Comments (0) Best New Locally Produced Documentary - 2001

Scouts' Honor by Tom Shepard

Tom Shepard's look at the Boy Scouts' gay ban, and how one straight, Bay Area Eagle Scout and his family organized to protest the policy, won this year's Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, along with the special Freedom of Expression Award. Shepard, 32, is a Stanford graduate and lives in San Francisco's Mission District. Scouts' Honor was his directorial debut. It will headline the season premiere of PBS's P.O.V. documentary series on June 19. Feature film director Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester) has expressed interest in putting the story of Petaluma Eagle Scout Steven Cozza and his family on the big screen. Shepard plans to take Scouts' Honor on the road and show it at community screenings at city halls, school boards, and scout troop meetings in small towns across America, as a vehicle for social change.