Interview
Scott Budnick, Film Producer and CEO of One Community
- Scott Budnick transitioned from pre-med at Emory University to a film career after a 45-minute experience as a prisoner extra on John Frankenheimer's set in 2004.
- Budnick's first major industry role was as a casting assistant on Todd Phillips' Road Trip, where Phillips assigned him to locate a black college step team at 9:00 p.m. for a 6:00 a.m. shoot.
- Budnick served as Executive Vice President at Green Hat Films, producing 11 films directed by Todd Phillips, including the Hangover trilogy which grossed $1.5 billion worldwide.
- During the filming of The Hangover, actor Ken Jeong improvised a scene shooting him naked from a car trunk; Budnick secured a Warner Brothers "nudie release" at 11:00 p.m., though the stunt drew police intervention due to lack of hotel notification.
- In 2004, Budnick began volunteering at a Los Angeles juvenile hall and was jarringly exposed to a 15-year-old student sentenced to 300 years to life for standing next to a friend who shot a victim in the buttocks.
- Budnick identified a socioeconomic disparity in the justice system, noting that a wealthy white child in a similar circumstance would likely be out on bail, whereas a poor child of color would face incarceration.
- Budnick taught creative writing classes to at-risk youth every Saturday morning for 20 years, witnessing firsthand that many juvenile offenders were victims of foster care failure, abuse, and domestic violence.
- Following the production of Hangover 3 in 2013, Budnick left the film industry, taking a 90% pay cut to found the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC).
- ARC initially assumed housing was the primary need for formerly incarcerated individuals, but community surveys revealed housing was the first requirement, followed by jobs and mentorship.
- ARC's "Adam" model involves taking individuals like Adam (sentenced to six years for robbery at age 15) and integrating them into the film industry, resulting in him earning $150,000 annually and employing four brothers in the union.
- ARC currently has 150 members in film and television unions and 300 people employed in construction unions, with over 100 members having graduated from four-year universities.
- Budnick and ARC successfully lobbied for the passage of California's SB9 after seven years of failure, a bill granting parole hearings after 25 years for juveniles sentenced to life without parole.
- The breakthrough for SB9 occurred when Budnick leveraged his Hangover celebrity to gain access to the Assembly Speaker, bringing 10 posters and formerly incarcerated individuals to secure the necessary votes in one day.
- Subsequent legislation, including SB260, allowed Budnick to secure the commutation of David's sentence from 300 years to time served, with a parole hearing scheduled within two months.
- Over the course of his legislative work, Budnick helped pass 14 bills affecting 25,000 people in California prisons who were young and sentenced to die in prison.
- Budnick launched "One Community," a company focused on social justice content, aiming to replicate the cultural shift seen with LGBTQ+ representation in media like Will & Grace and Brokeback Mountain.
- Budnick advocates for "humanizing" narratives to change public perception, citing the case of "Maggie," a widow whose husband was murdered by juveniles, who became a supporter of the movement after seeing empathy in her classroom.
- Budnick served as an executive producer and co-financier for the film Just Mercy, which was developed at Warner Bros. under the leadership of executive Nyjah Kirkendall.
- ARC launched the "Represent Justice" campaign to drive legislative action following the release of Just Mercy, resulting in nine out of ten governors attending screenings in tears.
- Budnick cites the statistic that one in nine or one in ten death row inmates may be innocent, a margin of error he notes is unacceptable in any other global context.
- The film Just Mercy highlights the humanity of Herbert, a Vietnam veteran with PTSD executed for a violent crime, alongside the exoneration of innocent clients.
- Budnick lists Stand By Me as his favorite non-produced film and The Alchemist as the book that guides his life.
- Budnick's core philosophy for personal and professional conduct is to remain "100% authentic" with no masks or posturing.