Colman Domingo On The Equitable Model Behind ‘Sing Sing’ And Why It Can Work For More Films

Colman Domingo and wants everyone to gain from the work they put in on the film Sing Sing .

Domingo spoke with Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor Trey Mangum about the film’s unique model that allows everyone, from the stars to the personal assistants, to have financial and creative equity in the film.

“When I first came on board, before there was even a script, Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, my director, and Monique Walton, [one of my] fellow producers, said [they] want to actually examine a model. There’s two different ways you can do it. To build this, we can build equity in a very different way. We can go to streamers, we can go to studios, we can take it out, which is a very typical model, or we can find independent financing where we can keep the overhead low and make it sure because, especially because of the way this is crafted and it was crafted truly as a community.”

Domingo said that everyone has stake in the film, making titles “blurred” between individuals.

“We were on Zoom meetings creating together. Yes, it’s written and so and so, but we were all part of crafting. Everyone gave everything of themselves and that means every single department. So…it’s a very community-based program,” he said. “Even when it comes to looking at international sales and things like that, that everyone has that has stake in it. So I think something about that is just so fantastic because even on set on our days on set, everyone felt like it was their film. You weren’t work for hire, you know, and then just, you know, like, which is most of us at all times, but this felt like, ‘This is my film. I take care of it.’ I feel like it had that spirit across the board that we all just needed to take care of. And I think it’s a model that can work.”

Watch the full interview with Domingo and his co-star Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, below. The film is now playing in theaters.