The Park That Kids Built

Released in 1981, the original film, The Park That Kids Built is a transformative documentary of urban renewal. The film is set in South Los Angeles and depicts how two teachers, their fifth and sixth grade students, and the community turned a vacant lot filled with abandoned cars and trash into Estrella Park. This 19-minute documentary highlights the students' and community's campaign to raise funds from local business leaders and obtain a matching grant from a Community Foundation. It demonstrates how volunteers, community labor, donated materials and children's enthusiasm can revitalize a neighborhood.



Twenty-eight years later, we have the extraordinary opportunity to revisit the still-thriving park and the now rehabilitated neighborhood; meet the children, now grown, and their teachers. We will learn how their lives and career paths were meaningfully changed by their extraordinary success 28 years earlier. The Park That Kids Built...28 Years Later is in the vane of the documentary series "7-Up." It will use the original footage; and add new, follow-up footage to tell a larger story and have a run-time of 45 minutes.