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Rashone Washington's autobiographical short film "1 Foot In and 1 Foot Out" is a project he owes to the help of his friends.

Friends such as Breannah Butler and Sahiem Foxx, who agreed to play supporting roles in what would become Washington's first movie.

Triad filmmakers David Tesch and Rajesh Bhagirat gave the rookie filmmaker a crash course in video production while assisting him on set.

But especially friend Jonathan Goodman, who grew up with Washington on the streets of New Jersey. Goodman proved that a person could walk away from a life of dealing drugs in favor of an honest day's work, the central theme in "1 Foot In and 1 Foot Out."

"This is for (Goodman) because he lived that life that one time, too," Washington says. "When I saw that he could change and leave that life totally, I was like, 'If anybody can do that, there's hope.' "

Washington dedicated "1 Foot In and 1 Foot Out" to Goodman, who died of kidney-related troubles in 2008.

"I knew him all my life," Washington said, "and we were friends for like 20 years."

"1 Foot In and 1 Foot Out" will have its Greensboro premiere Friday.

The short film chronicles Washington's life from when he was a drug dealer in New Jersey to his move to Greensboro, where he ultimately quit the lifestyle.

He intended the autobiographical film as a response to movies such as "American Gangster," which he believes glorify illegal activities commonly referred to as "the game."

He feels that a film like his is especially relevant to him now that he has a son.

"I'm not saying the kids these days are not wiser, but they don't know how to differentiate what's fake and what's not," Washington says. "And I'm like 'Wow, someone needs to tell the story on the game with regular everyday people, and what you've seen coming up in a negative environment and how you've got to get out of it.' "

Washington began selling drugs at 14 in pursuit of material possessions such as expensive sneakers and blue jeans. The money was good, but it didn't take him long to see that the stress and risks from such a life choice were too high.

"You have those kids that don't understand that it's better to work for an honest day's pay, and come home every day and sleep good at night," Washington says.

"A lot of people in those situations don't want to do that because they think, 'I can make 500 dollars in 15 minutes.' But in those 15 minutes, that can be your life; you can lose your life or all your freedom in 15 minutes."

Rather than craft a film into what director Spike Lee refers to as a "ghetto-shoot-em-up," Washington created a movie where no character fires a single gun. He also tempered the gritty nature of his subject matter by injecting his movie with a little humor.

"I didn't want to sound like grandpa with the story, so I had to put some humor into it," Washington says. "I like joking around, so I threw jokes in there to make people laugh at times, but then standing on set, seeing it coming to life, it really had me cracking up."

Washington plans to submit "1 Foot In and 1 Foot Out" to several film festivals across the country, with the hopes of one day turning it into a feature. He also wrote a second script for a comedy feature titled "My Life, Who Cares."

After all, the lessons he learned working on his first film are too valuable to let go.

"I learned patience. I was very impatient; I still am, but I can contain it now," Washington says. "I also learned that if you have faith in your project and what you're doing in your heart, then everybody else around you is going to have faith in what you do as well."

Contact Joe Scott at movieshowjoe@gmail.com.