Given all of the shenanigans and despicable activities we have seen destroy the economy, I wouldn't hold it against you if you had a bad opinion of CEOs and businesspeople (especially the ones who walked away from failed companies with multi-million dollar bonuses in their pockets). However, Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon showcases entrepreneurs even Michael Moore would celebrate - high school kids with really great ideas like cake on a stick!
These aren't kids who set up a lemonade stand in front of their house. We're talking about businessmen and businesswomen who created products such as hand lotion, dog treats, advanced football equipment and more in between history class and study hall in an attempt to win $10,000 in the annual Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) competition (including Tatyana Blackwell from Capitol Heights, MD who designs cheerleader uniforms and is working on a special project with the Washington Redskins cheerleaders). However, as we learn from director Mary Mazzio, it's not all about the competition.
In this documentary, Mazzio shows us the efforts of NFTE to teach kids how their traditional education is an important key to their futures by encouraging them to start their own business, create a plan for success, develop the product and sell it. Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon is an undeniable crowd pleaser full of inspirational stories as Mazzio shows us how these kids go to schools where the dropout rate is around 50%, their parents have issues with the law, their neighborhoods are populated by drug dealers, and some of the talented teens have been in foster care. Every possible hurdle has been put in their way, and it might be easy to succumb to the situation, but, as we see in the movie, these kids want to be better and achieve success, and have every ability to make it happen.
I just wish Mazzio and editor Paul Gattuso had structured the movie differently. Instead of a linear tale where all of the kids are introduced, then we see the months and days leading up to the climactic competition in New York, I wish Mazzio focused on 3 or 4 kids, and told their stories as the main competition plays out. We could have been introduced to each entrepreneur as they advanced through the different rounds. This way, the movie would have a natural building tension and, for lack of a better term, a plot.
However, this is a minor complaint, since Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon will win over your heart as these amazing kids blow your mind with their ideas, presentations and entrepreneurial spirit. By the way, you can check out those cakes on a stick at popsycakes.com. I am taking my credit card out of my wallet, so I can buy a box or three!!!!
3 Waffles (Out of 4)
Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon is not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.
These aren't kids who set up a lemonade stand in front of their house. We're talking about businessmen and businesswomen who created products such as hand lotion, dog treats, advanced football equipment and more in between history class and study hall in an attempt to win $10,000 in the annual Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) competition (including Tatyana Blackwell from Capitol Heights, MD who designs cheerleader uniforms and is working on a special project with the Washington Redskins cheerleaders). However, as we learn from director Mary Mazzio, it's not all about the competition.
In this documentary, Mazzio shows us the efforts of NFTE to teach kids how their traditional education is an important key to their futures by encouraging them to start their own business, create a plan for success, develop the product and sell it. Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon is an undeniable crowd pleaser full of inspirational stories as Mazzio shows us how these kids go to schools where the dropout rate is around 50%, their parents have issues with the law, their neighborhoods are populated by drug dealers, and some of the talented teens have been in foster care. Every possible hurdle has been put in their way, and it might be easy to succumb to the situation, but, as we see in the movie, these kids want to be better and achieve success, and have every ability to make it happen.
I just wish Mazzio and editor Paul Gattuso had structured the movie differently. Instead of a linear tale where all of the kids are introduced, then we see the months and days leading up to the climactic competition in New York, I wish Mazzio focused on 3 or 4 kids, and told their stories as the main competition plays out. We could have been introduced to each entrepreneur as they advanced through the different rounds. This way, the movie would have a natural building tension and, for lack of a better term, a plot.
However, this is a minor complaint, since Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon will win over your heart as these amazing kids blow your mind with their ideas, presentations and entrepreneurial spirit. By the way, you can check out those cakes on a stick at popsycakes.com. I am taking my credit card out of my wallet, so I can buy a box or three!!!!
3 Waffles (Out of 4)
Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon is not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.
