Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story
Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story is a 2004 American made-for-television biographical crime drama film starring Jamie Foxx and Lynn Whitfield. The film was directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. The screenplay was written by J.T. Allen. Other cast members in the film include Lee Thompson Young and CCH Pounder.[1]
| Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Written by | J.T. Allen |
| Directed by | Vondie Curtis-Hall |
| Starring | Jamie Foxx Lynn Whitfield Lee Thompson Young CCH Pounder |
| Music by | Terence Blanchard |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Sue Bugden Rudy Langlais Van Spurgeon |
| Cinematography | David Greene |
| Editor | Terilyn A. Shropshire |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | FX |
| Original release |
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Background
The film deals with the life of Stanley Tookie Williams, the co-founding member of the Crips street gang, principally his life in the streets and his life in prison.[2] It also shows some of the work he did while incarcerated to help decrease gang violence in the world. The film was shot in 2003 while Williams was still imprisoned. On December 13, 2005, Williams was executed by lethal injection in California.
After its debut at The Sundance Film Festival, the film was released in January 2004 via the FX cable network on television and went on to become a successful venture for the network. The film was nominated for 19 different awards and won 11 of them. Among the awards the film was nominated for include American Cinema Editors, Black Reel Awards, Golden Globes, NAACP Image Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, MovieGuide, Satellite Award, Screen Actors Guild, and Writers Guild of America.
Shot in 38 days during July and August 2003, all of the filming took place in Toronto (except for one full day in South Central Los Angeles and one half-day of exteriors in San Francisco). The Toronto water treatment plant was used as a double for the exterior of San Quentin State Prison. Production was almost shut down when Michael Mann refused to release Jamie Foxx from his rehearsal schedule on Collateral. But Foxx, who had met with Stanley Williams for many hours at San Quentin, convinced Mann to give him a three-week window. Jamie's performance was shot over only three six-day shooting weeks in Toronto. During that period, Toronto suffered a massive citywide blackout, and the production only had power from its backup generators. Jamie Foxx's dialogue coach during the shoot was a former inmate of San Quentin.
Cast
- Jamie Foxx ... Stanley Tookie Williams
- Lynn Whitfield ... Barbara Becnel
- Lee Thompson Young ... Charles Becnel
- Brenden Jefferson ... Young Stan Williams
- Brenda Bazinet ... Barbara's Agent
- Wes Williams ... Tony Bogard
- Greg Ellwand ... Prison Chief
- CCH Pounder ... Winnie Mandela
- Barbara Barnes-Hopkins ... Mrs. Williams
- Tom Barnett ... Jim Kates
- Karl Campbell ... Deuce-Five
- Joseph Pierre ... 17yr. Old Ray Washington
- Vibert Cobham ... Buddha
- David Fraser ... Strange Man
- Kahmaara Armatrading ... Stan Williams (9-12)
- Marcus Johnson ... Monroe Kid
- Garfield Williams ... Envoy
- Aaron Meeks ... Banger #1
- Donovan Palma ... Banger #2
- Philip Craig ... Warden Gomez
- Rosemary Dunsmore ... Warden Woodford
- Shane Daly ... Associate Warden Scanlon
- Calvin Green ... Balfour Armstrong
- Alison MacLeod ... Mrs. Moore
- Hadley Sandiford ... Ancient Man
- Scott Wickware ... Security Detective
- John Bayliss ... Robert Lee Morgan
- Barbara Gordon ... Mrs. Morgan
- Laura DeCarteret ... Morgan Spokesperson
- Reg Dreger ... Rosen Executive
- Derek Keurvorst ... Professor Keach
- Dan Duran ... Campus Reporter
- Liz West ... Publisher #3
- J.C. Kenny ... TV Reporter #1
- Tim Gammon ... TV Reporter #2
- Stefanie Samuels ... Female Guard
- Arnold Pinnock ... Guard #1
- Ted Ludzik ... Guard #2
- Jean Daigle ... Guard #3
- Martin Roach ... Guard Morales
- Stephen Lee Wright ... Visiting Room Guard
- Tommy Chang ... Junior Guard
- Anshul's Dad (uncredited) ... Random Extra