We are excited to announce that production has begun on Incarcerating US! After conducting dozens of pre-interviews and developing a detailed outline to guide our efforts we decided to jump right into production. We look forward to traveling the country to speak with people impacted by the prison system, learn from experts in the field, and capture footage to shed light on this important issue.

About the film:
Incarcerating US is a documentary film illustrating how the purpose of prison has changed dramatically in the U.S. With 2.3 million people behind bars, the U.S. has more prisoners than anywhere else in the world. The rate of incarceration in the U.S. has more than quadrupled over the past thirty years. The social and economic costs of the extremely high imprisonment rate demonstrate the need to reassess and make drastic changes to the current system.

The shift towards longer and more rigid sentencing policies in conjunction with the War on Drugs fueled the explosion in the prison population. Political incentives divert scarce resources away from those who are truly a danger to society to those that commit nonviolent drug offenses.

Through the eyes and experiences of people involved with the prison system, this film will show why many agree that the current system is a counterproductive mess. In a penetrating look, it will include interviews with policy experts, attorneys, judges, corrections officials, current and former inmates, former police officers, and reform advocates. It will explore the vested interests that benefit from the current model and reveal how they obstruct reform efforts. With a greater understanding of the history and policies that created the largest prison population in the history of the world, we can foster a more humane criminal justice system and reduce the social and economic costs to the nation.

*All media inquiries should be sent to press@lifeismymovie.com