Was the film supported by the Boy Scouts of America?
JAKE: The Boy Scouts of America Greater New York Councils gave us permission to film at their camps and were very helpful and supportive throughout the process. But the film was made completely independently of the BSA—we financed it and we had complete editorial control.
Do you still keep in touch with the Scouts and Leaders of 759?
JUSTIN: You bet! The first time our film was screened was in Harlem at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture which is part of the New York Public Library system. All of the Scouts and their families were there and so were Ms. Ann and Mr. Sowah and their families. It was a lot of fun—we had a red carpet and a limo for our “stars.” Jake lives in Harlem around the corner from the Church of the Master where 759 meets and sees the guys around the neighborhood every once in awhile. I plan to get up to Camp Keowa this summer when 759 is up there. I want to see how everybody does on their dock test—Keith claims he now swims like Michael Phelps. We will see!
Are you guys Scouts? What is your history with Scouting?
JUSTIN: I grew up in Scouting but Jake never was involved—so it was all new to him. I am an Eagle Scout from Troop 42 in Big Flats, New York and before that I was a Cub Scout. My “Den Mother” back in Ithaca, New York was Mrs. Merrill. Mrs. Merrill’s son is Paul Merrill and we were friends and in Cub Scouts together. Paul is now the Director of the Cornell Jazz Ensemble and he’s the guy who wrote “Camp Barton Blues” the funky-jazzy brass band piece in the film. Paul and I shared a green tent at Camp Barton. I also attended summer camp at Camp Seneca and Camp Gorton. My dad is an Eagle Scout and so is my brother—so it was important in our family.
What was it like shooting this film?
JAKE: We really enjoyed the process-the kids and the leaders were great and we had a lot of fun. It was fairly athletic—we had to chase these guys around. We also spent a fair amount of time shooting some Scouts who were in the Troop, but, for whatever reason, they didn’t go with 759 up to Camp Keowa. It was too bad we couldn’t fit them into the film but it really became about this one week at camp and group that was there.
JUSTIN: We spent over a year shooting and we had a tremendous amount of footage—over 180 hours. Obviously we didn’t use most of it and it takes a long time to cut 180 hours down to 72 minutes—but it was worth all the shooting. We needed to spend a lot of time with the guys to get them comfortable with the camera and the lavalieres and everything else—that way they could just eventually forget about what we were doing and just be themselves.
How can I join Scouting?
JUSTIN: You can visit www.beascout.org and find a Troop or Pack near you. Depending on where you live there may be a lot of Troops and it might make sense to visit a few and find the one that is the best fit.
Are you going to get the film translated into other languages?
JAKE: We are working on the Spanish subtitles right now; French is also planned and we have a few other languages we are looking at. We want to make the film as accessible as possible.
How can I see the film in my area?
JUSTIN: Well, we are not using a traditional theatrical distribution model for the film—which wouldn’t really work for this kind of project even if we managed to find a company interested in distributing it. Instead we are using a “Community Screening Model” that empowers people who like the film to show it in their neighborhoods.
JAKE: So what you can do is host a screening and invite people in your area to check it out. We have a detailed description of how this works . Depending on how you want to run it you can also make the event a fundraiser for your organization.
Feel free to email additional questions here.