Reporter Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp embark on a cross-country journey to memorialize the childhood bedrooms of those lost to school shootings, highlighting the urgent need for action against the rising epidemic of gun violence.

LONG SYNOPSIS

A visual meditation on absence, memory, and the unseen ripples of America’s gun violence epidemic.

ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS follows veteran CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they embark on a seven-year-long project to document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. Hartman steps away from his heartwarming human interest stories and unbeknownst to his network’s bosses, pursues a piece on absence, memory, and the unseen ripples of America’s gun violence epidemic. As these senseless incidents claim more young lives than any other cause in America, these quiet bedrooms reveal truths more powerful than statistics ever could.

Director Joshua Seftel

Producers Joshua Seftel, Conall Jones, James Costa, Trevor Burgess

Executive Producers Adam McKay, Kevin Messick, Steve Kerr, Rev. Dr. Conrad Fischer, MD, Roy and Mary Judelson Phil and Cheryl Milstein, Geralyn Dreyfous, Regina K. Scully, Melony and Adam Lewis, Claire Aguilar, Lisa Cortés, Sigrid Dyekjær, Anna Bick Rowe, Jon Levin, Kim Magnusson, Eric Nichols

Co-Executive Producer Chelsea Noll-McClintock

Co-Producers Avi Bond, Michael J. Gray, Sarah McCarthy, Matt Porwoll

Story Producer Stephen Maing

Consulting Producers Dr. Chethan Sathya, Fred Guttenberg, Jody Snider, Ilene Gutman, Erika Frankel

Editors Erin Casper, Stephen Maing, Jeremy Medoff

Director of Photography Matt Porwoll

Consulting Editor Francisco Bello, Eric Metzgar

Original Music Alex Somers

FESTIVALS
2025: Telluride (World Premiere), Toronto International (International Premiere)

AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
The World

EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Digital Download