Trouble Inside? Amanda “Kazzy” Cryer, Damon Russell, and Jason Dolan Take Unflinching Look at Bustling Prison Industry
"Inside Men" presents a realistic look at the state of our prisons and a refreshing bipartisan perspective of prison reform and what we can do to move forward.
Through interviews, Cryer's documentary "Inside Men" will expose long-running, systematic problems with the prison-industrial complex and ask challenging questions like “Why did we allow it to get this bad?” and “What solutions can all of us come together on?”
Cryer – whose previous production credits include "Luz: The Flower of Evil" and "Lord of Catan" – has partnered with film-industry veterans Damon Russell and Jason Dolan on the project. Russell is a multiple award-winning director and producer whose credits include "Cul-De-Sac" and fan-favorite "Snow on Tha Bluff."
“I’m confident audiences of all backgrounds and convictions will resonate with our message here” and called "Inside Men" “a project deeply connected to what I care about – uncovering the truth.”
Dolan is a writer whose credits include "The Vanishing of Sidney Hall" (starring Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning) and "Enter Nowhere" (starring Scott Eastwood). He has said that he is “excited to work on something as consequential as this.” “To me, this is one of the biggest issues of our time, and I'm ready to do my part to make a difference in this area.”
Cryer has also said, “In this documentary, you will hear first-hand testimony from survivors who have lost family to the system. Charged and convicted, their loved ones passed through the system unknowing how it would shape them for the worse, bending wayward souls into broken minds. .. Our prison system has decayed and degraded into a machine that pumps out hardened criminals. It would not be more effective even if we designed it for that exact purpose. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves, did we design it this way? There are human lives behind this situation, and there is a way to change those lives – and by doing so, to change our own lives too.”
Highlighting the enormity of the prison-industrial complex, which costs upwards of $182 billion every year1, the documentary unmasks some of the hundreds of private companies that compete for lucrative government contracts to build and maintain prisons – contracts that incentivize high recidivism and long-term incarceration. The documentary is broad in its scope, touching upon the US prison system's economics and ethics and drawing in various perspectives, including those of currently incarcerated individuals, returning citizens, wardens, guards, professors, attorneys, and victims' families.
Currently, in production, "Inside Men" will wrap sometime in 2022 and then move into distribution in 2023. For more information, contact Do Good Media at Info@DoGood-Media.com
About Amanda “Kazzy” Cryer:
Amanda “Kazzy” Cryer advocates for prison reform and mental health and is committed to elevating voices through film and media. Passionate about media-driven projects that bring attention to social issues, she is active in co-creating opportunities to solve problems, shift systems, and activate the inner capacity of leaders to create lasting change. An independent filmmaker, Cryer, produced "What They Wanted", "What They Got", starring Michael Des Barres and Alanah Ubach. She also wrote and directed a pilot TV project entitled "We Rock" based on up-and-coming Canadian musicians. From 2008 to 2012, she worked with a cohort of Native American actors, some of whom appeared in the Twilight films, to bring awareness to the water infrastructure issues negatively impacting indigenous communities across the country. Committed to what's possible if we overcome polarization and move towards unity, Amanda’s latest documentary, "Inside Men", highlights personal stories from people whom the prison system has affected in one way or another, the injustices of the prison industrial complex repudiating governmental structures, and private industries that view prisons as a solution to their bottom lines and societal challenges.
Nadya Rousseau
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1 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/the-u-s-spends-billions-to-lock-people-up-but-very-little-to-help-them-once-theyre-released#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20Prison%20Policy,million%20Americans%20who%20are%20incarcerated.