Animal Factory

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Animal Factory
Image:Picture needed
Directed by	Steve Buscemi
Produced by	Steve Buscemi Julie Yorn
Written by	Edward Bunker (novel and screenplay) and John Steppling
Starring	Willem Dafoe Edward Furlong Danny Trejo Mickey Rourke Tom Arnold Seymour Cassel
Music by	John Lurie
Editing by	Kate Williams
Distributed by	Franchise Pictures
Release date(s)	October 22, 2000
Running time	94 min.
Language	English
Budget	unknown
IMDb profile

Animal Factory is a film about prison life in San Quentin directed by actor Steve Buscemi. Edward Furlong plays a young man named Ron Decker, who is sent to prison for drug possession, and Willem Dafoe is veteran con Earl Copen who takes Decker under his wing. Copen is the type of prisoner who has been behind bars long enough in which, like most prisoners, he prefers his cell to society. Not only does he know how to live behind bars but also thrive in the small society of its own convicts.

Dafoe later played a virtually identical role as a voice actor in the film Finding Nemo. It was filmed on location at Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Filming was completed in 30 days, two days longer than originally scheduled. Director Steve Buscemi employed hundreds of prisoners from Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, the prison that replaced Holmesburg Prison in 1995.

The film is based upon the novel 'The Animal Factory' by writer Edward Bunker.

The low production cost and budget of the movie helps add to the realism of life in prison which is an integral part of the film's story-telling.