Filmed at Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility during the same production period as HBO film O.G., It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It follows 13 incarcerated men as they study filmmaking as a vehicle to explore their memories and how they ended up with decades-long sentences. Several of those 13 men were also cast as first-time actors in O.G., and all of them directed It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It alongside O.G. director Madeleine Sackler. Animated sequences by Yoni Goodman bring their stories to life.

It's a Hard Truth Ain't It was nominated in 2020 for an Emmy for Outstanding Arts and Cultural Programming. The codirectors were also recipients of the Evident Change Distinguished Achievement Award. Past recipients include Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and Bryan Stevenson. 

Hard Truth premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival along with O.G.