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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-

arred revenge comedy helmed by BOB ODENKIRK, the director who brought sketchcomedy
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 IV th (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.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
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. While a sad statement on poverty, crime and our legal system…it also
provides a few writers with very twisted senses of humor one undeniable thing: fodder
for dark comedy.
Producer Marc Abraham of Strike Entertainment was introduced to the property
10 years ago by a co-worker who “came across this non-fiction book called ‘You Are
Going to Prison.’” He recalls, “It gave a primer about how to deal with police, prison
authorities and judges, so you can avoid ending up in a place like this. It was not tonguein-cheek,
but it had a bit of sadistic humor. Even though it was very serious, it was
obviously a comedy.”
After acquiring the rights, Abraham worked with writers Robert Ben Garant,
Thomas Lennon and Michael Patrick Jann (known for their work on the groundbreaking
’90s MTV series The State) to craft the material—which covered everything that can
happen to you from incarceration to electrocution—into a script. The draft was,
according to the producer, “brash, subversive and had a lot of politically incorrect things
in it.” After shopping the title around for a few years, Abraham met with producer Paul
Young, who, in turn, set up a meeting with Carsey-Werner Films to discuss co-financing.
“I’ve gotten to the point that I can pretty much smell whether somebody loves a
script or not,” Abraham states. “Tom, Ben and Michael’s work excited a lot of people,
and ultimately we found the people who looked at it the way I did at Carsey-Werner.”

The producers, known for their juggernaut television hits from Roseanne and 3 rd
Rock From the Sun to The Cosby Show and That ’70s Show, had been looking for the
right script to make into their inaugural film. “Funny trumps everything for Tom and
Marcy,” relates president of Carsey-Werner Films and fellow producer Matt Berenson.
“We sparked to this script right away as both a fresh buddy comedy and a satire of our
justice system. We thought it would be perfect as our first film.”
Financing agreed upon, Abraham, Berenson and Young began to seek the
filmmaker with just the right comic sensibilities to helm their project. Producer Abraham
offers, “Once we got Bob Odenkirk as the director, putting the rest of the movie together
was a snowball. Bob’s a dry character, not easy to impress. He brought his twisted sense
of humor to this film. I love to make him laugh because if you do, you know you said
something pretty damn funny.”
“Bob had a brilliant take on it when we first met with him,” recalls Berenson.
“He clearly had this movie in his head…whole sequences planned out that he could pitch
very consistently and passionately. From his work with Mr. Show, Bob is used to
thinking about everything from production design to music to editing.”
The veteran of Mr. Show With Bob and David, the 1995-1998 classic HBO
sketch-comedy series he created with fellow comedian David Cross, Odenkirk was
attracted to the edgy subject matter of the story. “When my agent sent me the script, it
stuck out as surprising and different,” says the director. “It jumped out of the pile with
the dark pitch of its scenario, and it had some of the funniest lines I have ever read.
There was a process where I worked with the writers to do rewrites, met with actors,
auditioned talent…but the project came together well.”
He responded to the darkness not often explored in these type of comedies,
especially the “psychological aspect of a guy messing with another guy, but then getting
f&^#%d with back. It becomes such a turbine of its own. It’s unbelievably bleak, but
somehow funny in how unrelentingly harrowing it is.”

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 IV th and cell-block
lothario Barry, the filmmakers turned to three players who had their acting roots in
comedy—Dax Shepard, Will Arnett and Chi McBride.
Shepard, with a background in improv, sketch comedy and—perhaps most
famously—time well spent as the original punker on MTV’s Punk’d, was cast first as the
multiple-violator John Lyshitski, who has spent a number of years in Rossmore State
Penitentiary. Producer Berenson recalls, “We saw Dax in Without a Paddle, and he had
such a twinkle in his eye and scruffy charm—a mischievous quality, but one that made
you still like him.”
Shepard was sent the script by Carsey-Werner Films, then met with the producers
and director Odenkirk. He quips, “I’m a dancer, primarily. I thought this role would be a
shoo-in for me with my history in dance and incarceration-themed plays.” Jokes aside,
after readily agreeing to the role, Shepard became quite a student of the genre, studying
classic prison movies as preparation for the shoot.
The actor summarizes his role: “Lyshitski went to juvie for the first time when he
was eight; then, he got out and went back to juvie; then got out and graduated to prison.
He’s been sentenced by the same judge, and when he gets out of prison…he makes it his
goal to kill him. Unfortunately, the judge has died of a heart attack, so the rage turns to
his son.”
As the team was deliberating on the man who would become Lyshitski’s cellmate
and object of his revenge game, producer Berenson happened to watch Will Arnett on the
critically acclaimed Arrested Development. Oddly enough, Berenson saw the episode in
which Arnett’s character went to prison as a cocky guy who is sure he will leave as an
escape artist. “In 24 hours,” laughs the producer, “he was getting his head shaved by a
gang leader.”

