June 2011
1 post
May 2011
1 post
"Why NYC kids rule the chess world" - WSJ Blog
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/05/13/why-nyc-kids-rule-the-chess-world/
April 2011
4 posts
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Check out the article about IS 318 in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Shaun Smith of Chess-in-the-Schools says I.S. 318’s chess team “puts in more work than anybody in the country.”
Shaun works tirelessly to bring his love of chess to kids throughout New York City and has mentored a number of I.S. 318 players, including Justus Williams and Rochelle Ballantyne, both of whom are featured in Brooklyn...
budget cut woes
“Schools are preparing to lose more than $97.4 billion in federal stimulus funding from 2009’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With the loss of that money, the profound fiscal wounds many urban school systems are already feeling from reduced state aid and sinking property tax revenues will only get worse”..
Read the rest of the April 11th Huffington post article
318 girls take 1st place at Girls Nationals
The girls came in 1st place in the 12&under section and 2nd place in the 14&under.
So proud of them. Check out some fun pics and a sing-along video here:
http://lizzyknowsall.blogspot.com/2011/04/hh-we-took-white-stretch-limo-from.html
(photo courtesy of elizabeth vicary)
We're super excited...
that Brooklyn Castle is invited to participate in The Good Pitch on May 20th at the Ford Foundation here in NYC.
The Good Pitch brings together filmmakers with NGOs, foundations, philanthropists, brands and media around leading social issues – to forge coalitions and campaigns that are good for all these partners, good for the films and good for society.
Check out the press release here: GOOD...
March 2011
2 posts
Remarkable team puts New York City school at the...
Check out the great article about the IS 318 chess team in “American Teacher” http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americanteacher/at_marapr11.pdf
Outreach Campaign
The Brooklyn Castle edit is humming along and we are in the midst of some fine tuning. As our outreach campaign gets under way please email us any ideas for potential partners (education orgs, community orgs, chess orgs) or screening event ideas. We’ve gotten some interesting emails lately from chess coaches and teachers that want to screen Brooklyn Castle to help build support for their clubs and...
January 2011
3 posts
PS 22 is going to the Oscars →
So happy for these kids, it’s crazy what this program has achieved in the last few years. Amazing.
The Fledgling Fund
We found out yesterday that The Fledgling Fund is awarding Brooklyn Castle (aka Chess Movie) an Audience Engagement grant. We are very close to finishing the film so getting this news couldn’t come at a better time. If you know of any youth organizations, schools, teachers or advocacy groups that might want to screen Brooklyn Castle to build support for their afterschool programs please...
Kickstarter Awards
Brooklyn Castle, aka Chess Movie, received an honorable mention in the Best Documentary Film Project category of the 2010 Kickstarter Awards.
We love our Kickstarter family. Thank you!
http://blog.kickstarter.com/tagged/kickstarter+awards
December 2010
1 post
Brooklyn Castle
It’s been a while since our last post and I’m happy to say a lot has happened since. After 3 months of editing we are very close to completing a rough cut of the film. We’ve brought on some talented artists to work with us - Brian Satz, our composer, Alex Krawitz, our animation producer and Mitch Paone, our lead animator. Together with these guys we’re creating what we...
October 2010
4 posts
Story Leads to Action - Blog Post →
A wrap up of Story Leads to Action hosted by Chicken and Egg. It was a great night and very inspiring.
WatchFirst Move, a scholastic chess program is featured on NBC Today Show.
CHESS MOVIE at STORY LEADS TO ACTION
Join us on Oct. 21st at Story Leads to Action presented by Chicken and Egg Pictures, Working Fims and The 92Y Tribeca.
Story Leads to Action is a monthly-series at the 92Y Tribeca that strives to adapt Working Films’ audience engagement methodologies into a three-hour public event. Chicken & Egg-funded filmmakers (that’s us!) come together with strategic cohorts of NY-based activists,...
NY TIMES ARTICLE - 10/05/10 →
“Murrow was founded in 1974 as a progressive high school that emphasized creativity, independence and the “communication arts.” When its television studios opened in the late 1970s, Mr. Anderson recalled, they had huge Hitachi color cameras and audio equipment that he once smuggled out of the building to record the Beastie Boys, a band founded in 1979 by a classmate, Adam Yauch…The...
September 2010
4 posts
Wall Street Journal article - 9.27.10 →
Innovative Concept Academy in St. Louis uses chess to teach self-control and critical thinking to troubled students
Chess Drum Article- 9.24.10 →
Congratulations Justus on making master and making history at 12 years old!
August 2010
1 post
Chess Movie (working title) invited to IFP...
www.ifp.org/150-new-films-in-development-from-emerging-established-filmmakers-showcased-at-ifp’s-2010-project-forum/
July 2010
1 post
Chess Movie receives Chicken and Egg Pictures... →
June 2010
5 posts
Justus Williams from I.S. 318 featured in Wall... →
School Budget Cuts in L.A.
