When a budding young artist’s friend is suddenly killed, he decides to seek revenge. Unless his family can confront their wounds to stop him in his tracks.
This one-of-a-kind feature film represents the work of 13 incarcerated writers from all over the US and was produced by a team of film professionals in New York City. It is available for free to incarcerated audiences in more than 1,250 facilities nationwide, with nearly 250,000 views.
“I think the film was beautiful and it truly encompassed the tumultuous landscape of the lives of people who are affected by violence and incarceration." - feedback from a currently incarcerated viewer
Influence: A Film in Verse was selected for the 18th Annual Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.
*This had special significance because Pennsylvania is home to 3 of our film's writers, including the play written in one of our programs from which Influence takes its name.
Through our tablet partnership with Edovo, “Influence” has been viewed by nearly 250,000 incarcerated individuals.
Here are a few of their reactions:
"The storyline was great and I hope someone sees this and makes a different decision about their life."
"This film was very inspirational and made me cry! Thank you for sharing this with me and those of us who are incarcerated because I think it will shed light on the real events in life that lead us to the decisions we make within our family that influence who we become in life."
"The film was beautiful and encouraged me to write poetry again. I crave more films like this."
More than a Film
While we know audiences enjoy Influence as a standalone viewing experience, it also represents a suite of active programming.
Influence includes work from 5 Shining Light programs:
The SL Academy Foundations Course: Shining Light staff meet with a small group of residents at a partner facility twice weekly over zoom and work through modules ranging from self-regulation and character strengths to playwriting. (1 script featured)
Academy Extension Courses: Graduates of the SL Academy can pursue additional exploration and coaching in playwriting and spoken word from seasoned professionals through zoom meetings. (4 pieces featured)
Winter Writing CoLab: Participants are paired with a writing mentor who provides encouragement and rigorous feedback on a single work through 3 months of correspondence. (3 pieces featured)
The Loop: This magazine is published bi-monthly and regularly features creative writing selections from readers. A call for subscribers to submit their work for this special project offered the focused prompt of “Rising Above”. (3 pieces featured)
Tablet Programming: Shining Light courses offer self-guided opportunities on many of the topics covered in The SL Academy, greatly expanding availability and accessibility. One such course, The Spoken Word Lab, was published in 2022 and walks a writer through the technical and emotive process of writing and editing a compelling poem. (1 piece featured)