Manhattan Beach resident, Court Crandall has just debuted a documentary he filmed in nearby Compton. Inspired partly by his son, who has played basketball with boys from Compton from a young age, and partly by the sad realization that there are so many lines that divide us as people, Court began a one-man quest to create a line that would bring everyone together. As it worked out, that line is on a basketball court in Compton High School.
Court set out to show a different side of Compton and its people. Through the creation of a basketball free throw shooting competition for a $40,000 college scholarship, eight worthy Compton High School students are given the chance to not only pay for their education, but to tell their stories. What transpires puts the school, the city and one teen at the center of a tale of generosity so profound, it’s covered by news sources around the world and becomes the lead story on Yahoo. By the end of the film, you will have laughed, cried and realized that the values we hold dearest as a country may be best represented in a most unlikely zip code.
Court says: “I raised my children in Manhattan Beach, but I went to Compton to find their role models.”
"Free Throw" headlined the Boston Film Festival this past September. It is now available on iTunes here.