Over the last year we documented the effects of school budget cuts at 1 junior high school in Brooklyn, NY. But it’s happening all over the country.
California schools have received $17 billion less than they anticipated over the past two years and this year Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a 2 percent cut to $35.1 billion for children in kindergarten through high school.
...
Chess Movie invited to Kickstarter/Rooftop Films...
On July 9th Rooftop Films is presenting a selection of film, video and art projects supported on Kickstarter.com.
We just found out that Chess Movie will be included in the lineup. So very cool.
Thank you Kickstarter!!
www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/23-kickstarter-sneak-previews
April 2010
4 posts
Thank you Kickstarter!!!
With just 4 hours to go on our very first online fundraising campaign for Chess Movie (Working Title) we’re feeling super lucky and very blessed to have so much support from all of our backers.
The money we raised on Kickstarter will help us finish production.
Our next goal will be raising funds for post-production.
One step at a time.
Thank you everyone!!
WatchRound 6 of High School Nationals and 318 is in first place. A junior high school has never won the High School championship before, they would be the first.
WatchThe team met outside the school at 3am to go to the airport. Long day. Sleep needed.
March 2010
2 posts
The Kings of New York
We just found out that the kind and generous publishers of “The Kings of New York”, by Michael Weinreb, are donating us 10 more copies of the book to offer as rewards to our Kickstarter donors.
The first bunch we had went really quickly so we are thrilled to be able to offer more.
This is the book that led us to the kids of 318 - so you can bet we think pretty highly of it.
GO TO...
8 tags
WatchArriving at the Saratoga train station at 9:44am for a 9:43am train back to NYC. Risky move.
February 2010
5 posts
7 tags
WatchPresident Pobama addresses his teammates en route to Saratoga.
8 tags
Its 10 till noon and we’re still on the train. Looks like the team is going to be late. Their clocks will start without them and they’ll have to make up the time with their skill. Should be an exciting day. Follow all the action here and on Twitter @chess_movie
7 tags
WatchThe 318 chess team will not be stopped. On a train to Saratoga right now.
6 tags
NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS →
There is some drama unfolding about how or if the team is going to make it to Saratoga this weekend. READ MORE
Follow all the action live via: Twitter Tumblr
Become part of our project: Kickstarter
January 2010
1 post
5 tags
1-24-10 - New Year, New Teaser & A Blast from the...
When we first decided to make this film about the I.S. 318 Chess Team it wasn’t really a decision. We didn’t really have a choice. Okay not literally, but we had found this story which we loved and it was happening RIGHT NOW and so it was either keep shooting or walk away. There wasn’t time to raise money, hire a staff and start pitching. We just kept showing up at I.S 318...
December 2009
1 post
12-10-09 - We Made it to Dallas
The I.S. 318 chess team arrived in Dallas, TX last night to compete in the USCF Grade National Chess Tournament. They stand a chance at taking 1st place in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade sections. Last year they swept it and this year they have their strongest team to date…so yeah, the odds are in their favor, but you never know how the cards will be dealt. So far they’ve met their hardest...
November 2009
3 posts
11.08.09 - Justus at the Marshall -
The Marshall Chess Club is a members only club located in a beautiful old townhouse in the West Village. The Marshall was once the stomping ground for Bobby Fischer, America’s first and only world chess champion, who died Jan. 18 in Iceland. Today the club is the epicenter of New York City chess and many of the kids from I.S. 318 consider it a second home.
Playing at the Marshall gives kids the...
11.03.09 - Chess & Apple Pie
Today is Election Day and for most kids that means a day off from school. 8th grader Alexis and 7th grader JP spent most of their day playing chess & Madden on Playstation. To top it off Alexis’ mom, the always sweet Viviana, baked a homemade Apple Pie. It doesn’t get much more American than that — chess, video games & apple pie on Election Day. Ok, well chess probably...
10.30.09 - Speech Day
On Friday Pobo and the other 5 kids running for school president delivered their speeches to the student body. Three straight periods of speeches and by the end of it I thought my arm was going to fall off from shooting. But it was worth it — Pobo hit it out of the park!! Elections are on Monday and although he has 2 strong opponents, Destiny and Angelica (pictured below), I think he has a...
October 2009
5 posts
10.29.09 - Broken car window and blitz
I guess the thrill of making a documentary is partly the thrill of the unexpected.
Today, while I was shooting inside the school, someone smashed open the passenger side window of my car parked outside —- in the rain. That was unexpected!
Don’t know if the footage I shot was worth the broken window and the $85 it cost to replace it but I did shoot a fun blitz game between Pobo and...
10.27.09 - field notes
So I was browsing through the tumblr themes and I found this “field notes” theme which I think suites my purpose perfectly (thanks Manasto Jones).
We are Rescued Media, a filmmaking team from Brooklyn, NY and we’ve been shooting a documentary at Intermediate School 318 in Williamsburg Brooklyn for the last few months, documenting the struggles and triumphs of their national champion junior...
