The San Quentin Media Department plays a major role in San Quentin’s prisoners rehabilitation. Under the supervision of Larry Schneider, prisoners are given an education in film production. This opportunity is not available at any of California’s other 32 prisons, however San Quentin prisoners are making information available for other prisons to emulate these programs.
Men who work in the media department are interviewed below. Troy Williams is a San Quentin inmate, instrumental in developing the media department.
What projects are you currently working on?
Troy Williams: I’m producing T.V. News broadcasts entitled San Quentin Prison Report (SQPR) for the purposes of highlighting newsworthy events that occurs within these walls. People never get to see the positive things that occur inside of prison. Our goal is to highlight those events and programs and have them duplicated throughout the state so that other prisoners will have the same opportunities, and this is how we affect public safety.
I saw a segment of the SQPR that you were showing the warden. It was really funny, you portrayed an inmate who was being interviewed behind a silhouette to keep his identity hidden, and suddenly the silhouette falls down and reveals his identity, what was that about?
L. “Blue” Wilder is a San Quentin inmate and a member of the S.Q. media group. He stated: “It was a comedy news report; I portrayed a character named John Cameron. It’s a take on John Cameron Swayze. I also do voices, but mostly I do the music for the video productions.”
Is this something you plan to pursue when you get out?
E. “Phil” Phillips is a member of the S.Q.T.V. He stated: “What I do is film the group functions, so I try to meet the media needs of that group. I shot a P.S.A. for Centerforce. Yes, this is definitely something I plan to do when I get out.”
What projects have you worked on that you feel have made a difference?
Marvin Andrews is a San Quentin inmate and member of the S.Q. media group. He stated: “I operated the camera on a mock election for President Obama’s 2008 election. That project was shared with the adult educations department on DVD. I’ve also done a documentary on a graphic artist named “Juse” from Modesto, who’s done graphics for LL Cool J and some other well known recording artist.
Do you plan on doing this when you get out?
Stephen Owens is a San Quentin inmate and member of the media group. He stated: “Yes, I plan to attend San Francisco State University for a degree in cinematography and expressions media and digital arts, I’m a creative person and I feel like this is a way for me to reestablish myself with the community.” Owens paroled in November and is currently enrolled in San Francisco State.
