It's not often you get a rule book included with a DVD purchase; I think the last time I remember that happening were David Lynch's notes for unraveling Mullholland Dr. (which didn't help a damn bit, by the way). But that's just one of the value-added features of New York Street Games, a half-documentary/half-call to action that challenges viewers to get off their couches, rally the neighbors and the kids, and get that stoopball game going you've always dreamed of.
Or maybe you're a stickball enthusiast. Boxball? Ringoleavio? Skully? Those and about a half-dozen other games and pastimes are revisited through the perspectives of celebrities who played them growing up (Whoopi Goldberg, Regis Philbin, Ray Romano, Joe Pantoliano), advice from average folks who have elevated the games to something of a modern leisure science, and counsel from the likes of C. Everett Koop, the Brooklyn-raised ex-surgeon general who advocates street games as a throwback to counteract the scourge of youth obesity. There's something for everyone, really -- all part of Levy's master plan, as the filmmaker implied to Movieline this week.
This made me want to get a stoopball game together, but I feel like I'd get arrested. Times have really changed!
I know! It would turn heads. "What the hell is this guy doing?"
It's Memorial Day weekend, though! Summer is upon us. Are any of these games diversions of yours?
I have a bunch of Spaldeens [i.e. high-bounce rubber balls] at the house. Every once in a while I'll go outside and play stickball with some friends up against the wall of my house. I live out here in California, now, though. I'm in L.A. Most of the schoolyards are locked out here; all the fences are locked. You've got to find a place with a wall you can paint the box on, you know?
You've got to evangelize! Which I guess brings me to the documentary: Did you know there were still pockets of activity with these games going into the film?
Yeah, I knew going into it. Obviously, I knew about the New York Emperors stickball League. I knew about the guys up in Harlem -- all the Spanish guys. When I lived in New York, I would still play stickball also. What I was surprised about -- what really shocked me the most -- was finding the stoopball league in Wisconsin. That was bizarre. When I flew out there to film them, I mean... excuse my French for second, but it was the middle of f*cking nowhere. It was Field of Dreams! This guy just built this whole stoopball field. Just bizarre. But yeah, I knew about the celebrity game that gets played every year that Curtis Sliwa is involved with and the mayors involved with.
What compelled you to make a film about street games in the first place?
Look, I grew up in the Bronx. My childhood was full of all these memories, and maybe a couple years after me was the cutoff of kids not playing anymore naturally. It's funny. I was sitting down with my buddy one day, and we were talking about our childhoods, like we always do, and we started mentioning all the games. And I said, "You know what? This would make a phenomenal documentary." I started shooting in 2005 and started talking to people, and I remembered all the games and I thought, "I want to show people how great these games used to be, and how kids used to have fun."
And then there's the other side of making this film, which is that kids don't do these things anymore. There's so much lack of social skill because of computerization, and there are obesity problems in the country. So this just makes a compelling story. I wanted to share my childhood, because I know if I talk to any New Yorker my age or older -- from any of the five boroughs -- the thread that runs through all our stories is that we all played street games as a kid. And we all played the same street games; they just had different variations based on the block you lived on or different neighborhoods.
Before I got involved with my partner, I did a trailer to raise money. I talked to Curtis Sliwa and Robert Klein, people I knew through contacts in the entertainment industry. Then in 2006 and 2007, when I partnered up with Ron Guttman and Craig Lifschutz, my producing partners, every celebrity I approached was interested in doing the film because they were so passionate about their childhood and all the games. So it's like everyone I asked -- if they were in town and I could shoot them, or I could travel to them if they weren't busy -- they were more than happy to give me the time to talk to them.
Beyond the games themselves, you make a pretty strong case for turning off the computer and the TV and getting outside. How much did you consider this project an advocacy tool as much as a history?
As a filmmaker making a documentary, I didn't want to be Michael Moore. I didn't want to skew the facts. Don't get me wrong: I think he's a fantastic filmmaker. But I wanted to be as truthful as possible without putting my stamp and my opinion on the film. So I wanted to obviously tackle the topic of kids today; the last 10 or 15 minutes of the movie are about getting your kids out to play. But before I can do that, I have to show how pure it was -- how beautiful is was for kids to play naturally. I wanted to make the point, so when people leave, they're talking about the film. Let's talk about the problems today! Let them discover on their own what they've got to do versus me telling them, "You gotta do this, you gotta do that." Let people think for themselves. If they find things they want to get their kids involved with, then that's great. I can't change people's decisions; I just wanted to put the facts out there. There's a problem with modern times.
And more than advocacy or history, it's practical. The DVD comes with a rule book. Was that part of your plan all along?
Yes. We just wanted to make this as simple as possible for people who want to make a difference in this world with their children. We wanted to give them a simple rulebook -- it's not every single rule to every single game, but it's the most popular game. A parent could take five or six kids to the park, teach them the game, then leave them alone. It's not devised for "playdates." It's devised for parents to teach kids and let them figure it out for themselves. That's the beauty of these games -- of all street games, really: You can figure them out as you go along.