Growing Small

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GROWING_SMALL_TRAILER_FINAL_DOWNLOAD.mov

Images

Website

http://www.growingsmallmovie.com

Topics

Human Development: Education, Urban, Youth
Human Rights: Race Politics
Information & Media: Freedom of Expression, Media

Project Geography

US: New York

Identity Niches

African American, Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Transgender, Student, Youth/Teen

Budget

Raised to date: $54,000.00
Estimate to complete: $144,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $198,000.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of

Status

Production

Media Type

Video

Project End Use

Key Personnel

Jyllian Gunther
Director/Producer
Jyllian Gunther has worked as a writer, producer, and director for PBS, WGBH, Nickelodeon, Noggin, MTV, and others. In 2002, Ms. Gunther was awarded an Emmy for an educational PSA series she directed and produced for Maryland Public Television. Her critically acclaimed first documentary, PULLOUT, was presented at numerous festivals. She has also been an educator in the fields of art, drama, and creative writing.

Jack Lechner
Executive Producer
Jack Lechner has been involved in the production and development of dozens of films, including The Crying Game, Good Will Hunting, and The Full Monty. He is based at Washington Square Films. He was an executive producer on the Oscar-winning The Fog Of War; the Emmy-nominated Left Of The Dial (HBO); Parking Lot for Trio; Very Young Girls and Naked On The Inside (Showtime); and Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story. He co-produced the pilot of the series Mad Men.

Lesley Goldman
Producer
Lesley Goldman is a director/producer for PBS, ABC, Nickelodeon, Noggin, and Oxygen. Most recently, her work for MTV’s News & Documentary department garnered several awards for educational programs. She created and supervises the MTV series, High School Stories and is currently the Development Executive at Picture This Television.

Outreach/Engagement Plan(s)

While we are seeking general distribution in the mainstream media, we also intend for the film to be used to generate dialogue among education professionals, politicians, and community members about education reform and the small school movement. In addition, organizations such as the Institute for Student Achievement and New Visions, with which we have alliances, as well as universities and teaching colleges, can utilize the documentary as a teaching tool—showcasing what it takes to start a new school and specifically learn from the successes and mistakes BCAM makes throughout its first year. We also plan to arrange screenings with discussions in various communities across New York and the rest of the country so that people can see that it is possible to make improvements in struggling public school systems. We will to bring BCAM parents and students to help facilitate these conversations.

The film’s web component will complement the documentary with more insight into the school and the characters as well as provide in-depth educational elements and fully detailed action plans to help execute grass roots education reform movements. In addition, students, faculty, and parents highlighted in the documentary will blog about their continued experiences at BCAM beyond the first year, contributing updates on their stories as the ‘BCAM FAM’ grows. In addition, educators who are interested in teaching some of the more innovative classroom units seen in the film can download lesson plans and student worksheets for the curricula to make for a concrete and thorough experience. There will be a section of the web site that will help inform and educate people looking to learn more about the small schools that gives the history and basic ideology of the movement as well as examples of different small school models created across the country. This section will also include tips for people interested in implementing education reform in their own communities from mobilizing others with the same goals to contacting and communicating effectively with politicians, educators, and school district administrators and boards.

Funders

Name	Amount	Date
Private tax deductible donations	$2,500.00	10/01/2009
Gucci Tribeca Fund	$15,000.00	07/01/2009
Brooklyn Arts Council	$4,000.00	01/01/2009
Axix Company	$5,000.00	06/01/2008
Amber Leaf, LLC	$10,000.00	06/01/2007
Dunham Foundation	$2,500.00	01/01/2007
Wonderful6,Inc.	$15,000.00	08/01/2006

Location

375 Park Place No. 2
Brooklyn, 11238

See Google Maps

Short Synopsis

Growing Small is a feature documentary that witnesses unorthodox educators and inner-city students and parents in their endeavor to re-invent urban education by creating a custom-made public school in their community of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Description/Treatment

What does it take to build a school from scratch and translate ideals into reality? Growing Small is a feature documentary that witnesses one community’s arduous and idealistic endeavor to found its own public school. The film follows a diverse group of characters in their community, homes, and classrooms over the course of four years – from the school’s inception through its first graduation.

The Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School (BCAM), founded by a former DJ and basketball point guard turned first-time principal, opened with a freshman class of 104 in 2006. It is one of 350 “small schools” opened in NYC since 2002 that give educators the autonomy to build their own schools, tailor curriculums to communities’ needs, and provide students with real choices in their education. BCAM aims to address the urban education crisis by creating an intimate, family-like atmosphere where no one is invisible and everyone is accountable. The curriculum has a special focus on media in the hope that students will learn to engage as creators and critics, rather than passive media consumers and targets.

Growing Small examines the process of forming a school as a community effort. With unprecedented access to the characters in and out of school, from classrooms and counselor’s offices to students’ and teachers’ homes, we’ve captured more than 400 hours of intimate moments in their lives. We experience how BCAM’s dream plays out and what the reality is for teachers, students, and parents, who come to BCAM with their own ideals and expectations. By the 2009-10 academic year, the school has quadrupled in size – and we stay with our key characters to find out who they’ve become, whether they will graduate, what they’ve achieved, and ultimately, if BCAM has lived up to its own expectations or something entirely different.