Early this morning, Canadian Screen Award winning filmmaker Quentin Lee minted their viral short video #justiceforReneeNicoleGood on OpenSea, an NFT marketplace. A queer non-binary filmmaker and artist, Lee has pledged to donate 50% of all net proceeds from the sale of the NFT to the surviving partner and family of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026. I took the opportunity to interview them for CHOPSO.
Why did you decide to make this short AI video that has gone viral?
QL: I’ve been dabbling in AI and I try to use AI to do something creative everyday. And I woke up with the shocking news of Renee Nicole Good being shot… or murdered by ICE. That morning, I created the video and posted it on Facebook and Instagram which, to my surprise, has been going viral.
Talk about the intention behind the video…
QL: I feel like as a filmmaker and artist, my goal is to give voice to the subaltern, those who couldn’t speak. Since Renee Nicole Good was killed, I simply imagined what she would have said about her death… or killing… or murder. And that inspired creating the video.
I saw there were 190+ comments on your Instagram video… have you read any of them?
QL: LOL I glanced through a few… and I realize for something to go viral you need both the supporters and haters. I think the video did the job of presenting my point-of-view and also sparking conversations.
And why did you decide to mint the video as an NFT?
QL: I was just driving around and hearing on NPR about the history of musicians creating protest music. As an artist, I thought this would be an amazing opportunity to create protest art, something I believe in. After I came back from my Television Academy meeting last night, I minted it into an NFT!
Anything else you would want to add?
QL: It’s ironic that I didn’t know Renee Nicole Good was LGBTQ+ until ICE released the video showing her partner prior to the incident. As a fellow LGBTQ+ person and an immigrant myself, I felt even more compelled to mint the video as an NFT—so it could stand as an artistic marker in history documenting this incident.
Check out the NFT on Opensea and watch the viral Intagram Video!
#justiceforReneeNicoleGood
