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Finding and Filming Your Passions
An Interview with Filmmaker Ellen Spiro (Part 2)
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Girl Scouts Beyond Bars is a program that uses the power of Girl Scouting to give girls a family connection with their family member while they are in prison.
Ellen Spiro, along with producer Karen Bernstein, made a movie about the Girl Scout Beyond Bars troop at Girls Scouts—Lone Star Council in Austin, Texas. The movie is called "Troop 1500," and includes on-screen appearances by both the girls and their moms at the Hilltop Prison in Gatesville, Texas. |
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By Brianna S.
In this second part of a two-part interview, Girl Scout Brianna S. from Girl Scouts of Black Hawk Council talks with "Troop 1500" director Ellen Spiro to learn more about the film industry and what it was really like to make a documentary.
How did you find out about the "Troop 1500"?
I met Julia Cuba in 1998 and she told me about the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars Program (see side bar for more info). I knew instantly that I wanted to make the film, but it was not until I started working with producer Karen Bernstein that it started to happen.
What was the role of the members of "Troop 1500" in filming the footage used in the documentary?
The girls interviewed their own moms, wrote their own questions, asked them and shot the interviews. Many of the girls are involved in photography and filmmaking programs through their Girl Scout troops.
Could you give a rough estimate of how many people were involved in the making of this film?
Well, I can't because I do not know who to count. Should I count all the prison guards who smiled at us? The Girl Scouts who supported us? There were hundreds of people who helped us in one way or another.
Was it hard to edit the film? Were there some parts that you cut out that you would have liked to include in the final version?
Editing is very difficult. The hardest part is having to leave out things you love, because they do not help with the story telling.
What equipment did you use to film "Troop 1500"? What equipment would be needed for a girl who wanted to start making simple films on her own?
Girls now have access to the same tools that I used. Mini DV is a great format and it can be broadcast on television! But you need good lighting (outdoors is best or sun coming through a window) and you need good sound (microphones). We were lucky because the library where we shot "Troop 1500" had a big wall of windows. We never had to use artificial light!
What was the most difficult part of making "Troop 1500"?
Watching the girls and moms say goodbye at the prison.
Where was the first showing of the film? What was the reaction of the very first audience? How did it make you feel?
We premiered at SXSW with the girls in the film and some of the moms in attendance. It was a great response and got a standing ovation. The girls were happy, the moms were happy and we were happy. It was a great moment.
What do you want audiences to find in this film?
Compassion for the mothers and the daughters so they might help change a system that punishes people for addiction, which is a mental illness.
If you had the opportunity to have one celebrity/famous person see "Troop 1500" who would you like to watch it and why?
Bill Gates, so he would see the value of this Girl Scout program and possibly put some of his money toward helping mothers in prison get the rehabilitative support they need and not return to jail. That way, more children would not be punished for crimes they did not commit.
Read Part 1
"Troop 1500" was broadcast on PBS's Independent Lens on March 21st. For more information on the film go to www.girlscouts.org. |