Odenkirk agreed on the choice, feeling Arnett would well complement Shepard in
a comedy duo. “Will liked the project, and he and Dax started working together so well.
They’re both playing the same level of comedy, pushing each other.”
When approached with the role of Nelson Biederman the IV th , Arnett was
impressed by not only the script’s skewering humor, but the fact that it dealt with what
life would be like in prison if he was to enter it. “I was surprised at how funny it was in
portraying that experience,” he notes.
In describing his character, Arnett offers, “Judge Biederman’s joke of a son, this
spoiled brat becomes Lyshitski’s number-one enemy. Nelson is not a good candidate for
jail; they’d call him a punk. He’s the guy everyone could abuse and take advantage of.”
But, in the story arc that clenched the deal for Arnett, “Biederman goes through a real
transformation. By the end of the movie—for the first time in his life—he really is a
complete person.”
As a comic actor who was quite familiar with Odenkirk’s style as both writer and
director, Arnett was interested to work with him. “Bob’s comedic wheels are always
turning,” says Arnett. “He comes from a world where the funniest thing rules.”
Of his cellmate/nemesis, Shepard comments, “You have to not become overly
sympathetic to Biederman and feel bad for him. So Will has to be a real asshole, down to
the core, and he pulls that off beautifully.”
With the lead inmates and chief rivals cast, it was time for the filmmakers to find
an actor who could steer the film’s principal romance…between Biederman and Barry,
the leader of one of Rossmore’s toughest gangs.
Though most well-known for his work as principal Steven Harper on the critically
acclaimed series Boston Public, the comic actor began his career on The John
Larroquette Show and has found a home in comedy. McBride admits he was drawn to
the “funny, subversive dark comedy. It’s off the beaten path.”
In discussing his role, the leader of the toughest prison gang, the G Lords,
McBride comments, “He is a guy who is used to running things. He’s also a man who
fancies himself a bit of a dandy…a smooth operator who has a picture of Oscar Wilde in
his cell and makes merlot in the toilet.”

“Bob knows who he hired,” states McBride. “He lets me do what I do with this
role. With good subversive comedy, the more real you play it, the funnier it becomes.
People get nervous watching, then you give them a little pressure release—then there’s a
laugh—then the audience asks, ‘Should I be laughing? That shit is not funny.’”
At 6’5” and with a shaved pate, the imposing Chicago native (a “badass,”
according to Shepard) can look every bit the part of a tough con whom you would not
want to cross in the shower. McBride takes it in stride. “Every now and then an inmate
looks for a little companionship,” he laughs. “Sometimes, it’s tough love. I think Nelson
realizes he’s gonna have his experience the hard way.”
Arnett adds, “Nelson finds love for the first time in prison with Barry. Some guys
say that if you have a sentence of over 20 years, then you have the right to take another
man as, essentially, your bride. But he ends up having this relationship with Barry, and it
ends up actually being fairly sweet.”
The actor continues, “Chi knew there was potential for Barry to become too
cartoonish. He brought great wheels into his character. One moment, he could be really
sweet to Nelson. Then the next, brutal in the prison.”
The supporting cast of characters who played the cons outside of the joint and the
inmates of Rossmore include the director himself, who doubled in duty as Biederman’s
sleazy lawyer, Duane Hinkley. “When we were trying to cast the role, Bob took a whack
at it,” remembers Berenson. “It was clear he was perfect.”
On his double duty on the set, Odenkirk says, “I play this jerky guy who works at
the foundation Nelson’s father started.” He laughs, “As an actor, I think I’m doing a
great job. As a director, I think I’m a shitty actor. I can’t believe we cast me.”
In addition to McBride, many native Chicagoans were cast in key roles for Let’s
Go To Prison. The actor compliments his fellow Second City players, “Chicago is a
breeding ground of very talented people.”
Notably, comedian Susan Messing plays the unconventionally, ahem, sexy
disabled stripper who attempts to seduce Lyshitski, while popular improvisationalist
Mick Napier was cast as the coroner. To fill out the inside of the prison, Odenkirk chose
well-regarded character actor Michael Shannon to play stone-serious (read: psychopath)
Lynard, the head of the rival white supremacist group; Miguel Niño as the thug Jesus; Jay

Whittaker as the aptly named Icepick; and Manny Sosa and Joe Nuñez as two of the
toughest Chicano convicts Rossmore State Penitentiary could attempt to hold—all a big
bonus for the Naperville-native director.
Berenson laughs, “I think we might have even had some extras who served time
in Joliet.”
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. Ultimately, they settled upon Joliet Correctional
Facility, a 148-year-old institution that opened and shut its cell doors for the last time in
February 2002. When originally built, it was America’s largest prison, and it held a
record 1,300 inmates in 1999-2000.
The façade is well known as the prison that Jake Blues is released from at the
beginning of The Blues Brothers, and it has recently hosted productions from the 2005
Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston thriller Derailed to the Fox television series Prison
Break, in which Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows plot the same escape that
Lyshitski and Biederman stage. Legend even states that Bob Dylan’s tune “Percy’s
Song” tells the story of a person attempting to get a friend’s 99-year Joliet sentence
commuted.
Many famous residents have passed through or found their permanent addresses
behind the bars of Joliet. With distinctly nonfunny inmates such as Al Capone, Jeffrey
Dahmer and Ted Bundy having served time there, Biederman and Lyshitski had big shoes
to fill to get their street cred. Producer Berenson notes of the location, “When people
think of prison, they think of Joliet. It has this Gothic quality to it and has been home to a
rogues’ gallery from John Wayne Gacy to Richard Speck.”
“We had to look for a prison that we could do the film in,” adds Odenkirk, who
grew up in nearby Naperville. “This stone monster lurked in my nightmares ever since
the day my dad drove my brother and I right by the stone wall in front, slowed down, and

