Student Interns in for a Treat

Our Stuyvesant student interns are in for a treat this upcoming semester as we prepare for the viewing of the Museum of American Finance Film at the MoAF's Gala Event this upcoming January 2015.

Not only will they learn all about Video Production and Editing, but these students will be able to interact with some of the best in the media industry, while actually producing an very important film for the Museum of American Finance that will be shown in front of many accomplished professionals.

We were able to schedule an introduction to Rob Cowen, President of Cowen Media. Rob has been involved in more than 2500 live and edited sports productions. He has covered the Super Bowl, World Series, Kentucky Derby, U.S Open Golf Championship, Indy 500, and the Olympics. For the past 20 years, Rob has directed Cowen Media and its exemplary production staff through numerous high profile project.

For the students than plan to pursue video production and editing in the future, this will be an incredible opportunity to speak with a man with decades worth of valuable experience.

We are also currently putting together a list of potential interviewees for the film, who will cover our main points in the film of making the Museum of American Finance a must-see physical destination in New York City vs. an afterthought, the importance of financial education, and the significance of donorship in organizations like the MoAF and programs like the Museum Finance Academy.

Film Discussion

Zoe Sexton and I were finally able to have a conference call with two of the key administrators at the Museum of American Finance, David Cowen and Chris Meyers.

David Cowen, who has over 20 years of experience as a trader on Wall Street, including in the foreign exchange groups at Bankers Trust and Deutsche Bank, and is also the founder of Quasar Capital Partners, a macro hedge fund, is the President and CEO of the Museum of American Finance.

Chris Meyers is the Director of Education at the Museum of American Finance, and is responsible for creating, developing and teaching an original curriculum for the museum's financial literacy initiatives, including the Museum Finance Academy. Prior to work at the museum, he was SVP of Trading International Equities and worked for over a decade at several market making firms including the largest specialist firm on the NYSE, Spear, Leads & Kellogg, prior to its acquisition by the Goldman Sachs group.

Both are very accomplished and were a pleasure to speak with.

We discussed the nature of the film which included key points, potential scenes and interviews, structure of film as well as coming up with a number of question to help mold the story arc.

When discussing the key points of the film, we decided that it should focus on the importance of financial literacy in this day and age, and to show how the financial industry is evolving. The Museum of American Finance is one of the only non-profit institutions committed to educating our youth in financial concepts, through its Museum Finance Academy. This program is incredibly important, and any time or donations that are gifted to the Museum are used to promote financial education.

We also discussed a number of potential scenes and interviewees that we would want to include in this project. Considering that the most driving point of the film is financial education among our youth, we have planned to focus more on the Museum Finance Academy, and then to portray the Museum of American Finance as a whole as a resource for the students and the community. This allows us to focus more on the driving point of education, without leaving out the importance of the museum as a whole.

Considering this, we thought to include some of the more interactive activities that the Museum Finance Academy organizes, including lecture footage, visits to the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Reserve Bank of New York. We would also like to show some of the students that are involved in the program, where they come from, as some of these students do not have the best economics circumstances, and show how this museum and its educational programs positively influence these participants. There have also been about 200 students who have participated in the Museum Finance Academy in the past, so we thought it might be a good idea to track down some alumni and see where they are now, how this program has molded their path, and the key values the program taught them. Lastly, there are a number of interviewees, of which we are currently creating an official list. What I can say as of now is that the interviewees will contain a select few of very accomplished financiers, educators, and administrators.

These key ideals will help to mold the film and produce a promising story board that will inspire its audience to take action, and to be a part of the evolution of financial education.

We hope to produce two films during this project, the first being a short, two minute, punchy version of the film, and the second being an 8-10 minute informational film that will go more in depth on how the Museum of American Finance and its Museum Finance Academy makes all the difference among our youth in this day and age.

