Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531774
6 6 P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 5 The movie Sing Sing tells a story about a friendship between two men who meet each other in a theatre group inside a high-security prison. Director and writer Greg Kwedar, along with writing partner, producer and best friend Clint Bentley, developed and told this story together with the men who went through the Rehabilitation Through the Arts theatre program inside Sing Sing prison in Upstate New York. The numbers of RTA are staggering—less than three percent of alumni of this program ever go back to prison, compared to the national average of more that sixty percent. But that's only a number—the cathartic beauty of human character, resilience and transformation is something these men, most of them playing themselves in the film, show us through the deeply human and honest orchestration of Greg Kwedar. There was hardly a day on set where people behind the camera didn't shed tears or erupted in applause after a cut was called. Beautiful storytelling aside, everyone was seen and appreciated, everyone's input was valid. Every cast and crew member became a stakeholder of the movie and received equal pay, but contracts aside, equality and appreciation are values these filmmakers live by. As we were wrapping production, I told Greg and Clint I was confident it would be a great film no matter how it was edited, because people flourished on this production, there's not a molecule of this film that is not honest and human and it will be visible in the end result. Typical research aside, I leaned on people who lived the prison experience to be my guides and collaborators. I had the privilege to conduct S i n g S i n g E S C A P E T H R O U G H T H E A T R E B Y R U TA K I S K Y T E , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R A. BREAKIN' THE MUMMY'S CODE. PIRATE SET AT BEACON HIGH SCHOOL. PRODUCTION STILL. B. PROCREATE SKETCH FOR THE PIRATE SET IN BREAKIN' THE MUMMY'S CODE BY RUTA KISKYTE. C. SET RENDERING FOR THE DAYLIGHT THEATRE IN THE PRISON. DONE BY RUTA KISKYTE IN SKETCHUP, VRAY AND PHOTOSHOP. D. DAYLIGHT THEATRE, SHOT AT FORMER MID- ORANGE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY. PRODUCTION STILL. A