said, ‘See that boys, that’s the prison.’ Only upon going back there to shoot did it
become clear that he had gone out of his way to drive us near this behemoth, I guess to
leave an impression—which he did.”
Though the ideal location for the production, Joliet provided a big set of
challenges for both the director and his cinematographer, Ramsey Nickell. With the tiny
cells a prime setting for the characters’ growing insanity, Odenkirk asks, “With two men
in there, isn’t it a recipe for madness? And that’s what we get in this movie.”
“When you see how small these cells are, and you realize two grown men occupy
these cells 20 hours a day, that ain’t funny,” remarks producer Abraham. “We shot a lot
in the actual cells, and it’s been a real challenge.”
Regarding the size of his cell, Shepard succinctly notes, “They didn’t build this
place to make movies. If I put out my arms, I can touch both walls.” Shepard adds that
the prison was “great for about six hours. We hated it the first week, but it’s similar to
your first year in high school. Then, we grew to like it. It’s like you go out for recess,
throw the ball around. It has a very high school feel to it.”
Shooting in the cells proved quite complex for the director and DP Nickell.
Shepard continues, “Bob had the challenge of a lifetime to make a movie set in a cell be
visually interesting. He’s exploited every possible angle in the cell.”
“This is clearly a house of horrors, but it is so well constructed, it’s beautiful,”
relates comic David Koechner, whom Odenkirk refers to as “a refreshing blast of kickass.”
Koechner, who plays guard Shanahan in Let’s Go To Prison notes, “The paper on
the walls, all the care that went into constructing these buildings…it’s damn ironic that
this beautiful place is used to house horrible people constantly doing horrible things to
each other.”
McBride concurs. “Kids listening to records telling them how cool it is to go to
prison…that’s bullshit. F. prison. These cells are the size of a shoebox. You got nothing
but rocks, bars, glass and razor wire. You really get a sense of how claustrophobic and
terrible this place is.”
True, no prison film would be complete without a soundtrack to amplify the
madness and the forlorn spirit of the inmates. Adding dark humor to the background of
the movie is the music put together by Alan Elliott. It features greats from Motown with

Rahzel, “the human beatbox,” from The Roots laced throughout the picture. Queens of
the Stone Age also provided the heavy beats needed to, according to the director, “rock
hard, and gave us some great score. I was blown away by their spirit, energy and sound.”
****
Production wrapped in late spring 2005, the cast and crew reflected on the
experience of filming a very dark comedy in a very dark place. Arnett echoes his fellow
actors’ sentiments. “I realize that, ultimately, I have no business being in prison. You
realize that when you first come into prison, you will be awed by the size of it, and that
will bring you down as a person. When you go into a cell and you shoot a scene, you’re
in there all day. Guys spend 25, 30, 40 or more years in there…what an incredible thing
that is, and how difficult would that be?”
Barry himself, Chi McBride, dryly notes, “Everybody knows how funny prison is.
You hear guys all the time, ‘I could leave the penitentiary anytime I want to, man, but
I’m having such a good time.’”
With a comment as darkly sarcastic (and true to form) as the film itself, Abraham
concludes, “We realize that a lot of us making movies are fairly privileged. Maybe we
should have spent time in prison…but we haven’t.” Yet.
Carsey-Werner Films Presents a Strike Entertainment Production: Let’s Go To
Prison, starring Dax Shepard, Will Arnett, Chi McBride. Casting for the film is by
Richard Hicks, CSA and David Rubin, CSA. Music supervisors are G. Marq Roswell
and Adam Swart. The music for the film is by Alan Elliott. Let’s Go To Prison’s editor
is Eric L. Beason, ACE; production designer is John Paino. The director of photography
is Ramsey Nickell. Executive producers for the film are Debra Grieco Bergman, Armyan
Bernstein, Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabach. The film is produced by
Marc Abraham, Matt Berenson and Paul Young. It is written by Robert Ben Garant &
Thomas Lennon & Michael Patrick Jann and based on the book “You Are Going To
Prison” by Jim Hogshire. Let’s Go To Prison is directed by Bob Odenkirk. ©2006
Universal Studios. http://www.letsgotoprison.com

ABOUT THE CAST
Hailing from a small town outside of Detroit, Michigan, DAX SHEPARD (John
Lyshitski) honed his skills as an actor and comedian with the feted improv troupe The
Groundlings while earning an anthropology degree from UCLA. Shortly thereafter, he
found himself in the spotlight when he landed a role as himself on the inaugural season of
MTV’s wildly popular celebrity-prank series Punk’d. As the show’s original master of
disguise, he created a barrage of characters in an effort to disguise himself to the
audience—and the show’s increasingly savvy celebrity targets.
This fall, he was seen in two other films. In September, he starred in Mike
Judge’s Idiocracy, opposite Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph. He followed it up
alongside Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson in the Lionsgate comedy Employee of the
Month. In order to win the heart of beautiful new cashier Amy (Simpson), the
unmotivated slacker Zack (Cook) realizes that he must win the title of Costclub’s
Employee of the Month away from his nemesis, the overzealous company-brown-nosing
Vince (Shepard).
In January 2007, he will begin production on the dark comedy Smother, with Liv
Tyler and Diane Keaton. Most recently, Shepard starred in Sony’s fantasy family feature
Zathura, for director Jon Favreau. Shepard was previously seen in Paramount’s Without
a Paddle, opposite Seth Green and Matthew Lillard.
Shepard currently resides in Los Angeles.
WILL ARNETT (Nelson Biederman the IV th ) has been an extremely busy man
as of late. He will soon finish shooting the figure-skating comedy Blades of Glory, with
Will Ferrell, Jon Heder and his wife, Amy Poehler. The film is slated for release March
30, 2007. He is also in production for The Brothers Solomon for Revolution Studios,
which is currently slated for an April 2007 release. Arnett recently lent his voice to the
20 th Century Fox animated sequel Ice Age 2: The Meltdown and co-starred opposite
Robin Williams in R.V., the family road-trip comedy directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.
He is currently attached to star in Most Likely to Succeed for Universal Pictures,
Dad Can’t Lose and Get ’Em Wet for Paramount, as well as The Ambassador for

