Windsor-born filmmaker provides in-depth look at preparing for prison

CTV Windsor: Extended filmmaker Matt Gallagher Filmmaker Matt Gallagher talks about his WIFF documentary How to Prepare for Prison.”

A Windsor-born filmmaker has turned his jail fascination into a 90-minute documentary that features the lives of three different people facing prison sentences.

Matt Gallagher's documentary called "How to Prepare for Prison" goes beyond the verdict. He says he didn't focus on guilt or innocence.

“I’ve always been sort of fascinated with prisons,” says Gallagher. “I’ve always been a prison junkie when it comes to documentaries and films and dramas.”

One of the men featured is Windsor's Joe Zambito, who was convicted in 2014 of drug charges related to a grow-op discovered in a building he owned.

Gallagher, who now lives in Toronto, sent a letter to Zambito and ended up meeting him at the courthouse to discuss the possibility of a documentary.

"I think they wanted to tell their side of the story," says Gallagher.  "So they invited me into their home and I stayed there for three or four months."

Gallagher says his doc was never about guilt or innocence, it was about the journey.

“I started to see that there was a world of pain even before the verdict came down,” he says.

He says he could relate to Zambito, a family man raising his children in Windsor.

“He’s a dad, I’m a dad. He's a contractor, he has a career to maintain."

The documentary was filmed over three years, in Windsor, Detroit, and Alberta. A Detroit man and a Calgary woman facing incarceration are also featured.

“We come into their stories just on the day of their verdict and we follow them until their incarceration,” he says.

It captures the psychological impact as their children and families face poverty and social shame, and the individuals charged face their fears about prison.

The first Windsor screening was sold out on Thursday night at the Capitol Theatre. A second showing is on Saturday morning at 9:10 a.m. It will be also be broadcast on TVO on Nov. 16 at 9 p.m.