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Darion Allen, aka D McCoy, is a Film Writer and Director from Los Angeles who recently released his newest documentary A Place Called, which highlights the city of Compton through the eyes of his God father, Luke Ellington, a Compton-raised music producer. Throughout the 4-part series, Ellington recounts his experiences growing up around gang violence, from escaping to creative outlets, such as music production, to reconciling with loss and trauma in his adulthood. From the childhood homes to the barber shop to the production studio, Ellington takes us through some of the pivotal places in Compton that have formed who he is today. 

McCoy operates his own production company, 88CrossRoads, which is a direct reference to the streets where he was raised. For McCoy, it’s extremely important to bring recognition back to Watts, the Los Angeles neighborhood where he grew up. 

“[Ellington] had a beautiful story which had a lot of things about resilience for me and pride and community and that’s what I really loved when it comes to stories I want to tell about areas like the ones I grew up in, areas like Watts, areas like South Central.”

Having studied film at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and Loyola Marymount University, respectively, McCoy is putting in his 10,000 hours and working hard to achieve his goals and overcome creative challenges. His greatest challenge with A Place Called was becoming the bridge between Luke Ellington and an otherwise unfamiliar audience.

“What I was able to achieve in this piece, is making you as an audience member build affinity with a person you otherwise have no connection to, and having empathy for them… sharing perspective at the rawest level, where you forget that you’re watching something, where you forget that you are supposed to be taking a message home because you’re just so encapsulated by a story.”

Written by: Djamal Antoine (Dec. 2025)