DreamWorks and Paramount, which he will also executive produce.
Arnett recently earned his first Emmy nomination for his work on the critically
acclaimed Fox sitcom Arrested Development, in which he portrayed Gob Bluth. The
show garnered an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series for its final season.
The series also earned a Golden Globe nomination and won an Emmy for Outstanding
Comedy Series in its first season and gained a cult-like following by loyal fans.
Before Arrested Development, Arnett was a regular on the NBC comedy series
The Mike O’Malley Show. His additional television credits include guest-starring roles
on Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Boston Public, Third Watch and Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit. Arnett also guest starred on NBC’s Will & Grace, playing Jack’s
dance nemesis while auditioning to become a backup dancer for Janet Jackson.
Arnett’s feature credits include roles in Monster-In-Law, The Waiting Game, The
Broken Giant, Southie and Ed’s Next Move. Additionally, he served as the narrator for
the film Series 7: The Contenders and can be heard in a variety of commercials, most
notably as the voice of GMC Trucks.
Arnett currently splits his residency between Los Angeles and New York, where
he lives with his wife, actress and Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler.
CHI MCBRIDE (Barry) is one of the hardest-working men in Hollywood,
starring in countless television shows and feature films. McBride will truly make his
presence felt this year on the small screen in the highly anticipated show The Nine. The
show has an all-star cast that includes Scott Wolf, Tim Daly and Kim Raver and centers
around a bank robbery gone bad. The robbery turns into a 52-hour hostage situation with
the audience not knowing what actually took place in the bank. The Nine airs on ABC,
Wednesdays at 10:00 PM PST/EST.
McBride recently wrapped filming on the comedy The Brothers Solomon with
Will Arnett and Will Forte. The movie centers around well-meaning but socially inept
brothers who try to find their perfect mates in order to provide their dying father with a
grandchild.
McBride is best known for his four-year run on the critically acclaimed David E.
Kelley series Boston Public, in which he starred as Principal Steven Harper, and his five-

episode arc on Fox’s hit series House.
2005 was a huge year for McBride on the big screen. He starred in three films—
Lionsgate’s Waiting, opposite Ryan Reynolds; the Touchstone film Annapolis, opposite
James Franco and Tyrese; and finally, the highly anticipated Fox release Roll Bounce,
where McBride starred opposite Bow Wow and Nick Cannon in the film from the
producers of Barber Shop.
In 2004, McBride starred in two of the summer’s biggest films: first in Steven
Spielberg’s The Terminal, starring opposite Tom Hanks; and the action thriller I, Robot,
starring opposite Will Smith. He has appeared in the highly praised films Narc and Paid
in Full, and starred opposite Eddie Griffin in Universal Pictures’ Undercover Brother.
He also made a cameo appearance in the DMX/Jet Li film Cradle 2 the Grave. In
addition, McBride has starred opposite Nicolas Cage in Jerry Bruckheimer’s Gone in 60
Seconds and co-starred opposite Bruce Willis in Disney’s The Kid.
McBride’s other feature film credits include starring roles in Peter Jackson’s The
Frighteners, as well as Hoodlum and Mercury Rising. McBride received critical acclaim
for his starring role in the Hudlin Brothers’ production Tang, a segment of HBO’s
Cosmic Slop Trilogy.
McBride made his feature film debut in The Distinguished Gentleman, starring
opposite Eddie Murphy, and followed with roles in the Oscar®-nominated What’s Love
Got to Do With It and The Great White Hype.
McBride is well known for his role as the wisecracking, philosophical janitor on
the NBC television series The John Larroquette Show. He also starred as Bundini Brown
in the ABC movie of the week Muhammad Ali: King of the World.
He currently resides in Los Angeles.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
BOB ODENKIRK (Directed by) was co-star of the cult comedy series Mr. Show
With Bob and David and The Ben Stiller Show. He has directed the feature Melvin Goes
to Dinner and the short film Derek & Simon: The Pity Card.
ROBERT BEN GARANT (Written by) was born in Cookeville, Tennessee. He
spent the early ’90s appearing in off-off-Broadway theaters (bars) in New York City with
the comedy group The State. The State then had a three-season run on MTV, which led
to a 44-minute run on CBS. He then created, wrote, produced and occasionally appeared
in three seasons of Viva Variety on Comedy Central.
Since relocating to Los Angeles, he and his partner, Thomas Lennon, have written
feature films for Disney, Spyglass, Imagine, 20 th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Columbia,
Paramount, New Line, Dimension and Universal Pictures. Currently, he is editing his
second feature film, Balls of Fury, for Universal Pictures and Spyglass and finishing up
his directorial debut, RENO 911!: Miami, for Fox and Paramount.
In his spare time, he writes, directs, executive produces and stars in RENO 911!–
Comedy Central’s second- or third-biggest show. He lives in Glendale.
Originally from Chicago, THOMAS LENNON (Written by) began his career as
a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ experimental theater wing. It was here
that he co-founded the sketch-comedy troupe The State. The group went on to critical
success with their self-titled hit series on MTV, where he was one of its stars, producers
and writers. The State was nominated for a 1995 CableACE Award for Best Comedy
Series and ran for three seasons.
Lennon then created, produced and starred in Comedy Central’s Viva Variety,
which was an instant critical smash for the new network. The show garnered a
CableACE nomination for Best Comedy Series in 1997 and, like The State, enjoyed three
successful seasons. Lennon has appeared in the films Memento, Out Cold, Le Divorce,
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, A Guy Thing, The Godfather of Green Bay and Heights.

