WIRED co-produced The Last Mile, a documentary short that looks at a tech start-up incubator in a very unlikely place: San Quentin prison. The titular program, founded by venture capitalist Chris Redlitz, draws on volunteers from the tech world who teach inmates about the digital technology that is rapidly advancing in the outside world, but forbidden within the prison's walls. The film premieres today in competition at the SXSW Film Festival; below is a conversation between filmmaker Ondi Timoner (two-time winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize) and a former inmate, Heracio Harts.

In 2013 I met a charming and dapper Heracio Harts at Summit Series. I asked him what had brought him to the event, and he said he'd served 8 1/2 years in San Quentin for involuntary manslaughter. The most powerful piece of Heracio's journey was his founding participation in The Last Mile program at San Quentin. With the premiere of this film that Heracio and I kicked off together, we decided to get on the phone and talk about it.

ONDI: How is The Last Mile structured?

HERACIO: It's a six-month program, and there are two meetings per week. During those six months, you get to talk to different community leaders and business leaders… People of power, people of success are there to teach us how to be successful as well. I think that encouragement in and of itself is something that should be replicated. Right? The Last Mile goes further—actually getting to participate in social media, to hear from the public, hear their responses from what we write. I think those things really are necessary in prison.

ONDI: How does The Last Mile train you up with regard to social media?

HERACIO: I think we did five or six tweets per week. So we write out tweets on paper and they would post it for us… I think for all of us, it was like 'Oh, this is how you get people to know you.' and then you can start building your own personal brand… We're pretty open, however you still have that anxiety of being judged. Like you want to tell people the raw and uncut things that's going on in your life. You don't look for pity, but you think that people may judge you…. You still voice how you feel and things that you've done and um, you're accepted. And you know, it's kind of scary at first. But you know, it does help. It definitely helps to be transparent.

ONDI: How do you feel about the responses you received online?

HERACIO: It's encouraging. I think that it connects you to the world to know that you're not the only one that made bad choices. There are a bunch of people that have made bad choices. Some people just didn't get caught, but it kind of gives you a little more strength to be open and be more brave about it because you know that you can help someone else through your experiences.

I remember one of the best responses that I received… I drew the parallels between living in a local community and being in prison—low-income communities are the toughest prisons, because you had guns and knives too. You can lose your life a lot more easily in the projects. So there were a lot of responses from people just telling me that they'd never looked at it like that.

ONDI: What [do] you think you and some of the people in the program have to offer that maybe we don't, from what you've been through.

HERACIO: What I really think what may give us a competitive edge is our persistence and our will. It's a refuse-to-lose attitude. You're locked up and you don't have control over anything, but you do have control over your willpower. And you lean on that to overcome things that some people would suffer breakdowns from. But you learn to be more patient and present and you learn to stay focused.

ONDI: One line that I thought was really important in the film is when TLM grad Caleb says, "What job was I ever gonna get? Who's gonna hire me coming out of prison? This is the only way I'm going to be able to make it, by having the entrepreneurial spirit and having the know-how to start my own business." There's a lot of job placement that happens with you guys.

HERACIO: What's really good for the guys who return back home is that we've been able to get a job in a tech community. It gives those other guys that are inside prison walls hope that when they are released they will have support and the community will welcome them.… so that when they are out they can get a job and hold it down.

ONDI: How was the filming process for you? You were a big part in bringing us all together.

HERACIO: I'm excited for the awareness that this film can bring. I'm grateful that we have a voice and that our voices are being heard. I really hope that it will change public's perception of returning citizens.