KNEE DEEP

Documentary | 2004 | 30 mins | view clip

Producers-Directors
Ann Tegnell and Sharon Mullally

“Everything you pour down the storm drains end up in the water supply. And the only way to find out is to check the rivers and streams that empty into the Schuylkill where we eventually get our water.”
– Ed Chun, retired chemist

Through the bitter cold of winter and into a vibrant fall, KNEE DEEP follows volunteers from the Center in the Park Senior Environment Corps of Germantown, Philadelphia. They include a retired bus driver, an amateur paleontologist, ex-teachers, lab technicians, and a Harvard-trained chemist who have all taken on the task of sampling and testing water of regional creeks. When the Corps finds evidence of untreated sewage in the Monoshone Creek, the question arises, ‘How do you get the attention of agencies that can change the situation?’ New political alignments and persistence result in the Philadelphia Water Department investing significant resources to improve the watershed. The generation of long-term data that supports changes in the management of water and waste, combined with a commitment to educating children and communities about the urban environment, is the joyful legacy of the Center in the Park Senior Environment Corps. Not ready to ‘retire’, it is a population – and an audience – that is growing and looking for media that speaks to their concerns.

“I frankly can’t see our little group changing the world. We can’t. We’re trying to change the people around us, so they know it’s important to let the waterways live.”
– Frances Williams, retired medical technician

“It’s great to meet people that have knowledge upon knowledge upon knowledge and just get to work with them. I don’t think age, you know, is that big of a barrier with things like this. We’re coming together for a common cause.”
– Sam Goldman, Wyncote Academy Student

“I’d like to show that our group is making a real impression on society, the community, and the way people look at the environment. That people recognize that big things can come from little groups.”
– Fred Lewis, retired manager

“At the age I am now I’m going to run out of time. That’s going to become a scarce thing for me. I would like to use my time well and leave something of my special interests behind. And it would be very satisfying to see things a little better than they would have been if I hadn’t had a chance to be involved.”
– Sarah West, retired teacher

“We spied a clot of seniors tromping through calf-high snow along Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Creek and thought, ‘What are these people up to?’ We discovered their whimsy and fight, AND the significant environmental impact they are making in our community. One of the most satisfying results of creating KNEE DEEP has been to watch folks emerge from a screening determined to volunteer and make a difference in their own communities. KNEE DEEP, and the Center in the Park Senior Environment Corps, has a remarkable empowering effect.”
– Ann Tegnell and Sharon Mullally, producer/directors

Selected Awards & Screenings
Emmy Award – nominated in the Documentary category
Telly Award – local broadcast television

Broadcast
Philadelphia Stories a project of WYBE-TV35
National PBS Broadcast – American Public Television Exchange Program, WHYY presenting station
Regional Broadcasts in over 75 markets nationwide

2006 PWD Update on the Monoshone Creek

Resources

KNEE DEEP Credits
This program was funded in part
by a grant from
Philadelphia Stories
a project of WYBE-TV35 Philadelphia
and from
The Leeway Foundation

produced and directed by
Ann Tegnell and Sharon Mullally

director of photography
Tom Upton
BetaWorks Video Co.

editor
Ann Tegnell

motion graphics
Andrea Bitai
and Stefanie Sixt

music composition
John Avarese
Benji Bakshi – cello
Tim Garton – clarinet
Ana Tsinadze – viola

post production facilities
Hall Media Productions, Inc.
Shared Vision Productions

location sound recording
Steve Sterling

production assistants
Michael Attie
Kathryn Cates
Angela Hanna
Romanze Boyd

archive material
Lorraine Brown
Hal Krieger
Germantown Historical Society
Philadelphia Water Department

Center in the Park Senior Environment Corps
Susan B. Phillips – Program Coordinator
Frederick Lewis – Volunteer Coordinator
Johnnie Henderson – Education Coordinator
and Americorps*VISTA Member

Chestnut Hill College
Dr. Robert Meyer
Dr. William Miller

Wyncote Academy
Karl J. Hittinger – Head of School
Albert Ciccarone

Robert Fulton Elementary School
Diane Branch-Jones – Principal

Friends of the Monoshone

Philadelphia Water Department
David Katz – Deputy Commissioner
Ed Grusheski
Joan Przybylowicz
Jeff Twardzik
David Weld

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

Historic Rittenhouse Town

PA Coastal Zone Management Program

Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement

special thanks to
All Center in the Park Volunteers
and Senior Environment Corps Members
and to
Anna Cunnyngham
Maureen Hall
Fred Lewis
Susan B. Phillips
Don Sapatkin
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Ernest Tedino
Gail Tomlinson
Sarah West

KNEE DEEP is available for home use
on DVD or VHS for $24 including postage

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©2004 extendedPLAY inc.