Lennon and Robert Ben Garant have also written the scripts for Taxi, Herbie
Fully Loaded, The Pacifier, Night at the Museum, RENO 911!: Miami and Balls of Fury.
Lennon currently resides in Los Angeles and is the co-creator, executive producer
and star of Comedy Central’s RENO 911!
MICHAEL PATRICK JANN (Written by) is a writer/director/producer in film
and television. If you doubt this is true, check his IMDb page. Seriously, dude, check it.
Jann has also directed hundreds of famous, semi-famous and sometimes totally crappy
TV commercials. He is quite tall, deliriously handsome, and currently executive
producing and directing two pilots, one for HBO, the other for Comedy Central.
Author JIM HOGSHIRE’s (Based on the Book by) 1999 book, “You Are Going
To Prison,” became a cult classic and inspired the film by Bob Odenkirk. It was also
used as source material for the HBO television series Oz and has been used as a textbook
by teachers at several colleges.
The author has written a number of books on America’s fascination with mass
consumerism and counterculture. From 1999’s “Pills-A-Go-Go: A Fiendish Investigation
Into Pill Marketing, Art, History & Consumption” to 1997’s “Grossed-Out Surgeon
Vomits Inside Patient!: An Insider’s Look at the Supermarket Tabloids” he has intrigued
many a reader with his frank writing.
Other books by Hogshire include 1996’s “Pharmaceutical Nation: An Obsessive
Study of Pill Marketing, Art, History and Culture from Flintstones Vitamins to Prozac,”
1994’s “Opium for the Masses: A Practical Guide to Growing Poppies and Making
Opium” and 1992’s “Sell Yourself to Science: The Complete Guide to Selling Your
Organs, Body Fluids, Bodily Functions and Being a Human Guinea Pig.”
Hogshire has a master’s degree in medieval Italian literature from Indiana
University. His writings have also provided the inspiration for director Tim Pope’s 1993
film Phone, which starred Linda Blair, Amanda Plummer and Bill Pullman.

MARC ABRAHAM (Produced by) founded Strike Entertainment, a
development/production entity, in early 2002. Strike is based at Universal Pictures,
where the company enjoys a comprehensive first-look, four-year production agreement.
Strike most recently produced the darkly comic horror film Slither, which marked the
feature-film directorial debut of acclaimed genre-film scribe James Gunn. In addition to
Let’s Go To Prison, Strike Entertainment recently wrapped one other film for Universal
Pictures, the thriller Children of Men.
Abraham produced Dawn of the Dead for Universal Pictures; Spy Game, directed
by Tony Scott and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt; The Emperor’s Club for
Universal, starring Kevin Kline; Tuck Everlasting for Disney, starring Oscar® winners
Ben Kingsley, William Hurt and Sissy Spacek; The Family Man, starring Nicolas Cage
and Téa Leoni; the summer blockbuster hit Bring It On, starring Kirsten Dunst; and A
Thousand Acres, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and starring Michelle
Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Abraham served as executive producer as well on such films as Air Force One,
starring Harrison Ford; The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington and directed by
Norman Jewison; and For Love of the Game, starring Kevin Costner.
Previously, Abraham was the president of Beacon Communications. While there,
Abraham also spearheaded the formation of Beacon Records, which released five
soundtracks that sold more than four million units worldwide. During its first few years,
Beacon produced such award-winning films as The Commitments, which was nominated
for a Golden Globe Award as Best Picture (Musical/Comedy) in 1991 and went on to win
four BAFTA awards, and Keith Gordon’s well-received A Midnight Clear, starring Ethan
Hawke.
In a co-venture with Turner Pictures, Abraham executive-produced David
Mamet’s A Life in the Theater, which won a CableACE Award for Best Dramatic or
Theatrical Special. Beacon also produced Sugar Hill, starring Wesley Snipes; Princess
Caraboo, starring Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline, for which Abraham was a Golden Halo
winner; The Road to Wellville, directed by Alan Parker and starring Anthony Hopkins;
and The Baby-Sitters Club, based on the best-selling series of books from Scholastic.

Abraham’s entry into film began with the documentary Playing to Win, an inside
look at the Cuban athletic system. He authored several screenplays for such companies
as 20 th Century Fox, Warner Bros. and CBS, and wrote for the popular series 21 Jump
Street and Moonlighting. In 1990, Abraham won a Writers Guild Award for The Earth
Day Special.
MATT BERENSON (Produced by) is the president of Carsey-Werner Films.
In addition to Universal Pictures’ Thanksgiving release Let’s Go To Prison, he has
produced several comedies, including Daddy Day Care, starring Eddie Murphy, and the
upcoming The Brothers Solomon, for Revolution Studios and Screen Gems.
Berenson graduated from Princeton University in 1990 with a B.A. in history.
PAUL YOUNG (Produced by) is the founding partner of Principato-Young
Entertainment (PYE), one of the top management-production firms in Hollywood.
Young is an executive producer on the Oxygen hit show Campus Ladies and a coexecutive
producer on the Comedy Central half-hour comedy RENO 911!.
Young also just completed executive producing RENO 911!: Miami for Fox,
Paramount and Comedy Central, which Fox is releasing on February 26, 2007. He was
also one of the executive producers on Bickford Schmeckler’s Cool Ideas, the Scott Lew
film that premiered at this year’s HBO Comedy Festival. Young’s firm is widely known
for representing the best in the next generation of comedic voices, including Rob Corrdry
and Ed Helms from The Daily Show, Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Cheryl Hines
(Curb Your Enthusiasm, RV), Anthony Anderson (Barbershop, The Shield), Artie Lange
(The Howard Stern Show), Earthquake (Kings of Comedy) and DeRay Davis
(Barbershop). PYE’s writer clients have written more than 20 studio movies during the
past five years, ranging from Barbershop to The Pacifier to Daddy Day Care.
Young started his career as a reporter at Daily Variety and then became an
executive at Paramount Pictures, where he helped shepherd the films In & Out and The
First Wives Club. Young graduated with honors from Swarthmore College in 1992.

