Education Documentary Draws 40,000 Pledges

Education Documentary Draws 40,000 Pledges

By Steve Pond

Published: August 23, 2010 @ 3:46 pm

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More than 40,000 people have signed an online pledge to see Davis Guggenheim’s “Waiting for ‘Superman,’” a documentary about public education that is using a “Pledge Progress Meter” to raise awareness for the film.

The 40,000 level also triggered a contribution from OfficeMax, which will give $1,000 each in school supplies to 40 more teachers across the country as part of its “A Day Made Better” program.

If the number of pledges reaches 50,000 and 60,000, additional donations will be made by First Book and by Houghton Mifflin. The film’s ultimate goal is 250,000 pledges.

The film, directed by Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth,” “It Must Get Loud”), will be released by Paramount Vantage in Los Angeles and New York on September 24, and nationwide in October. It has already screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the Seattle Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for documentaries.

In a review after Sundance, Scott Weinberg atCinematical termed the film “equal parts sickening, fascinating, and inspiring.”

The 40,000 pledge mark was announced on Monday by Paramount Pictures, Participant Media and Walden Media.

Information about the film, and about taking the pledge, is available at the “Waiting for ‘Superman’” website.