By Natalia Bogolasky 
Huge cuts in California’s education budget affects every area of school. That includes sports, a space where less formal – yet sometimes more pivotal – lessons are taught.
At Mark Keppel High in Alhambra, an L.A. suburb with a predominant Asian population, funding for badminton has been slashed and is in danger of being eliminated – even though its players form one of the school’s most successful teams, winning 10 state championships.
For many among the student body, which is 70 percent Asian, it’s not only a loss of athletics, but also a cultural link to their ethnic background. Some also feel physically more comfortable playing the racket sport (“They are too short to play basketball and too skinny to play football,” one father of a team member said.)
This is a video story of what could be the last days of high school badminton in California, and the fight led by students and their parents to revoke an official decision.
I will produce a five to six-minute audiovisual piece. I calculate that it will need around 40 hours of work between the production, interview and shooting stages, followed by editing and postproduction.
The story will be mostly told by the main characters so detailed interviews in different locations – especially on the badminton field – will be required to cover different angles. Other information, for example, details on budget cuts, the educational financial crisis and the percentages of the immigrant population in the city of Alhambra will be added with graphics and numbers on the screen.
The storytelling style will be playful and rhythmic, like a good badminton match, and it's my hope to portray the spirit of those competing and fighting for their favorite sport.
