The personal is political in these short documentaries that address historical and local challenges to how it goes.
About the Film: Behind These Walls documents the experience of Sean “Dino” Johnson through his own unsparing words. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Johnson served a 15-year prison sentence for a drug-related charge. His conviction occurred during the national war on drugs, and before New York State began to reform its notorious Rockefeller drug laws. While incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Johnson discovered the prison’s theater program and was initially skeptical, saying “We are in a maximum security facility and you want me to run around in tights talking about to be or not to be?" Johnson takes the leap though, and the film’s archival excerpts of his in-prison performances alongside his compelling narrative reveal how the dramatic arts impacted his ability to self-correct and express empathy. He describes his mental and emotional transformation as liberating, concluding “I found my freedom behind those walls.”
About the Filmmakers: Susan Margolin is a pioneer of digital distribution and creator of independent films with 25+ years’ experience. Margolin co-founded film distributor New Video/Docurama Films in 1992 and ran the company until it was sold to Cinedigm in 2012. As Co-President she distributed an extensive library of award-winning films including Short Term 12 and Academy Award nominated The Invisible War, including 25 Academy Award winners and nominees. In 2016 Margolin launched St. Marks Productions, a production and distribution services company. She produced award winning and critically acclaimed films including The Rape of Recy Taylor (Starz), Paper Children (YouTube Originals). A Crime on the Bayou (Starz), A Tree of Life (HBO), and Generation Startup (Netflix). Margolin serves on the board of directors of Chicken & Egg Pictures, BAFTA NY (emerita), the Documentary Producers Alliance, and Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Margolin is a graduate of Brown University and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), BAFTA, and the Producers Guild of America (p.g.a.).
Karin Young Shiel is an Emmy award-winning producer, board member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), and is currently co-producing a scripted feature film, inspired by RTA, that features Sean "Dino" Johnson among other RTA alumni. As an Executive Producer for Sesame Workshop, she created the Grammy Award-winning ABC prime-time special Elmopalooza, and received a National Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special for producing Elmo Saves Christmas. She produced 123 Count with Me, which inspired the BBC series The Furchester Hotel, among many other productions. Prior to her work at Sesame Street, she produced videos for Pepsico, American Ballet Theater, Proctor and Gamble, and others. She began her career at WNET/Thirteen working on The Nature Series, documentary production and shorts.
Allison Chernow is currently a Board member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). Previously, she was Director of External Affairs at the Bronx Museum of the Arts for four years, raising funds for arts-education programs in the under-resourced South Bronx, and before that the Director of Development at the Katonah Museum of Art for eight years, where she focused on educational programs that increased visual literacy among the Latina Community. Prior to her museum work, she was the executive producer for live concert and spoken-word broadcasts at WNYC AM/FM, the nation’s largest public radio station, for twelve years. While at WNYC, she was awarded an Armstrong Radio Award, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Arts and Humanities Award, and an American Women in Radio and Television Pinnacle Award. Chernow is a graduate of Brown University and received a Masters in Journalism from NYU.
The personal is political in these short documentaries that address historical and local challenges to how it goes.
About the Film: Behind These Walls documents the experience of Sean “Dino” Johnson through his own unsparing words. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Johnson served a 15-year prison sentence for a drug-related charge. His conviction occurred during the national war on drugs, and before New York State began to reform its notorious Rockefeller drug laws. While incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Johnson discovered the prison’s theater program and was initially skeptical, saying “We are in a maximum security facility and you want me to run around in tights talking about to be or not to be?" Johnson takes the leap though, and the film’s archival excerpts of his in-prison performances alongside his compelling narrative reveal how the dramatic arts impacted his ability to self-correct and express empathy. He describes his mental and emotional transformation as liberating, concluding “I found my freedom behind those walls.”
About the Filmmakers: Susan Margolin is a pioneer of digital distribution and creator of independent films with 25+ years’ experience. Margolin co-founded film distributor New Video/Docurama Films in 1992 and ran the company until it was sold to Cinedigm in 2012. As Co-President she distributed an extensive library of award-winning films including Short Term 12 and Academy Award nominated The Invisible War, including 25 Academy Award winners and nominees. In 2016 Margolin launched St. Marks Productions, a production and distribution services company. She produced award winning and critically acclaimed films including The Rape of Recy Taylor (Starz), Paper Children (YouTube Originals). A Crime on the Bayou (Starz), A Tree of Life (HBO), and Generation Startup (Netflix). Margolin serves on the board of directors of Chicken & Egg Pictures, BAFTA NY (emerita), the Documentary Producers Alliance, and Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Margolin is a graduate of Brown University and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), BAFTA, and the Producers Guild of America (p.g.a.).
Karin Young Shiel is an Emmy award-winning producer, board member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), and is currently co-producing a scripted feature film, inspired by RTA, that features Sean "Dino" Johnson among other RTA alumni. As an Executive Producer for Sesame Workshop, she created the Grammy Award-winning ABC prime-time special Elmopalooza, and received a National Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special for producing Elmo Saves Christmas. She produced 123 Count with Me, which inspired the BBC series The Furchester Hotel, among many other productions. Prior to her work at Sesame Street, she produced videos for Pepsico, American Ballet Theater, Proctor and Gamble, and others. She began her career at WNET/Thirteen working on The Nature Series, documentary production and shorts.
Allison Chernow is currently a Board member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). Previously, she was Director of External Affairs at the Bronx Museum of the Arts for four years, raising funds for arts-education programs in the under-resourced South Bronx, and before that the Director of Development at the Katonah Museum of Art for eight years, where she focused on educational programs that increased visual literacy among the Latina Community. Prior to her museum work, she was the executive producer for live concert and spoken-word broadcasts at WNYC AM/FM, the nation’s largest public radio station, for twelve years. While at WNYC, she was awarded an Armstrong Radio Award, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Arts and Humanities Award, and an American Women in Radio and Television Pinnacle Award. Chernow is a graduate of Brown University and received a Masters in Journalism from NYU.
