Spotlight: The Power of Collaboration on SING SING - A Conversation with the Filmmakers
About this Spotlight
Spotlight Events feature conversations with high-profile film and television industry professionals who share helpful advice and insights on their career experiences and creative process.
Join director Greg Kwedar, co-writer Clint Bentley, and producer Monique Walton as they discuss their highly anticipated film Sing Sing, which premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and was released by A24. The film follows Divine G, a man imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, who finds purpose by acting in a theatre group with other incarcerated men. Based on a true story, Sing Sing is a unique film that brings another layer of authenticity with its ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors.
Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley premiered their feature film Jockey (directed by Bentley, co-written by Kwedar) at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
For this Spotlight Event, the filmmakers discuss bringing authenticity to Sing Sing through casting and collaboration as well as their indie approach to ownership of the film and working on set.
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Monique Walton
Monique Walton is an independent producer. She is the 2024 recipient of the Film Independent Spirit Producers Award. Walton produced Greg Kwedar’s SING SING, which premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was acquired by A24. Before that, she produced Annie Silverstein’s award-winning debut feature BULL which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival – Un Certain Regard and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards in 2021. In 2022 she produced the documentary feature HOLLOW TREE, directed by Kira Akerman, which premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival and won the Jury Award for Best Louisiana Film. Walton has produced numerous short films, including “Breaking Silence”, winner of the 2023 SXSW Jury Award for Best Texas Short, and Silverstein’s “Skunk”, winner of the Grand Prix Jury Award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Cinéfondation. Walton’s films have been supported by The Sundance Institute, Cinereach, San Francisco Film Society, Austin Film Society, International Documentary Association, and Film Independent. She was a 2016 Sundance Creative Producing Fellow, a 2020 Rotterdam Producing Fellow, and a 2024 Film Independent/Netflix Amplifier Fellow.
Clint Bentley
Clint Bentley is the director and co-writer of JOCKEY. Based on the life of his father, his directorial debut premiered in competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize for Best Actor for Clifton Collins Jr. and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. In addition to winning the Audience Award at AFI Film Festival, the film was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards and was named one of the Top 10 Independent Films of 2021 by The National Board of Review. Clint also co-wrote and produced TRANSPECOS, which premiered at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival and won the Audience Award. In 2017, he was chosen as one of 25 Screenwriters to Watch by Moviemaker Magazine, with co-writer Greg Kwedar. Recently, Clint co-wrote and produced Sing Sing, which premiered at 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and was acquired by A24, and wrapped production on his second feature as a director: Train Dreams, an adaptation of Denis Johnson's Pulitzer Prize-nominated novella starring Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones.
Greg Kwedar
Greg’s debut as a feature director was with Transpecos, a thriller set within the United States Border Patrol. It premiered in competition at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival where it won the Audience Award. Transpecos was acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films for theatrical release. He is also known for producingRising from Ashes, a documentary about the first Rwandan National Cycling Team and their 6-year journey to the Olympic Games in London. Executive Produced and Narrated by Forest Whitaker, Rising from Ashes had its World Premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival and went on to 16 additional festival wins. Greg was a co-producer onGhost Fleet, a documentary about slavery in the Thai fishing industry which had its World Premiere at the 2018 Telluride Film Festival and International Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Greg was a producer onRunning with Beto, a documentary following Beto O'Rourke's against-all-odds campaign for Senate premiered at SXSW 2019 winning the Audience Award and released by HBO. He served as co-writer / producer onJockey, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition where it won the Special Jury Award for Best Actor and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for theatrical release. It went on to play at TIFF, AFI and over 30 other film festivals around the world. The film was nominated for the Indie Spirit Awards for best male lead and the John Cassavetes Award. Greg has spoken to thousands of students across the country and sat on panels about his work at esteemed venues such as SXSW, UNESCO, and the United Nations.
Sing Sing, his sophomore feature as a director, premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in the Special Presentations program where it was acquired by A24 for a theatrical release. It had its US premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival where it won the audience award in the Festival Favorites section.
Katherine Street
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer
Katherine "Kat" Street is an LA-based award-winning filmmaker and Philadelphia native. A cinephile at heart, she writes female-driven stories with complex (oftentimes damaged) main characters, centered around self-discovery, self-love, and belonging.
She has written numerous short-form projects, including original shorts, pilots, and features. She wrote and directed the dramatic short film “Cycles,” which received festival recognition in both acting and best romantic short. She also created her award-winning flagship web series "The New Adult,” which is currently streaming on Kweli TV.
Kat is a Stowe Story Lab SAGIndie Fellow and a participant in the BlackMagic Collective Emerging Filmmakers Initiative. In 2021, she founded the Black Film Challenge, a project that showcases filmmakers of African descent and the movies they create.
She earned her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in Cinematography and has literary representation with Yak Yak Mgmt.