Rock and a Hard Place, a documentary about a youth prison camp, debuts in May on HBO. The film is produced by Seven Bucks Productions, cofounded by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia, and 44 Blue Productions.
The hulking and tattooed Johnson, formerly known as the professional wrestler The Rock, is a film and TV star as well. He visits the facility where the boot camp is conducted to speak with a group of young offenders who are on the brink of serving lengthy terms.
Rock and a Hard Place “captures the lives of incarcerated young people who are granted a second chance: the opportunity to trade an extensive prison sentence for a fresh start by completing the famed Miami-Dade County Corrections & Rehabilitation Boot Camp Program,” according to the project’s principals.
Producers include Johnson and Garcia, Rasha Drachkovitch of 44 Blue Productions and filmmakers Matthew O’Neill and Jon Alpert, who also directed.
HBO and Seven Bucks also partner on the series Ballers, in which Johnson stars.
Johnson describes Rock and a Hard Place as a personal project. “By the time I was 16, I had been arrested eight or nine times for a variety of things, and can relate to what these kids are going through,” he said. Added Garcia: “Miami-Dade is making a difference and truly changing lives in the process of all their hard work. That is why we wanted to make a film about it.”
Earlier in the week, Seven Bucks Productions and Imperative Entertainments inked a script deal with Fox that includes the fast-cars drama Boost Unit (working title).
