THE FISH DON’T CARE WHEN IT RAINS

A Feature Documentary

CONTACT

shiv.mcdonnell@gmail.com

+44 (0) 7826-831153

EXCLUSIVE VIEW TEASER [2mins]

Trapped for years in an institution using painful electric shocks as ‘treatment’, Jen Msumba escapes, fights back, and transforms trauma into music & film.

GENRE : DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

DURATION : 68 MINS

WRITTEN BY JEN MSUMBA

DIRECTORS: JEN MSUMBA, SHIV MCDONNELL

PRODUCERS: TONY ARMER, SHIV MCDONNELL

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

LANGUAGE : ENGLISH

LOCATIONS: BOSTON, MA + ST. PETERSBURG, FL

POST PRODUCTION COMPLETION: Spring 2026

TAGLINE

“What I need is ninjas, to go in and break everyone out...but I don’t have ninjas so I’m making this documentary.”

LOGLINE

Trapped for seven years in an institution that uses painful electric shocks as “treatment,” autistic artist Jen Msumba escapes, fights back, and transforms trauma into music and film..

SYNOPSIS

The Fish Don’t Care When It Rains follows
autistic artist Jen Msumba, who spent seven years trapped in the Judge Rotenberg Center,
where disabled children and adults are subjected to electric shocks, that are nine times stronger than a cattle prod. Condemned by the UN as torture yet still legal in Massachusetts, this practice is funded by taxpayer dollars.

Through Jen’s exclusive testimony and art, the film exposes systemic failures while celebrating, resilience, creativity, and the fight for justice.

Director’s Statement

The use of painful electric skin shocks on autistic and other disabled individuals remains legal in the state of Massachusetts. These extremely painful shocks, which were
deemed torture by the United Nations, are being used everyday on some of the most vulnerable population in the United States of America.

Where is the outrage? This treatment isn’t allowed on criminals or convicted terrorists. And as I sat in that institution for seven years I thought, where are the people? Why would my country allow this? When will they save us?

But they never did.

That is why I am making this film with my co-director Siobhan McDonnell.

The world needs to know what has been happening and still is in the year 2025. The human rights of this population are being severely violated, and they are using taxpayer dollars to fund the ongoing torture. It is time to #stoptheshock

Meet the Team

Jen Msumba

WRITER, DIRECTOR, SELF

Jen Msumba is an award winning filmmaker, writer, musician and Sundance Fellow, originally from Boston. Her powerful storytelling, whether in song or script, moves audiences through laughter and tears. A MENSA member and Easterseals Film Disability Challenge winner, Jen is now adapting her acclaimed short The Fish Don’t Care When It Rains into a
feature..
Siobhan McDonnell

DIRECTOR, PRODUCER

Siobhan is an Emmy-nominated producer and director known for crafting award-winning XR films, and documentaries. She produced The Pirate Queen starring Lucy Liu, which won Tribeca’s Storyscapes Award and Trailblazer, (Mrs Benz) starring Daisy Ridley. Experienced on BBC, Universal, Channel 4 productions following her tenure at Warner Bros. Studios. A member of BAFTA and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Tony Armer

PRODUCER

Tony Armer is Head of Physical Production at Talon Entertainment Finance and former Dallas Film Commissioner. He led the St. Petersburg Clearwater Film Commission to record growth, co-founded Film USA and the Sunscreen Film Festival. An award winning filmmaker with content distributed by Lionsgate and Amazon. He holds an MFA in Film and works across finance, sales, and
distribution.
Zeb Achonu

EDITOR
Zeb Achonu is an award-winning editor, incl BAFTA, with over two decades’ experience in the film and TV industry. Her films covering a range of subjects including ITV's Jimmy Akingbola: Handle with Care, Netflix series Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip Hop, and multiple award-winning feature documentary White Nanny Black Child. Her work has been screened by major broadcasters and streamers globally.
Mike Ladouceur

COMPOSER
Mike Ladouceur is an award-winning
American/British composer whose work blends orchestral and electronic textures. A professor at the Royal College of Music, Mike has worked on major films like Black
Widow and Mission Impossible: Fallout.
He recently scored How I Faked My Life With AI (Tribeca 2024) and Mizu (Rolling Stone-featured)

Jen's community of 30,000 followers is growing fast and already generating 145,000 views from a single post.

Our online community is just one part of the engine that will help drive this film's impact campaign and is growing by the day. The audience for this film is already mobilising.