Under the Boardwalk - A Monopoly Documentary

The 1973 Monopoly World Champion Trophy

Filming Updates & MONOPOLY News

October 17, 2008 - I have just crossed the border back into the United States from Vancouver, Canada. Today, Leon Vandendooren was on hand to compete in the finals of the "McDonalds MONOPOLY Media Challenge for Charity," a special MONOPOLY tournament to kick-off the MONOPOLY at McDonalds promotion in Canada. They invited 20 local media personalities to compete and the winner received $10,000 for the charity of his/her choice. Phil Orbanes was also flown to officiate the event. I got a lot of great footage and look forward to filming Leon in action at the 2009 Canada MONOPOLY Championship in Montreal in May 2009.

September 17, 2008 - The MONOPOLY Documentary is going global. A month from today we'll be filming in Vancouver, Canada at a McDonalds/MONOPOLY charity tournament featuring defending Canadian MONOPOLY Champion Leon Vandendooren playing in the finals and being judged by none other than Phil Orbanes. The tournament will be played by local media personalities.

August 11, 2008 - Today Jordan and I had the privilege of filming with Lee Bayrd, the very first World MONOPOLY Champion. Lee, representing the Western US, won over two other US Reps and a European Rep to become the 1973 World MONOPOLY Champion. He also competed at the 1977 World Championship and still competes at tournaments every now and again.

We also filmed with Mark Bell, a middle school teacher who based on your response to his asking of "What's your favorite Monopoly?", he will make certain assumptions regarding your knowledge of the game and will adjust his strategy accordingly.

August 6, 2008 - For those of you who are in the United Kingdom, registration has begun for the UK Regional MONOPOLY Championships. They start as soon as 16 August, so don't hesitate to sign up today! You can register at UKChampionships.Monopoly.com.

July 28, 2008 - Today I had the privilege of shooting with Randolph P. Barton (Ranny) in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. He had some great stories of how the MONOPOLY tournaments first came to be as well as shared some of his experiences as President of Parker Brothers. One of his favorite stories involved sending $1,000,000 in MONOPOLY money via plane to replenish a marathon MONOPOLY tournament, which was then taken in a armored truck with police escort to be delivered to the game.

June 28, 2008 - Filmed at the 2nd Annual BSA MONOPOLY Tournament in Thousand Oaks, California. At the tournament, I got great footage of various scouts playing MONOPOLY as well as a few MONOPOLY pros who competed in the tournament including Ken Koury (a former US finalist), Gary Heller (competed at past US Championships), and Geoff Ellis and family.

Lee Bayrd, the 1973 World Champion, was on hand with his Charles B. Darrow Trophy to serve as Chief Judge and give a tips and strategy session before the start of the tournament. Geoff Ellis ended up taking 1st at the tournament, repeating as champion of the BSA MONOPOLY Tournament. For info on next year's tournament currently scheduled for May 23, 2009, visit BSAMonopoly.com.

June 20, 2008 - Jordan and I were in Vegas to film with Matt McNally, the 2003 US MONOPOLY Champion who will be defending his title in New York at the US Championships in February 2009. Matt truly was an ambassador to the game who understood all the ins and outs of playing the game as well as having the composure to represent the game of MONOPOLY to the world.

May 16, 2008 - Tom Kochem and I commenced filming on Under the Boardwalk today. Our first interview was with Phil Orbanes, President of Winning Moves Games and a former Vice President of Parker Brothers. Some of you may also know him as the Chief Judge at the US & World MONOPOLY Championships over the last 30 years. Through research for his two books about the game of MONOPOLY as well as his long tenure at Parker Brother, Phil has uncovered some remarkable stories about the history of MONOPOLY which we shared with us. You can view a clip of some of his interview on our Video page.

Background photos in the header are used under a CC license from Mark Strozier. HASBRO, PARKER BROTHERS, the MONOPOLY name and logo, the distinctive design of the game board, the four corner squares, the MR. MONOPOLY name and character, as well as each of the distinctive elements of the board and playing pieces are trademarks of Hasbro for its property trading game and game equipment. © 2008 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission.