Inmates With Talent Reality Show

The scene is Putnamville Correctional Facility in Indiana, where inmates including singers, comedians and spoken-word artists entertain fellow inmates by staging a talent contest. The show is certainly entertaining, but the lessons learned are serious and lasting.

Commissioner Edwin G. Buss of the Indiana Department of Correction commented, "'Inmates With Talent' is certainly very entertaining, but it goes much deeper than that. Doin' Time Entertainment's objective of reducing recidivism through its unique and comedic interactions with offenders is key here, and we're pleased to allow them to continue their efforts."

Doin' Time also completed a related project, "Inmates With Talent Comedy Concert," focused on a stand-up contest between inmate comedians. Producer/comedian and co-creator Johnny Collins and comedian/co-creator Joel Jerome go inside Putnamville and get the project going, working one-on-one with inmates to help them prepare their routines. "Comedians joke about tough audiences," said Collins, "but these performers show true courage in entertaining their fellow inmates."

Professional comedians Edwin San Juan (Showtime, Pacific Rim Comedy) and Steve Wilson (Comedy Central, The DL Hughley radio show) and Michael "Big Mike" Mitchell also participate as mentors, coaching the novice comics as they shape their material, sharpen their timing and combat stage fright.

Charles Jackson, a former Putnamville inmate turned graduate student, remarked, "I was at Putnamville when Inmates With Talent was filmed. I no longer knew what it meant to be a social being after my incarceration. Johnny's visit reminded me of my worth as a creation of God. His humanity is desperately needed in our prison systems. Thanks, Johnny, for remembering that punishment without restoration is often more dangerous than no punishment at all."

Collins commented, "We have shot many hours of unprecedented, eye-opening footage inside prison, and have recently completed several entertaining projects. These shows do not glamorize prison or coddle the prisoners. They soon learn that entertaining people is hard work. But inmates who step up to the mic find the kind of self-worth that might have kept them out of prison in the first place. Constructive self-expression reduces prison tensions and helps inmates turn their lives around. Now it's time to partner up with a network and release this great entertainment to viewers around the world."

Over the last two years, Doin' Time Entertainment has visited Indiana's medium security Putnamville Correctional Facility on multiple occasions, shot approximately 100 hours of broadcast-quality footage and has recently completed the following:

1. A reality TV pilot/special set in prison and based on an inmate talent show (singing, comedy, and spoken-word performances). Running time: 60 minutes. Doin' Time has enough material to produce 12 half-hour episodes.
2. A related TV pilot/special focused exclusively on the comedians in the talent show. Running time: 45 minutes. Can be expanded to 12 half-hour episodes.
3. An unscripted film (which can be released theatrically, or as a TV special): two fish-out-of-water comedians interact with inmates in a unique, dramatic and ultimately comedic manner. The experience helps the inmates turn over a new leaf so that they can become productive members of society. Running time: 100 minutes

Doin' Time also has two other prison-related shows in development.