Directed, co-written and produced by Rhyan LaMarr, the screenplay for Canal Street is co-written by Jon Knitter, with additional writing by Adam Key. LaMarr and Knitter wrote the first draft in 2005 at Columbia College Chicago and developed the script together over the next 13 years.

LaMarr remembers, “I would get on the red line and take it from the Southside of Chicago all the way to the end of the line on the Northside, and just people watch and dream up some of the diverse characters we birthed in Canal Street. Chicago, to me, was one of those cities that had caught a bad rap, and I wanted to shine a different light on it through politics and grit. Me and Jon started writing about our different experiences, and that is really how the script began to take form.”

Canal Street is a faith-based, modern-day thriller about a teen, Kholi Styles, trying to get by in an unwelcoming new world. After the mysterious death of a classmate, all eyes fall on Kholi, the new kid at his high school. It’s up to his father, Jackie Styles, an up-and-coming lawyer from the slums of Chicago, to defend his son in court and battle an outraged public before time runs out. Jackie fights to keep his faith and prove his
son is not the monster of the world.