The production company is Doin’ Time Entertainment LLC, and the cast is drawn from Indiana’s Putnamville Correctional Facility. The show is “Inmates With Talent,” effectuated by producer/comedian/co-creator Johnny Collins and comedian/co-creator Joel Jerome. It is what it sounds like – a reality talent competition among the facility’s inmates.
Comedians Edwin San Juan, Steve Wilson and Michael “Big Mike” Mitchell are also on hand as mentors and coaches.
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.”
The project also includes “Inmates With Talent Comedy Concert.”
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.”
Doin’ Time says it has about 100 hours of broadcast quality material, with two bodies of footage available that can be cut into about 12 half-hour episodes.
