A24 Wins Bidding War For U.S. Rights on TIFF Favorite, Sing Sing
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Toronto International Film Festival came to a close this weekend, and some good news came for indie distributor A24, who won the bidding war for Greg Kwedar's sophomore feature Sing Sing.
Featuring a cast that includes actors who have previously been incarcerated, the film opened to 100% on Rotten Tomatoes from 10 reviews. Critics called the film "a beacon of hope, shedding light on a crucial truth" and "a redemptive portrait of theater's power to heal, emancipate, and rebel".
The film stars Colman Domingo, Sean Dino Johnson, Clarence Maclin, Paul Raci, Sean San Jose and John Divine G Whitfield and follows a small group of incarcerated people inside Sing Sing Correctional Facility, one of the world's most infamous maximum security prisons, who attempt to stage their own original production, Breakin' The Mummy's Code, from inception to opening night.
Based on a true story, the film was financed and produced by Black Bear, Marfa Peach Company and Edith Productions.
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar collaborated on adapting the script from Brent Buell's play, Breakin' The Mummy's Code and John H. Richardson's The Sing Sing Follies.
The film's producer, Monique Walton, shared the unique approach they took in that "Everybody got paid the same rate, be it cast or crew, based on the SAG scale rate. And then, everyone shared in a piece of the equity".
Kwedar said, "This radical transparency birthed a radical trust...We realized that we rise and fall together, we all shared the same goals, and there was no hierarchy. It was a culture where the best ideas could come forward from anyone on the team and be heard".
