A rare inside portrait of the owners and players of the open air street chess tables in downtown San Francisco.

Shot by journalist Krisztian K. Orban in 2008, the project lay dormant for a year due to Kris' travels and other projects. Same for me. Kris wanted to abandon the project at one point, feeling there was not enough material to reach an hour long piece, much like our previous project concerning the aftermath of the 33-day Israel/Hezbollah conflict in 2006. I agreed with him, but felt a shorter length had potential and would be just fine. I edited this and presented it to him and he liked it.

The shooting was free form and basically unplanned, without a script, hanging with the regulars, acquiring interviews and b-roll for several days over a number of weeks. Hesitant at first, the players eventually became comfortable with Kris and opened up to him, knowing he wanted to hear their stories and experiences operating outdoors on Mission Street day in and day out, rain or shine, trying to make some kind of a living.

Like our first documentary, we share writing and directing credits, but Kris conceived of the project and did all the shooting, and I came in afterwards to help shape it with him into a narrative.

Postscript: I tried to get DVD copies to some of the players in the documentary, but a year and a half later I recognized no one at the tables, though the operation continues, apparently with a whole new crew.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of Hector, Dave, or any of the others who were there when Kris interviewed them, please let us know.