About The Documentary
During the 1950s and early ‘60s, the National Basketball Association (NBA) had ten or fewer teams. Roster spots were hard to get, especially for African Americans restricted by the NBA's unwritten quotas. Players who didn’t make the NBA played in the Eastern League for $50-100 a game on weekend nights in small, blue-collar towns like Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazleton. These were some of the best players of their generation who you've never heard about -- until now.
Boxed Out is receiving fiscal sponsorship from the International Documentary Association (IDA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and has been tentatively approved for broadcast on WVIA-TV, the PBS affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Northeastern Pa. For information on how to become an Underwriter for broadcasts on WVIA and other regional PBS stations, or to make a tax-deductible donation to the IDA, use the buttons below.
Boxed Out is
Who We Are
Syl Sobel (Executive Producer/Producer) is an attorney, author, journalist, and former federal
government executive. He has written several children's books on U.S. history and government,including titles on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and presidential elections, and is anaward-winning journalist and contributor to the op ed pages of various newspapers.
Jay Rosenstein (Executive Producer/Producer) was a financial writer and editor for more than 40 years.His accomplishments at the FDIC included creating, writing, and editing a financial
newsletter for consumers for 25 years. He retired in 2020 to pursue his interest in writing books for adults and children.
Sobel & Rosenstein’s book, Boxed Out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League, is the basis for this film.
Ryan Polomski (Producer/Director/Editor) is a documentary and television director, producer,
editor, and film professor living in Los Angeles, CA. His second feature, Raymond Lewis: L.A. Legend, was a Finalist for the prestigious 2022 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. Lewis landed a Special Jury Selection at its premiere at the Pan African Film Festival and won Best Documentary at the San Pedro International Film Festival.
Ted Leonsis (Executive Producer) is the founder, chairman, managing partner, and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), one of the country’s most prominent global sports and entertainment brands. He is the owner of the Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go.
Sheila Johnson (Executive Producer) is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET). She is the only African American woman to have a principal shareholder stake in three professional sports teams: the Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics, for which she serves as governor. She also serves on the board of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Chairman of the College of Performing Arts at The New School, and founder and chair of the Middleburg Film Festival.
Earl Stafford (Executive Producer) is the chairman and CEO of The Stafford Foundation—a faith-based, nonprofit organization that provides services to help underserved people become self-reliant. Stafford also serves as the CEO of The Wentworth Group LLC, a privately held company that provides essential business services and growth investment support to commercial, technology-focused small businesses. He is the former chairman and CEO of UNITECH, a technology solutions company that delivers training programs, simulation technology, and homeland security systems to the federal government He currently serves on the boards of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Horatio Alger Association, and the Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation, and is trustee emeritus of the Wesley Theological Seminary.
Michael Winger (Executive Producer) is the president of Monumental Basketball, overseeing all aspects of operations for the Washington Wizards, Mystics and Capital City Go-Go. Former general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers. Winger has 18 years of experience as an executive across different NBA landscapes including the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers
Patrick Butler (Consultant), Founder and Principal at Patrick Butler Enterprises LLC. He served as president and chief executive officer of America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), after 18 years as senior vice president of The Washington Post
Company, where among other duties he founded and led Newsweek Productions, which produced more than 200 hours of non-fiction programming, including the HealthWeek series that ran on public television for five years and Watergate Plus 30: Shadow of History, which won the Emmy Award for Best Documentary of 2003. He also served as Washington vice president of Times Mirror, the corporate parent of the Los Angeles Times, and was a founder of the Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press, which now operates as the Pew Research Center.
Karlynn Parker (Story Producer/Consultant, Archival Producer) is a writer, producer, and journalist based out of Los Angeles,CA crafting visual stories across music, branded content and digital platforms including Pinterest and NPR tiny desk. Her focus is on culture-driven and socially impactful work. She sits on the board of Whole & Seen, a non profit which hosts LA Homecoming a fundraising event dedicated to bringing HBCU culture to Los Angeles while raising funds for scholarship and mentor opportunities for Black students.
Susanne Mason (Archival Producer) an independent documentary filmmaker and a freelance archive producer. Her films focus on social policy issues through stories about the environment, the justice system, and prisons. Her film Barton Springs Uprising (2006) was commissioned by the Save Our Springs Alliance to revisit the famous city council meeting in Austin in 1990 that coalesced a community-wide effort to protect the Edwards Aquifer and its springs. "Writ Writer" is available from New Day Films, and can be streamed on Kanopy through your local library.
Samuel Moskowitz (Cinematographer) has worked on shows including The Fosters, American Dream Builders, and Grown. His L.A-based production company BLL Films specializes in media and digital marketing for companies such as The Desire Company, Netflix, Harper’s Bazaar, the Skimm, Elle, and more.
John Webb (Editor) a film and television editor, director, and producer known for his work across independent films, documentaries, and reality television. He has contributed to a wide range of projects, building experience in both scripted and unscripted storytelling. His editing credits include television series such as Storage Wars, Ax Men, Food Paradise, and Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch, along with independent projects like Exposé and The Chronicles of Mercury: Episode 1. Webb has also directed films including Vampire Clan and the award-winning short Goiterboy.
Behind-The-Scenes
