Waiting for Superman (2010)

Director:

Davis Guggenheim

Writers (WGA):

Davis Guggenheim (written by) &
Billy Kimball (written by)

Release Date:

26 November 2010 (Ireland)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The fate of our country won't be decided on a battlefield, it will be determined in a classroom.

Plot:

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education "statistics" have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca...

Plot Keywords:

Education | Redwood City California | California | Los Angeles California | Girl

Awards:

10 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

The Black Family	...	Themselves
Geoffrey Canada	...	Himself
The Esparza Family	...	Themselves
The Hill Family	...	Themselves
George Reeves	...	Superman (archive footage)
Michelle Rhee	...	Herself
Bill Strickland	...	Himself
Randi Weingarten	...	Herself

Directed by
Davis Guggenheim

Writing credits (WGA)
Davis Guggenheim		(written by) &
Billy Kimball		(written by)

Produced by
Michael Birtel	....	producer
Lesley Chilcott	....	producer
Eliza Hindmarch	....	co-producer
Michelle Katz	....	field producer
Jeff Skoll	....	executive producer
Shari Tavey	....	line producer
Diane Weyermann	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Christophe Beck

Cinematography by
Robert Richman
Erich Roland

Film Editing by
Jay Cassidy
Greg Finton
Kim Roberts

Production Management
Don Coppola	....	production supervisor
Trevor Herrick	....	production supervisor
Susan E. Novick	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lesley Chilcott	....	second unit director

Sound Department
Phil Barrie	....	sound effects editor
Gerald Beg	....	sound mixer
John Bentley	....	sound mixer
Brian Buckley	....	sound mixer
James Castro	....	sound mixer
Stan Chan	....	sound mixer
Joel Dougherty	....	sound effects editor
Nathan Dubin	....	voice over sound mixer
Julius Evans	....	sound mixer
Chuck Fitzpatrick	....	sound mixer
Richard Fleming	....	sound mixer
Dan Gleich	....	sound mixer
David Hocs	....	sound mixer
Skip Lievsay	....	sound re-recording mixer
Skip Lievsay	....	supervising sound editor
Peter Miller	....	sound mixer
Lincoln Morrison	....	sound mixer
Eddie O'Connor	....	sound mixer (as Eddie O'Conner)
Brian C. Peterson	....	sound mixer
Glen Piegari	....	sound mixer
Mike Primmer	....	sound mixer
Theresa Radka	....	sound mixer
Brenda Ray	....	sound mixer
Chris Ripper	....	sound mixer
Paul Rusnak	....	sound mixer
Hilary Stewart	....	sound mixer
Seth Talley	....	sound mixer
Charles Tomaras	....	sound mixer
Paul Trautman	....	sound mixer
Byron Wilson	....	dialogue editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Eli Born	....	camera operator
Jac Cheairs	....	camera operator
Lesley Chilcott	....	camera operator
Steve Condiotti	....	camera operator
Jay Feather	....	camera operator
Doug Gritzmacher	....	camera operator
Davis Guggenheim	....	camera operator
Owen Hooker	....	gaffer
Ronan Killeen	....	camera operator
David Layton	....	camera operator
Ernesto Lomeli	....	camera operator
Vic Losick	....	camera operator
Nick Paige	....	director of photography: second unit
John Paulson	....	camera operator
John M. Roche	....	gaffer
Guido Ronge	....	camera operator
Jonathan Schell	....	camera operator
Logan Schneider	....	camera operator
Joia Speciale	....	camera operator
George Tur	....	camera operator
Mark Walpole	....	camera operator
Brett Wiley	....	camera operator

Animation Department
Jordan Bruner	....	animator
Sean Donnelly	....	animation director
Awesome and Modest	....	animator

Editorial Department
Mike Azevedo	....	first assistant editor
J. Cody Baker	....	digital intermediate assistant
Gilbert Carreras	....	color timer
Salvatore Catanzaro	....	on-line editor
Sam Citron	....	additional editing
Dan Goslee	....	digital intermediate assistant
Annie Johnson	....	digital intermediate producer
Stephen Nakamura	....	digital film colorist
Alexander B. Rubinow	....	second assistant editor
Jason Sikora	....	editor: main title (uncredited)

Music Department
John Houlihan	....	music supervisor
Matthew Janszen	....	score coordinator
Paul Katz	....	music consultant
John Legend	....	Writer and Performer of "Shine"
Jake Monaco	....	music scoring mixer
Orr Rebhun	....	music editor (as Orr Ravhon)
Erica Weis	....	music editor

Other crew
Steve Berman	....	completion bond
Sebastien Betsch	....	digital cinema supervisor
Susan Bliss	....	post script services
Rochelle Brown	....	intern
Lisa Callif	....	legal counsel
Shannon Costello	....	rights and clearances
Michael Donaldson	....	legal counsel
Kimberly Edwards	....	production accountant
Ryan Gallagher	....	researcher
Carrie Gay	....	production assistant
Cody Heller	....	assistant to director
Samantha Kerzner	....	assistant to davis guggenheim
Samantha Kerzner	....	assistant to director
Chris Ruscillo	....	production assistant
Heather Tinnerstet	....	production coordinator
David Vogel	....	set production assistant: Washington D.C.
Garson Yu	....	main titles

Thanks
Chris Kirk	....	special thanks
Adam Ohl	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Electric Kinney Films
• Participant Media
• Walden Media

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures Entertainment (2010) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (2010) (UK) (theatrical)
• Paramount Vantage (2010) (USA) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Paramount Vantage (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2011) (Argentina) (all media)

Special Effects

• Method Studios

Other Companies

• Company 3  digital intermediate
• Digital Media Services (DMS)  digital marketing asset management
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Eye2Ear Music  music consultant
• Klass Security and Investigations  screening services
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack
• Mindbomb Films  titles
• Momentous Insurance Brokerage  insurance
• Participant Media  funding
• Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging  post production services
• yU+Co.  title design and animation

Also Known As:

"Waiting for 'Superman'" - USA
"Esperando a Superman" - Argentina (imdb display title), Spain (imdb display title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some thematic material, mild language and incidental smoking

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #46095) | Canada:G (British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario/Quebec) | UK:PG | Ireland:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Alberta) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

118th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Electric Kinney Films

Quotes:

Geoffrey Canada:One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman did not exist.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beyond the Blackboard (2011) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Wake Up Everybody

Repetitious and not that shocking at points, but the build up of the film's five case studies is powerful.

Waiting for 'Superman' is a documentary from Davis Guggenheim, the director of 2006's An Inconvenient Truth, that examines the faults and labyrinthine bureaucratics of America's educational government, a government more interested in protecting the jobs and pay salaries of lazy educators in public schools, rather than properly educating the average child.

The film isn't all that shocking. I admire the format, and the presentation of the film, but problems with the education of American children have been a highly publicized matter, especially a few of the points of which Guggenheim presents. At times it even feels like he's stating the obvious, and even repetitious in regards to sub-par school houses he points fingers at.

But the film's strongest impact comes from the case studies of five children, who show strong potential, but their parents struggle to set them up with the necessary education, placing them at the mercy of lotteries that determines the lucky few who get to attend successful charter schools. Their build-up is near impeccable, leading up to the film's emotionally powerful third act. A third act that, afterwards, is complimented perfectly by "Shine", a beautiful end credits song by John Legend, and overall one of the film year's very best original songs.

It isn't perfect, but I'm gonna give Waiting for 'Superman' *** out of ****