I’m very familiar with these A24 letters from filmmakers. I’m a subscriber to the mailing list! They’ve been a source of inspiration and resonance over the years. So when I was asked to write one for Sing Sing, naturally I was here for it. But in the same moment, I questioned what felt appropriate. How to capture the spirit of this film, eight years in the making, that was made with such an intense and complete commitment to community? It became immediately clear that there was no better way to represent this than to hear directly from the artists themselves who made this film possible.
We decided to pose a question to our team, and present a small sample of their answers, stitching one story together on behalf of all of us.
The question was this: What does Trust the Process mean to you?
We asked this because Trust the Process is the mantra of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), the organization at the heart of our movie. It has many meanings. Every time I’ve asked a member about it, I’ve gotten a different answer. I’ve heard everything from, “It’s a shit show until opening night, and then somehow it just works” to one of our alumni cast members Sean “Dino” Johnson who once told me, “It’s about how people who shouldn’t fit together, somehow find a way to fit together.”
For me, I’m still learning what it means. Maybe because it’s a process. One that continues to unfold and shape before my eyes. What I do know is that the process is all we have. And a focus on it, on how to make it a little better every day… To be fairer, healthier, less transactional, more of a beautiful exchange… yields beautiful and unexpected gifts.
Trust the Process became our team’s mantra too. And it makes me wonder, what will it mean to you?
- Greg Kwedar (Co-Writer / Director / Producer)
A collection of responses from the Sing Sing film community
"Trusting the process has always had an elusive description. Having trusted, and been trusted along this journey, I think brings us all closer to a more definitive explanation of it. We all trust in each other so unquestionably and it builds a power that shapes and guides our endeavors.
The process is always at work… It has existed from eternity to eternity. When you add your positive contributions, positive returns. If you add negative it will return. That's the process for me.” - Clarence Maclin (Actor, Storyteller, & Executive Producer)
“… I trusted the process when I agreed to Second AD Sing Sing, my first feature film. I laid down my fears and insecurities to approach this opportunity with gentleness for myself, compassion for others, and the utmost humility for the work. Through my mistakes and successes, I learned to be completely present and engaged with the (BEST) cast, who shared stories that could fill LIFETIMES.” - Taylor Harris-Butler (Second Assistant Director)
“There was a terrifying moment when we pulled up to the downstate facility and I wasn’t sure if I was able to do it. Again that feeling of terror when they asked us to put on the greens. Then I remembered to trust the process and that this was a job And that I am an actor just playing the role.” - Miguel Valentin (Actor)
“This Process trusted US. To be GIVEN trust, makes GIVING your ALL a must. The story is about Trust the Process, but within the story are the storytellers. And the storytellers here were given the trust to tell others’ stories. Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley grew that trust twofold, by entrusting others. It is a circle. In the circle is a cypher, in the cypher there are cycles, in the cycles we can see each other, si mon.. Inside the story exist two Divines - Divine G and Divine Eye. Inside our storytelling, we were guided by a Divinity. The Divines of the story, but the Divinity of the story leader - Colman Domingo- who gave us all the grace to go all the way there. To try and put our hands on our humanity. That is the hope - to see the humans inside this inhumane system. Only through the circle can we see it: trust, divinity, humanity…” - Sean San José (Actor)
“Clarence and Divine G joined us for the last week of the color grade. Six of us sat in a dark room during that part of the process with a realization and hope for what this movie could mean. The next time we saw it was at TIFF with 1,200 people, and the reward? Their realization as well. We trust in the process of filmmaking the way these men trusted in the process of art and hope in a system set up to push you towards failure.” - Adam Vevang (Color Producer)
“When I returned from Vietnam I met my Brent Buell at the University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus in the person of William Raffeld. I was lost and angry and he showed me a way of transformation through the process of acting. He saved my life. Teachers do that everyday guiding their students with tried and true methods. During the filming of Sing Sing I was struck deeply when the cast would repeatedly say TTP during our experience. Who would know better than men who had been incarcerated that PATIENCE is the key to any process. I am forever grateful to each of these Souls.” - Paul Raci (Actor)
"As a writer and performer, I pivoted into the freelance world to better understand the intricacies of production. After a year as a PA, I was ready to let go of my dreams. I no longer believed there was a space where community and storytelling were synonymous. I assumed Sing Sing would only confirm my theory. Gratefully, it did quite the opposite. On my first day, our Director shook my hand and thanked me by name. I was taken aback as I had spent the last year feeling invisible. But each day I was there, I saw every person being seen and valued. I realized this was a space that cared about building a genuine community as well as creating an authentic and thoughtful story. This cast and crew breathed new life into my dreams and renewed my faith in ‘Trust the Process’. To all of them, I am grateful.” - Rachael Kuecher (First Team Production Assistant)
“As a founding member of RTA, “trust the process” has several meanings for me. After experiencing a few productions where Murphy’s law had reared its ugly head, but somehow, we were able to continuously complete successful theatrical productions, I analyzed what we were doing, and what ingredients we had, and realized that our energy, passion, resilience, patience, our familyhood mentality, and most of all, the love we each brought to the table were the culprits responsible. The bumps and bruises we overcame were growing pains. We believed in each other (Trust); we collectively embraced our journey (the process), and we predicted the outcomes (success via a self-fulfilling prophecy). It was a classic example of organized chaos, where in the end it was always a win-win situation no matter what happened because the layers of learning and life skills acquired were gifts and blessings that would stay with us forever.” - John “Divine G” Whitfield (Actor, Storyteller, & Executive Producer)
