low income
To School or Not to School
Posted July 19th, 2007 by GretjenYouth United for Change of Woodrock and Scribe Video Center
John Knapich
A youth group from Woodrock, Inc. created this video to explore and document the high rate of school drop-outs among their peers. Students and drop-outs of Edison High School discuss issues of daily concern, such as peer pressure, the desire to earn fast cash, lack of parental involvement, teenage pregnancy and a lack of teacher effectiveness. With so many burdens weighing them down, how do they make a clear-headed decision to school...or not to school?
Woodrock was originally conceived as a summer camp but within a few years began offering year-round programs by partnering with Philadelphia area schools. Today, Woodrock provides direct program services to over 3,000 youth and offers training and technical assistance to a variety of youth programs throughout the Philadelphia region. The non-profit youth agency committed to the elimination of interracial tension and hostility through programs for youths ages 9 to 18, particularly those based in the Kensington and Fishtown sections of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
John Knapich has been a film editor, writer and director for over fifteen years. He has written five screenplays, including two with Thomas Kelly and has edited documentaries for NFL Films, Lifetime and Fox Television where he won an Emmy for daytime children's programming. His feature film directorial debut, Dog's Life , was shot in Philadelphia, PA. Crafty Web surfers can find samples of his work online at You Tube and Google Video.
August 6, 1997 - Brief listing in Philadelphia Weekly
August 8, 1997 - Brief listing in Philadelphia City Paper
August 8, 1997 - Brief listing in Philadelphia Inquirer
August 8, 1997 - Street Movies screening at Village of the Arts & Humanities (Philadelphia, PA)
August 23, 1997 - Street Movies screening at Winchester Community Center (Philadelphia, PA)
Spaces Of The Heart
Posted July 19th, 2007 by GretjenProduced by Courtenay Cannady
This tape tells the story of the James W. Johnson Homes, Philadelphia's first public housing development constructed under the Housing Authority, as seen through the eyes of its 50-year residents and public leaders. The video provides a view of the early days of public housing and the tenant rights movement that arose after the initiative's glory days quickly passed due to bureaucratic neglect.
Courtenay Cannady is a writer, producer and public relations practitioner who develops multimedia materials that foster understanding among diverse peoples.
More Than Property
Posted July 19th, 2007 by GretjenProduced by The United Hands Community Land Trust & Scribe Video Center
Produced by The United Hands Community Land Trust & Scribe Video Center
The United Hands Community Land Trust was a multi-racial home ownership organization in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. The Trust was committed to ensuring permanent, affordable, quality housing primarily for low-income people of color.
The United Hands Community Land Trust has dissolved in the years since the video was completed.
Toni Cade Bambara authored two short story collections, Gorilla, My Love and The Seabirds Are Still Alive; a novel, The Salt Eaters; and a collection of fiction, essays, and conversations, Deep Sightings and Rescue Missions (all of which are available from Vintage Books). A noted documentary filmmaker and screenwriter, Bambara taught writing workshops at Scribe for many years and collaborated on numerous productions. Her film work includes the documentaries "The Bombing of Osage Avenue" and "W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices." She died in 1995.
Chris Emmanoulides is Director of Programming at Banyan Productions where he oversees over 170 episodes of reality-based television programming. He is also co-founder of Parallax Pictures, an independent film and television production company whose focus is on commercial, documentary, and feature filmmaking. He co-produced and photographed The Ad and the Ego, an hour-length documentary on the impact of advertising on contemporary culture, which took first prize in its category at the 40th annual San Francisco International Film Festival in 1997 and is currently in international distribution.
His other films -- including Remains (1993), Suelto! (1989), A Border Crossing (1988) -- have screened at numerous international film festivals including Sundance, AFI and Margaret Mead. Chris is also an advisor on many independent productions and has served on the Advisory Council of the Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association (PIFVA). He continues to work as a cameraman on a select number of independent documentary projects and teaches 16mm production at The Scribe Video Center, a community based media arts center in Philadelphia.
February 5, 1993 - Scoop U.S.A. newspaper, "Premiere of New Community Programs", (brief mention)
October 2001 - Benton Foundation report, "Advocacy Video and Community Organizing"
February 10, 1993 - Premiere screening at International House's neighborhood Film and Video Project (Philadelphia, PA)
May 14, 1994 - 1994 Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema's 9th Annual Festival of Independents (Philadelphia, PA)
August 8, 1997 - Part of Street Movies screening at Village of Arts and Humanities (Philadelphia, PA)