Born and raised in Compton, California, Tommie Tyhefe Bayliss started to pursue a career in filmmaking in 2006. Growing up in an economically insecure situation, Tommie has been perpetually confronted with social and economic injustice. Led by his mother, Tommie was involved in protests and rallies in an effort to keep trauma centers, like Martin Luther King Medical Center in Compton, open when the city was threatening to close them due to budget cuts. These closures would have forced gunshot wound victims to either be transported to downtown Los Angeles or to Lynwood, which would increase the percentage of DOA cases. Tommie is a recent graduate of University of Southern California/School of Cinematic Arts. He wrote, produced and directed a short film called A Wonderful World in 2013 and it received The Johnny Carson Endowed Student Support Fund scholarship. These funds helped Tommie spend a semester abroad at Queen Mary University in London. In 2012, Tommie was selected to produce his class’ advanced senior project, Daybreak, which screened at the Eileen Norris Theater
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