{"id":38631,"date":"2015-10-16T09:51:28","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T13:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=38631"},"modified":"2024-07-29T11:49:30","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T15:49:30","slug":"woodlawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2015\/10\/16\/woodlawn\/","title":{"rendered":"Woodlawn"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joe<\/a>

Wright State graduate Joe Knopp ’00 helped produce \u201cWoodlawn,\u201d an inspirational feature film about overcoming racial divisions. (Photos by Will Jones)<\/p><\/div>\n

When he was only 7 years old, Joe Knopp and his two sisters were trying to survive on the streets of Philadelphia. On Sundays, the three would slip into a nearby church for free doughnuts and orange juice. They would grow up in orphanages.<\/p>\n

But that tough start in life didn\u2019t slow Knopp down. He would go on to join the Air Force, get his finance degree from Wright State University and run his own financial planning business.<\/p>\n

And now there is Hollywood.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old Knopp is a producer on the feature film \u201cWoodlawn,\u201d an inspirational true-life tale of overcoming racial divisions on an Alabama high school football team. “Woodlawn,” which stars actors Jon Voight and Sean Astin, is scheduled to open Oct. 16 in theaters around the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story just has this relevant timing to where we\u2019re at today,\u201d said Knopp. \u201cIt\u2019s this idea that government and other people try to step into the big issues like race, but sometimes it\u2019s just people in the community that step up and try to help, one relationship at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knopp\u2019s own life is no less inspiring. But he says his days in an orphanage served as a launching pad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t know what to do with me and my sisters when we were teenagers, so they decided to teach us life skills,\u201d he said. \u201cThey made an apartment for us and made us work through high school, pay some rent, buy some groceries. They prepared us for the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/a>

Joe Knopp grew up in orphanages, served as an X-ray technician at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in finance from Wright State.<\/p><\/div>\n

After graduating from high school, Knopp enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, but didn\u2019t even have enough money to pay parking during freshman orientation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was overwhelmed with how to afford food and living,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So in 1993, Knopp enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, where he worked as an X-ray technician. After getting an associate degree at Sinclair Community College, he enrolled at Wright State, where he got a bachelor\u2019s degree in finance<\/a> in 2000.<\/p>\n

Knopp began working as a financial planner in hopes of helping people manage their finances. But he became disillusioned because the job largely entailed selling insurance and financial products. So he launched his own financial planning company.<\/p>\n

Then a few years ago, a high school friend who worked in film production at Warner Brothers approached Knopp about helping make movies that were high quality family films with an element of religious faith.<\/p>\n

Knopp was brought on board for his business experience, hired as an in-house producer. He helped with many aspects of the production company and was primarily responsible for the finance and marketing teams.<\/p>\n

In recent months, Knopp has been on the road five days a week, meeting in different cities with members of the media as well as local pastors and ministry leaders to try to create a \u201cbuzz\u201d about “Woodlawn.”<\/p>\n

The film is based on the true story of the integration of Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama, in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n

The idea for “Woodlawn” was born when the film\u2019s directors \u2014 Jon and Andy Erwin \u2014 decided to make a movie about their father, who became the volunteer sports chaplain at Woodlawn. The chaplain, played by Astin, helped bridge the racial divisions on the football team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was this bigger-than-life story the Erwin brothers always hoped they could some day turn into a movie,\u201d said Knopp.<\/p>\n

He said that when he finally saw the finished product, it was a bit surreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time, it didn\u2019t look like a project,\u201d he said. \u201cI had this perfect-storm moment of, \u2018This is real.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Knopp said “Woodlawn” is an effort to create an inspiring, historically accurate film without the profanity, sex and violence so often prevalent in Hollywood productions.<\/p>\n

He said the film focuses on how a star African-American player is able to overcome a hostile racial environment and his own isolation to lift the whole team and then go on to excel at the college and professional levels. Knopp believes the movie will resonate with many young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of teenagers and college students today are trying to find their way in life,\u201d he said. \u201cInside, you feel lost and confused and lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knopp hopes that “Woodlawn” teaches young people the virtue of thinking for themselves, making the right decisions and not just falling into lockstep with prevailing attitudes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the movie gives the country hope \u2014 a reminder that we have a lot of great young folks and if they can be reminded of their influence going forward, they have the power to change things that need changed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Watch the “Woodlawn” trailer >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State graduate Joe Knopp ’00 helped produce \u201cWoodlawn,\u201d an inspirational feature film about overcoming racial divisions. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":38634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4299,2037,748,4906,725,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-profile","category-arts-scene","category-business","category-finance-accountancy-management-information-systems-and-economics","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38631"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152256,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38631\/revisions\/152256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}