Former Drug Dealer Turns Prison Cell Workout Into Gym That Hires Ex-Cons

A new documentary explores how one New York entrepreneur built a business to keep people out of prison. Filmmaker Debra Granik, known for “Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace,” spent years following Coss Marte. Marte was a drug dealer who served seven years in prison by age 27. While in solitary confinement, he created a workout routine in his six-by-nine-foot cell. He lost over 70 pounds. After release, Marte launched a gym staffed entirely by former inmates. “I’m hiring people coming out of the prison system to teach fitness classes,” he said. Granik called his story “near unprecedented” and began filming a documentary. The five-hour film, titled “Conbody vs Everybody,” shows Marte’s fight to succeed in a system that often punishes people long after they have served time. “He was defying all the odds,” Granik said. Marte added: “We just never stopped recording.”