Choices is the first of a series of fictional films designed to persuade new prisoners they can change their life while incarcerated. The films are based around a classic Jack London short story, To Build A Fire.
Prisons are ruthless environments. They tend to squash human potential. New prisoners fixate on surviving more than thriving because they now live with the mentally ill, predators, and violent offenders.
Prisoners face a range of emotions during their early incarceration…heightened feelings of anger, frustration, fear, confusion, and desperation. The safest path for them at the beginning of their incarceration is to maintain a mindset of conformity, go along to get along.
However, early on in their incarceration is a favorable time to persuade new prisoners to consider reevaluating and reworking their life. It is difficult for new prisoners to grow into a new way of thinking behind bars. Prisoners find it difficult to believe their story can be written differently. Difficult for them to grasp that their life can be transformed while serving time. Difficult to develop a new mindset.
Choices addresses these difficulties.
Choices shows new prisoners that they don’t have to live with the hand they were dealt. There is a promising path forward. Choices is a story of a fellow prisoner who is the ‘right person’ behind bars sharing the ‘right message’ behind bars at the ‘right time’ behind bars to the ‘right people’ behind bars.
Prisoner 74363 is the protagonist of the films. 74363 is serving a life sentence for killing his wife and her lover in a moment of rage. In the initial Choices film, 74363 is an elderly black man. In ensuing Choices films 74363 will differ depending on the composition of the new prisoners (female, juvenile, etc.).
74363 has spent his long prison time wisely. In the initial film 74363 is a serious learner, 74363 has gained much wisdom about life during his incarceration.
Warden Charlie is the narrator of the films. She knows prison cultures well and understands prison lives are changed from the inside out. She asks 74363 to share his wisdom with her new prisoners in hopes the ‘newbies’ won’t squander their upcoming prison time. 74363 does this, and does it with skill.
Choices is the first of a series of short films that plants ‘seeds of change’ into the hearts of new prisoners in hopes they begin converting their life’s setbacks into future successes. Only time will tell if these seeds take root and become a bountiful harvest.
The inaugural Choices film is currently in production and will be released in the Fall, 2026.
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