ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS: 1. Production Information When asked about prison movies, the film buff instantly calls to mind epochal pictures such as Cool Hand Luke, The Count of Monte Cristo and Birdman of Alcatraz... 2. Willingly Going to Prison: Filmmakers Get Locked Up According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics—as of June 2005—2,186,230 prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails. This represents roughly .7% of America’s people, or approximately the population of Houston, Texas... 3. Casting the Inmates: Dax, Will and Chi Get Their Prison Orange When deciding who could most accurately and comically portray the roles of repeat offender John Lyshitski, entitled prat Nelson Biederman the IVth and cell-block lothario Barry, the filmmakers turned to three players who had their acting roots in comedy... 4. Life Behind Bars: Design and Style of the Film In searching for an actual prison in which to set the film, the filmmakers looked for an active holding facility in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and New York that could serve as their Rossmore State Penitentiary...

Production Information

“Tell me the trouble, Tell once to my ear, Turn, turn, turn again. Joliet Prison And 99 years, Turn, turn to the rain And the wind.”
—Bob Dylan, “Percy’s Song”

When asked about prison movies, the film buff instantly calls to mind epochal pictures such as Cool Hand Luke, The Count of Monte Cristo and Birdman of Alcatraz— or perhaps classics in the making like The Shawshank Redemption, In the Name of the Father and The Green Mile. These important works of art have two things in common: 1) they explore the fears and triumphs of unjustly arrested men railing against a cruel system and 2) they serve as a cornerstone of American dramatic cinema.

Well…Let’s Go To Prison shares one of those tenets.

Frankly, we felt obligated to contribute to this genre of filmmaking with our own take on the core issues that inmates routinely face in 2006. While overcrowding and recidivism are topical and vital issues to address, so are other unique themes. In this film, we just happen to have the soap dropping that Steve McQueen never discovered and toilet wine that Dustin Hoffman failed to manufacture in Papillon.

Based upon a non fiction book about how to stay out of jail (and/or survive it once you know you’re headed upriver), Let’s Go To Prison is an uncompromising, no-holds barred revenge comedy helmed by BOB ODENKIRK, the director who brought sketch- comedy fans Mr. Show With Bob and David. And he’s about to give us everything that’s been missing from the typical prison movie in his fresh, probing look at our penal system—rife with plenty of sweet, cloistered, man love.

Felon John Lyshitski (DAX SHEPARD, Punk’d, Employee of the Month, Without a Paddle) has figured out the best way to get revenge on the now-dead judge who sent him to jail: “help” the official’s obnoxious son, Nelson Biederman the IVth (WILL ARNETT, Arrested Development, RV, Blades of Glory), try to survive the clink.

John strikes gold when Nelson is wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to the same penitentiary he used to call home. He gleefully sells pot to undercover cops and gets sent back to become Nelson’s cellmate, ensuring that his new buddy gets the full treatment common in American penitentiaries. Let the games begin.

Lesson #1:
The joint’s a scary place, so you better make friends fast. Right away, Nelson offends the wrong cons and is sold—by John—to Barry (CHI McBRIDE, The Nine, The Terminal, Undercover Brother) for prison snuggling. But the moment that revenge starts tasting sweet, Nelson becomes Big Man in the Big House and turns the tables on John…changing the rules of his insane game.

November 17, 2006 is the day to shower with thugs, sip toilet wine and sharpen your shivs as the locked-up are set up in Carsey-Werner Films’ inaugural title and Strike Entertainment’s latest production: Let’s Go To Prison, a Universal Pictures release.

Joining Odenkirk behind the camera is a talented group of filmmakers whose job it is to make audiences cringe while they laugh. The director works from material written by ROBERT BEN GARANT & THOMAS LENNON & MICHAEL PATRICK JANN (all of The State, RENO 911!) and based on the book “You Are Going To Prison” by JIM HOGSHIRE. The director of photography is RAMSEY NICKELL (The OH in Ohio), while ERIC L. BEASON (The Rookie) edits, with JOHN PAINO (The Station Agent) serving as the production designer. Music supervisors for the film are G. MARQ ROSWELL (The Hurricane) and ADAM SWART (Dawn of the Dead), while music for the film is composed by ALAN ELLIOTT (Dave Chappelle’s Block Party).

Let’s Go To Prison is produced by MARC ABRAHAM (Bring It On), MATT BERENSON (Daddy Day Care) and PAUL YOUNG (RENO 911!: Miami). Executive producers for the comedy are DEBRA GRIECO BERGMAN, ARMYAN BERNSTEIN, MARCY CARSEY, TOM WERNER and CARYN MANDABACH.