With a bachelor of arts in communications and film, DEBRA GRIECO
BERGMAN (Executive Producer) graduated from New York’s Hofstra University in
1990 and started her career working with well-known names such as Steven Spielberg on
the production staff of Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park and We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s
Story for Amblin Entertainment.
She was also involved as a production accountant in the following feature films:
Still Breathing, Reservoir Dogs, T-Rex, Sweet Justice and The Edge. Grieco Bergman
now has a solid reputation in the domain of co-production and line production in New
York and Los Angeles. She co-produced Nicole Holofcener’s Lovely & Amazing and
line-produced The Assassination of Richard Nixon, starring Sean Penn.
She has also co-produced the following feature films: Piece of My Heart, with
The Vault, Inc.; Angels Don’t Sleep Here, with Silverline Pictures; and The Setting Son,
for PorchLight Entertainment. In addition to Let’s Go To Prison, this past year she
executive-produced The OH in Ohio, starring Parker Posey, Paul Rudd and Danny
DeVito. Grieco Bergman brought her strengths as a line producer to different
entertainment companies, producing such fare as Jumpshot, directed by Leon Gast;
Devil’s Prey, directed by Bradford May; the series Sex Court with Playboy Productions;
Sparkler, directed by Darren Stein; Making Sandwiches, directed by Sandra Bullock; and
What Happened to Pete, directed by Steve Buscemi.
Grieco Bergman has also line-produced spots promoting such HBO shows as
Comic Relief 8 and Arli$$, and HBO stars as Dennis Miller, Tracey Ullman, David
Spade, Richard Jeni and Paul Rodriguez. She has produced for the behind-the-scenes
specials on The Rat Pack, and First Time Felon and Poodle Springs.
In addition, Grieco Bergman has produced two festival shorts—There Is No April,
for Juli Productions, and To His Coy Apple, for Hepcat Pictures (which won an award at
the South by Southwest Film Festival). Currently, Grieco Bergman is working for Sony
Pictures as the vice president of production.

ARMYAN BERNSTEIN (Executive Producer), chairman of Beacon
Communications and ShoWest Producer of the Year, has produced and executiveproduced
such films as Air Force One, starring Harrison Ford; The Hurricane (which he
also co-wrote), starring Denzel Washington; Thirteen Days, starring Kevin Costner; End
of Days, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; The Family Man, starring Nicolas Cage; Bring
It On, starring Kirsten Dunst; For Love of the Game, starring Kevin Costner; Spy Game,
starring Brad Pitt and Robert Redford; Open Range, starring Kevin Costner, Robert
Duvall and Annette Bening; Raising Helen, starring Kate Hudson and John Corbett;
Ladder 49, starring John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix; A Lot Like Love, starring Ashton
Kutcher and Amanda Peet; Firewall, starring Harrison Ford, Virginia Madsen and Paul
Bettany; and The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher and directed by
Andrew Davis.
Currently in production is The Waterhorse, directed by Jay Russell.
Bernstein founded Beacon Communications in 1990, and it has become one of the
most successful independently financed film companies in the entertainment business. Its
first films were The Commitments, directed by Alan Parker, which was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award as Best Picture and went on to win four BAFTA Awards; Keith
Gordon’s critical triumph A Midnight Clear, starring Ethan Hawke; A Thousand Acres,
based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica
Lange; Sugar Hill, starring Wesley Snipes; Playing God, starring David Duchovny and
Timothy Hutton; Princess Caraboo, starring Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline; The Road to
Wellville, directed by Alan Parker and starring Anthony Hopkins; and David Mamet’s A
Life in the Theatre, which won a Cable ACE Award for Best Drama.
Bernstein was born and raised in Chicago and attended the University of
Wisconsin. He was a broadcast journalist with PBS and then with ABC. He wrote the
cult classic Thank God It’s Friday, starring Debra Winger and Jeff Goldblum. He then
wrote and co-produced Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary Vegas romance One from the
Heart. Bernstein made his directing debut with Windy City, from his screenplay, which
starred John Shea and Kate Capshaw. He also co-wrote and directed Cross My Heart,
starring Martin Short and Annette O’Toole. Bernstein wrote and produced ABC’s Emmy
Award–winning The Earth Day Special.