This concluded our meeting, and we decided that Elka Gould, the film and editing teacher at Stuyvesant High School should meet with David Cowen and Chris Meyers as well, as it would be beneficial to all parties. As we gather more information and continue to produce the story and organize the timeline and schedule of the film, I will continue to keep our audience up to date.

Progression

And with the “ping” of an email, we are getting the ball rolling. Zoe Sexton, the Director of Public Programming for Placer Partners, was able to get into contact with a wide array of highly enjoyable and professional people that that will be assisting Zoe and me on this film project.

We were able to make a proper introduction and have now touched base with our diverse team comprised of Museum Administrators, Visual Artists, and Teachers and Mentors. Everyone is willing and wanting to help, and we hope to produce an educational and informative film that will achieve our objectives of communicating the museum’s mission of financial education, presenting the Museum of American Finance as a physical destination on Wall Street rather than an afterthought, showing the extraordinary work of the museum as well as its Financial Education Center, specifically through the Museum Finance Academy, and to inspire people to take action and become more involved in the Museum.

While I have been working on several different projects, this one in particular is very exciting as it promotes an entity that wants to change the ways in which we educate our youth. In a world where people are becoming more highly educated, yet the majority would still fail any sort of financial assessment or test, it is inspiring that the Museum of American Finance and its donors/contributors are putting in so much work to educate our youth on financial concepts.

I have been researching the Museum of American Finance to become more intimate with their process and how they achieve their goals of financial education, which has led me to start thinking up different scenes and points of interest that may potentially make an appearance in the film. Luckily we have a wide network of highly educated and successful professionals at our whim, which will provide us with many options for content and interview material for the film.

Zoe and I will continue to brainstorm on the film, and are planning a conference call with David Cowen (President and CEO of the Museum of American Finance) and Chris Meyers (Director of Education) to see which resources they can provide, to pin down any expectations of the film we had yet to discuss, and to gather any other ideas they may have for the film. I am very excited to be working with such amazing people, and as we move forward with this project it continues to become even more exciting.

Introductory Blog Post

Hello! This is my first post in a series of posts that will chronicle the film project I am heading with the Museum of American Finance. This project is one of many philanthropic efforts of The Putney Financial Group, in which we try to utilize our creative capital in a positive way to benefit the public good. 

As a Registered Investment Advisory (RIA), we want to promote financial education. One of the best efforts we’ve seen in this field of education has to be through the Museum of American Finance. The Museum of American Finance is the nation's only independent, non-profit museum dedicated to preserving, exhibiting and teaching about American finance and financial history. Housed in an historic bank building on Wall Street, the Museum's magnificent grand mezzanine banking hall provides an ideal setting for the permanent exhibits on the financial markets, money, banking, entrepreneurship and Alexander Hamilton. Financial education is at the core of the Museum's mission, seeking to promote lifelong learning and inquiry.

The MoAF provides a wide array of financial literacy programs to students of all ages, and with particular focus on those who need them most. Through its Title 1 Program, the Museum offers free classes and tours- complete with lunch and subsidized transportation- to schools in many communities. Through its Museum Finance Academy, a free eight-week certificate course, the Museum offers high school students a solid foundation in personal finance along with the change to earn college scholarships. And through its robust high school internship and volunteer program, the Museum offers the students selected opportunities, responsibilities and a support network they simply have never had before. 

To the thousands of children and teens who participate in the Museum’s programs each year, finance education can mean the different between attending college or not; between saving their earnings in a bank account or spending them carelessly; and between living paycheck to paycheck or having a stable financial future.

Throughout the filming process we will follow the incredible work of the Museum of American Finance. Our goals for the film as to community the museum's mission of financial education, present the Museum of American Finance as a physical destination when tourists are visiting Wall St versus being an afterthought, show how the museum's programs have positively impacted hundreds of participants, and to inspire donors to support the work of the Museum of American Finance and its incredible programs.

I am very excited to work with the administrators of the Museum of American Finance, the student interns at Stuyvesant High School who will be editing the film, and the employees of Placer Partners who will help manage this film project.