Lovely backers! Just a little update to brighten your day. Happy Spring!

Film Independent's Documentary Lab

Top Spin was recently selected to be part of Film Independent's Documentary Lab, an 8-week long program designed to help filmmakers in post-production on their projects. Film Independent is the organization that puts on the LA Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards (basically the Oscars for independent film!). We've had so many talented filmmakers offer advice and share insights, but the most exciting part is coming up next week!

On Monday, we will be showing our first-ever rough cut to our mentor, Doug Blush and getting feedback from him and the rest of the Lab Fellows. Doug most recently edited The Invisible War, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary this year, so we know we are in good hands!!!

After working on this film for almost two years, it's humbling to see how much we've learned and grown. And we are constantly reminded of your generosity, support, and belief in us and this project. For that, we are eternally grateful. The finish line is near - thank you for sticking with us til the bitter end!

And lastly...

Please Support Our Consulting Producer's Latest Project

Jamie Meltzer, our former professor at Stanford and one of Top Spin's Consulting Producers, recently launched a Kickstarter for his latest film! Freedom Fighters is about a group of exonerated men on a mission to free innocent men still behind bars. A powerful story worthy of your attention. They have just 8 days left and are still shy of their goal, and could use a little love!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/936372184/freedom-fighters-documentary-film

Much love,
Mina, Sara & Yen

Happy Lunar New Year!

So far 2013 and the Year of the Snake is off to a fantastic start for us. We're not able to share some great news just yet, but we will very soon as the next few months shape up to be an exciting time for Top Spin. (Oh, the suspense!)

In the meantime, we have a little clip all you diehard table tennis fans won't want to miss! One of the biggest table tennis stars in the world (we're talking like the "Roger Federer" or "Mick Jagger" of table tennis), TIMO BOLL, recently headlined an event at the newly opened SPiN Standard in Downtown Los Angeles and we were there to capture it, not to mention snag an exclusive interview with him!

Here is a fun recap of the night's festivities!

Timo relaxing during our interview...

...he's also one of the nicest people ever!

Hope you enjoyed our Timo adventure. You'll be hearing from us again soon, so please stay tuned!

Much love,
Mina, Sara & Yen

Happy Holidays to all of our wonderful and generous supporters! 

We want to send a huge congratulations to all the players who worked hard during the U.S. National Championships this past week.  We are very proud of the 2012 champions Tim Wang & Lily Zhang, and especially grateful to Ariel & Lily for giving us another RIVETING final!!

And as we reflect on the past year, we are still so grateful and humbled by all the support you have given us. We are beginning 2013 with a vigorous editing retreat and cannot wait to share the film with you. Stay tuned for a sneak peak in January!

Wishing you all a joyful New Year!

Mina, Sara & Yen 

Hello lovely Top Spin backers,

Since we haven't posted in awhile AND because of some great news recently, we thought now was a perfect time for an update!

TOP SPIN IS A DOCUMENTARY PITCH COMPETITION FINALIST!

We recently found out we are one of five finalists for The Paley Center for Media's Documentary Pitch Competition held during PaleyDocFest!!! This Saturday, we'll get the opportunity to pitch our film to experts from POV/PBS, A&E, MTV and a live studio audience. The winner also walks away with a $5,000 grant!

Here's the best part, if you're in the NYC area, you can come cheer us on in person! Paley is giving us discounted tickets ($10) for the event. More info below!

Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 2:00pm
The Paley Center for Media
25 West 52nd Street, New York, NY
*To buy $10 tickets, click here and enter the code: PALEYDOCS

UPDATES ON ARIEL, MICHAEL AND LILY

But that's not all! We're not the only ones with exciting news to share. Check out what extraordinary things our subjects have been up to!

• Ariel challenged Matthew Perry to a game of ping pong on The Ellen DeGeneres Show! Though the former Friends star had no chance against Ariel, he wasn't half bad.

• Michael lands on the cover of his own corn flakes cereal box! WHAT?! Not too shabby for a freshman at NYU.

• Lily received a proclamation from the city of Palo Alto for her accomplishments and achievements! We have to remind you, she's only 16-years-old.

That's it for this update. Hope everyone out there is enjoying the fall. We'll keep you posted as more things develop!

Thanks, again, for all your incredible support!

Love,
Mina, Sara & Yen

Hello wonderful backers!

Just a wee update to bring you some exciting news... 

SXSW PANEL ON PING PONG

Top Spin's been invited to be part of a South by Southwest (SXSW) panel by our good friends at ping pong clothing brand Thompson Punke and NYC design agency Red Antler! We'll talk branding, subcultures and of course, PING PONG.

For those who aren't familiar with SXSW, it's an awesome festival out of Austin, TX featuring the best in film, music and interactive content. But in order to make this panel happen, we need your votes! It's super quick to create an account, so please show us some love and vote before August 31!

TOP SPIN FEATURED IN THE LEF FOUNDATION BLOG

The LEF Foundation, a great organization that supports New England and California filmmakers, recently profiled our Kickstarter campaign. Check it out here! (Big thanks to Nellie Kluz!)

HELP OUT MINA

This isn't quite Top Spin related, but we wouldn't be including it unless it was important! Mina's latest short documentary about two deaf and Korean teenagers, Making Noise in Silence, is in the running for Mnet's Short Notice Audience Award. Unfortunately, she's pretty behind and trailing her opponent by more than a few cheeseballs. Help her save face and please vote by logging into Facebook and clicking the "like" button at the bottom of the page.

Thanks so much, everybody! Until next time!

Mina, Sara & Yen