Named one of the 50 greatest women in radio and television, Emmy winner
MARCY CARSEY (Executive Producer) is partner and co-founder of the largest, and
arguably one of the most successful, independent studios in television history, Carsey-
Werner.
With over 2,000 episodes of television produced, Carsey-Werner has been one of
the leading suppliers and distributors to the worldwide marketplace for over 20 years. Its
recent hits include That ’70s Show and Grounded for Life. In summer 2005, along with
Steve Martin, Joan Stein and Bunim-Murray, Werner debuted The Scholar, an unscripted
series for ABC. The studio also has projects in development for FOX and CW.
With shows seen in over 175 countries and heard in 50 different languages,
Carsey-Werner controls a library of high-quality programming including the series The
Cosby Show, A Different World, Roseanne, 3 rd Rock From the Sun, Grace Under Fire,
Cosby and Cybill.
Carsey began her show-business career as an NBC tour guide and soon became a
production assistant on The Tonight Show. Following that, she became a program
supervisor at William Esty Advertising. She left New York for Hollywood and worked
as a story analyst for Roger Gimbel at Tomorrow Entertainment, eventually becoming
executive story editor.
In 1974, Carsey joined ABC-TV as a general program executive for comedy
programming. Two years later, she became vice president of prime-time comedy and
variety programs, and three years after that, senior vice president of prime-time series.
Carsey went out on her own in 1980 to pursue independent production, and a year
later teamed with her ABC partner Tom Werner to form Carsey-Werner.
Carsey and her partner have been inducted into the Academy of Television Arts
and Sciences and Broadcasting & Cable Magazine’s halls of fame. She has received the
Emmy Award, Peabody Award, Humanitas Prize, NAACP Image Award, the David
Susskind Lifetime Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America, the
Publicists Guild’s Showman of the Year Award and the Lucy Award from Women in
Film. In 1999, she was given the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of
Achievement, placing her in the Museum of the American Dream as one of the 20 th
century’s most extraordinary achievers.

Carsey is a native of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and a cum laude graduate in
English literature from the University of New Hampshire. She has two adult children.
TOM WERNER (Executive Producer) is partner and co-founder of arguably one
of the most successful independent studios in television history, Carsey-Werner. He is
also chairman of the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.
The Emmy-winning producer is a 1971 cum laude graduate of government from
Harvard University and was an award-winning documentary producer, noted for his film
about the first female presidential candidate, Shirley Chisholm: Pursuing the Dream,
before embarking on his career in television.
With over 2,000 episodes of television produced, Carsey-Werner has been one of
the leading suppliers and distributors to the worldwide marketplace for over 20 years. As
executive producer of a number of landmark programs including The Cosby Show,
Roseanne and 3 rd Rock From the Sun and major hits such as That ’70s Show, Grounded
for Life, A Different World, Grace Under Fire, Cybill and Cosby, Werner and his partner,
Marcy Carsey, have obtained a vast library of programs seen in over 175 countries and
translated into 50 different languages. In summer 2005, along with Steve Martin, Joan
Stein and Bunim-Murray, Werner debuted The Scholar, an unscripted series for ABC.
Let’s Go To Prison represents Carsey-Werner Films’ first feature.
Werner started at ABC Television and eventually became senior vice president of
prime-time series in December 1980. Along the way, he helped develop such shows as
Mork & Mindy, Soap, Three’s Company and The Love Boat. He then joined Marcy
Carsey in their independent production partnership.
Werner explains their singular record of achievement this way: “I believe our
success is due to our profound respect for our audience. Our shows strive to reflect the
human condition and enlighten as well as entertain.”
Werner has been inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and
Broadcasting & Cable Magazine’s halls of fame. Carsey-Werner’s philosophy of putting
the audience first has helped garner its shows many accolades including 24 Emmy
Awards, 11 Golden Globes, 23 People’s Choice Awards, four Humanitas Prizes, two
George Foster Peabody Awards and 18 NAACP Image Awards. Along with being

honored by the Museum of Television and Radio, it has received the Brandon Tartikoff
Legacy Award from NATPE, the David Susskind Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Producers Guild of America and a place in the Museum of the American Dream as one of
the 20 th century’s most extraordinary achievers.
Werner was recently appointed to the California Film Commission by Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger and has been on the White House Fellows Commission. He has
also served on the board of a number of philanthropic organizations including Crossroads
School in Los Angeles and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Since 1984 CARYN MANDABACH (Executive Producer) has developed and
produced more than 1,500 half-hours of the highest-quality comedy television. Her first
effort, The Cosby Show, ran for eight seasons. Other hits include A Different World,
Roseanne, Cybill, 3 rd Rock from the Sun and That ’70s Show. These shows, along with
many others, created well over $1 billion in value for what eventually became the
Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Company—the last independent comedy supplier in
America.
In August 2004, Mandabach started her own company, eponymously titled Caryn
Mandabach Productions. Thus far, CMP has garnered a deal with the BBC to own and
produce five comedy scripts, three of which will be piloted for U.K. series consideration.
Additionally, Mandabach has set up five scripts stateside to be produced for cable and
network television. Canadian indie Lionsgate is the distributor of CMP product.
Mandabach has won numerous awards including the Emmy, the Humanitas, the
People’s Choice and the Peabody. She has been a keynote speaker at the Edinburgh
Television Festival and has been honored by the Producers Guild, Promax, NATPE,
Women in Film and numerous other organizations for her efforts.
She has two children, Marisa and Jonathan, whom she finds amusing.
Originally from San Antonio, Texas, RAMSEY NICKELL (Director of
Photography) moved to Los Angeles in 1988. Nickell started in the film industry in the
time-honored position of production assistant. He rapidly rose through the ranks of
electrician, best boy and gaffer to director of photography. He had the good fortune to be

