Freedom Writers
A passionate young teacher battles prejudice and apathy in a racially divided high school, rallying her at‑risk students to embrace education and rewrite their futures.
“Their story. Their world. Their future.”
Synopsis
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 265+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by David MoritzShot by Jim DenaultScored by Mark IshamDesigned by Laurence BennettSound by Karen Baker Landers Nm0048623Costumes by Cindy EvansVFX by Michael Caplan
Box Office
2007 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 2.1× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$43.1M
US & Canada: $36.6M — 85% of worldwide · International: $6.5M (15%)
Opening weekend: $9.4M — 26% of its US run.
Opening week (7-day): $11.3M — 31% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 1,360 theaters
Also known as
- Freedom Writersde
- David Fonsecaen
- escritores de la libertades
- Écrire pour existerfr
- (English)Freedom Writers
- (Bulgarian)Гласове на свободата
Release dates around the world4 countries · showhide
- CanadaJan 5, 2007
- United StatesJan 5, 2007
- BrazilFeb 15, 2007
- United KingdomFeb 15, 2007
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Cast & Crew
265 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Hilary Swank
as Erin Gruwell
Imelda Staunton
as Margaret Campbell
Patrick Dempsey
as Scott Casey
Scott Glenn
as Steve Gruwell
April Hernandez Castillo
as Eva Benitez
Mario
as Andre Bryant
Kristin Herrera
as Gloria Munez
Jaclyn Ngan
as Sindy
Sergio Montalvo
as Alejandro Santiago
Jason Finn
as Marcus
Deance Wyatt
as Jamal Hill
Vanetta Smith
as Brandy Ross
Supporting cast
73Gabriel Chavarria
as Tito
Hunter Parrish
as Ben Daniels
Antonio Garcia
as Miguel
Giovonnie Samuels
as Victoria
John Benjamin Hickey
as Brian Gelford
Robert Wisdom
as Dr. Carl Cohn
Pat Carroll
as Miep Gies
Will Morales
as Paco
Armand Jones
as Grant Rice
Ricardo Molina
as Eva's Father
Angela Alvarado
as Eva's Mother
Anh Tuan Nguyen
as Sindy's Boyfriend
Katie Soo
as Sindy's Friend
Liisa Cohen
as Brandy's Mother
Brian Bennett
as Brandy's Father
Horace Hall
as Mr. Horace Hall
Tim Halligan
as Principal Banning
Lisa Banes
as Karin Polachek
Giselle Bonilla
as Young Eva
Earl Williams
as Young Marcus
Blake Hightower
as Clive
Angela Sargeant
as Marcus' Mother
Robin Skye
as PTA Mom
Chil Kong
as Store Owner
Juan Garcia
as Defense Attorney
Larry Cahn
as Prosecutor
Sharaud Moore
as Hall Monitor
Abel Soto
as Gang Member
Dan Warner
as Cop #1
Randy Hall
as Cop #2
Carl Paoli
as Cop #3
Dominic Daniel
as Drug Dealer
Cody Chappel
as Bookstore Clerk
Dj Motiv8
as DJ
Renee Firestone
as The Holocaust Survivor
Eddie Ilam
as The Holocaust Survivor
Elisabeth Mann
as The Holocaust Survivor
Gloria Ungar
as The Holocaust Survivor
George Alvarezzo
as Maitre'd
Rock Anthony
as Honors Class Student
Sonny Mario Ayon
as Eva's Hispanic Gang Member, Student
Dre Bowie
as Black Student
Ian Clay
as Student
David Cohen
as Carnival Attendee
Chrissy Crook
as Student
Giovanni Davis
as Student
Jason Ford
as Student
Ashley Glenn
as Student
Robert Gonzalez
as Roberto, Evas cousin
Robert Christopher Henderson
as Student
Audia Holiday
as Student
Jamon Holmes
as Student
Kevin M Horton
as Ben's Friend
Annie Hsu
as Student
Elizabeth Ince
as Teacher
Michael James Lazar
as Marcus's Dead Friend
Don Le
as Asian Student
Deon Lucas
as Black Student
Angela Nesbitt
as Student
Ian Novotny
as Man in the Park
Ihuoma Ofordire
as Black Gang Member
Jeran Pascascio
as Marcus' Dead Friend #2
Bidkar Ramos
as Prisoner
Palma Lawrence Reed
as Grant's Mother
Landon Reid
as Kid
Matt Riedy
as Actor
Kirsten Roeters
as White Dinner Companion
Joe Seo
as Sindy's Asian Gang Member, Student
Joe Towne
as Obnoxious Waiter
Yazmeen Townsend
as 2nd Period Student
Anthony E Valentin
as Latin Gangster
Adam Vanderwielen
as White Cop #1
Alfredo Viramontes
as Student
Directors
1Writers
3Erin Gruwell
Writer, Writers, book "The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them
Freedom Writers
Writer, Writers, book "The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them" and
Richard Lagravenese
Writer, Writers, screenplay
Producers
11Dan Levine
executive producer
Danny Devito
Producer
Guy Botham
visual effects executive producer: Lola Visual Effects (uncredited)
Hilary Swank
executive producer
Jordana Glick Franzheim
associate producer
Michael Caplan
visual effects producer: Engine Room
Michael Shamberg
Producer
Nan Morales
executive producer
Stacey Sher
Producer
Thomas Nittmann
visual effects producer: Lola Visual Effects (as Thomas Nittman)
Tracey Durning
executive producer
Other crew
170Kris Elgin
accounting production assistant
Joann Fregalette Jansen
acting coach (as JoAnn Jansen)
Ime Etuk
additional second assistant director (uncredited)
Elizabeth Martucci
additional set costumer (uncredited)
Bob Baron
adr mixer
David Bolton
adr mixer
Ron Bedrosian
adr mixer
Linda Griffis
art department coordinator
Peter Borck
Art Director
Linda Lee Sutton
as Linda Sutton-Doll
Corwin A Bibb
assistant chief lighting technician (as Cory Bibb)
Lucas Borghi
assistant editor (as Luke Borghi)
Parents Guide
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