mentored by, amongst others, Wayne Isham, Bill Pope and Sam Bayer. With the latter,
he gaffed on approximately 50 music videos, including Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen
Spirit.” In the eight years since Nickell made the changeover from gaffer to DP, he has
worked on numerous award-winning commercials and music videos. In 1999, Nickell
was the recipient of the Music Video Producers Association/Panavision Award for Best
Cinematography for The Crystal Method’s “Comin’ Back.”
He has worked on scores of award-winning commercials in the past seven years.
In the last two years, Nickell has rounded out his career with the addition of narrative
work in film and television. He shot the pilot for Fastlane with longtime collaborator
McG (Charlie’s Angels). In the feature world, Nickell just wrapped principal
photography on Marcos Siega’s Chaos Theory, starring Ryan Reynolds and Emily
Mortimer. The OH in Ohio, starring Danny DeVito, Parker Posey and Paul Rudd
recently debuted at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Pretty Persuasion, with
director Marcos Siega and starring James Woods, Evan Rachel Wood and Ron
Livingston, is available on DVD.
JOHN PAINO (Production Designer) is currently working on Tom McCarthy’s
latest film, The Visitor. This is his second pairing with the director; he served as the
production designer on the award-winning The Station Agent. In addition to Let’s Go To
Prison, Paino’s most recent credits include The Brothers Solomon, also directed by Bob
Odenkirk; Jesse Peretz’s Fast Track; and On the One, directed by Charles Randolph-
Wright. He has amassed an extensive list of commercial credits with some of the top
directors in the commercial world. His design work on the hit NBC/Bravo show Queer
Eye for the Straight Guy garnered him a 2004 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Art
Direction for a Variety or Music Program.
ERIC L. BEASON, ACE (Editor) most recently worked as an editor on 2004’s
The Alamo, directed by John Lee Hancock, and Against the Ropes, directed by Charles S.
Dutton and starring Meg Ryan and Omar Epps. Additionally, Beason edited 2002’s The
Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid and Rachel Griffiths, and 2001’s Joy Ride, with Paul
Walker. Other notable films on which Beason has served as editor include 1999’s For

Love of the Game, 1998’s A Simple Plan, 1996’s Unforgettable, 1995’s The Maddening
and 1994’s The Last Seduction.
To make this soundtrack distinctive, ALAN ELLIOTT (Music by) and director
Bob Odenkirk traveled from Detroit to record White Stripes’ drummer Meg White, to
West Hollywood to record the Queens of the Stone Age. They finished in beautiful
downtown Glendale with a hip-hop Hall of Fame all-star band spotlighting human
beatbox Rahzel (from the Roots), drummer James Gadson (featured on the newest release
by Beck and famous for his work with Marvin Gaye, the Watts 103 rd Street Band and the
Jackson 5), bongo player King Errisson (the most sampled hip-hop artist of all time
through his work on the Incredible Bongo Band), guitarist Ray Parker Jr.
(“Ghostbusters”) and bassist Reggie McBride (Steve Wonder).
Unlike a typical shotgun marriage of famous recording artists and movies, the
musicians were not asked to contribute songs but instead performed score written
especially for the movie by Elliott.
Bringing together musical legends and musical legends-to-be provides a lean,
percussive score which helps propel the twisting and twisted plot line of Let’s Go To
Prison.
With over 70 original cues (only three pieces of source music were used), Elliott’s
score virtually serves as a character inside the film, whether underlining the aggression
between Will Arnett and Dax Shepard, the simmering passion in Will Arnett and Chi
McBride’s love scenes or reinventing the earlier music with the use of string quartet for
the film’s surprising conclusion.
Elliott is currently producing music for his record label, Al’s Records and Tapes.
Through Al’s, Elliott works with a variety of artists from the soulful Cody Chesnutt
(featured with The Roots, Kanye West and The Fugees in Michel Gondry’s film Dave
Chapelle’s Block Party), the jazz of Teo Macero (legendary music producer of Miles
Davis, Duke Ellington and Thelonius Monk), to the glitchtronica of Ruger Seeds and
Sabolab.
Elliott’s non-profit program, the Jack Elliott Music Project, provides music
education and technology to at-risk students at no cost to schools or students. Over the

past three years, the Jack Elliott Music Project has donated over $100,000 worth of
technology and training to these communities.
Elliott lives in Hollywood with his wife and two dogs.
G. MARQ ROSWELL’s (Music Supervisor) impressive list of music
supervision credits includes An Unfinished Life, Dawn of the Dead, Baadasssss!, Walking
Tall, Spy Game, Auto Focus, Pay it Forward, End of Days, The Hurricane, Varsity
Blues and The Commitments. He recently completed work on Wal-Mart: The High Cost
of Low Price and researched 18 th century-period Venetian music for Lasse Hallström’s
Casanova. Currently, he is producing and music supervising Hard Luck, directed by
Mario Van Peebles and starring Wesley Snipes.
Roswell has produced numerous film scores including the scores for The
Hurricane, Baadasssss! and Dawn of theDead.
Over the last 20 years, Roswell has produced sessions by a multitude of talents
including Koko Taylor, Money Mark, Invisible Scratch Pickles, Steve Earle, Jewel, The
Roots, Mos Def, Lyle Lovett, Propellerheads and Rodney Crowell. In addition to
possessing an uncanny knack for assembling the right musicians for the job, his musical
instincts are undeniable. He has also produced many on-camera, musical playback
sequences for films such as the The Commitments, Wild at Heart and The Thing Called
Love.
ADAM SWART (Music Supervisor) has worked as music supervisor, music
coordinator and has overseen clearances on more than 16 projects.
Among his past credits include work for the films Dawn of the Dead, Walking
Tall, An Unfinished Life and Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story.
Notable forthcoming releases include The Brothers Solomon, directed by Bob
Odenkirk of Mr. Show fame; Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers, directed by Robert
Greenwald; and Hard Luck, directed by Mario Van Peebles.
—let’s go to prison—