Mark your calendars for SATURDAY AUG. 22 at the B and C diamonds in Schenectady!
Friends in the know have been asking me about this movie project Ive been working on. I tried not to say much about it publicly until I was secure in believing this is going to be a reality.
I have been fortunate to be a teammate and friend of author Mark Donahue of Kittering, Ohio. He hired me to help him with a couple of his books, and one, Last At Bat, is apparently on its way to the big screen. Three filmmaking companies have offered Mark between $1M and $3M for the rights to his novel. He refused. He doesnt want to lose creative rights to his story. Its that simple.
If any of you watched the Emmys a couple of months ago, an actor/filmmaker told an interviewer that the way money is being raised to make movies is changing. He said, and I paraphrase here: You never know if some guy in Dayton someday will raise money through crowd-funding initiatives to make a great movie That guys agent read Last At Bat. The agent is from the Dayton area; so is Mark. Coincidence?
So, from the beginning:
Mark has assembled a team to make this movie a reality. He has a director, producer, film distributor and regional managers in place. We met in late January at the directors studio in Hollywood then went out to lunch. It was decided that Mark would have to raise $500,000 to get the filming off the ground. The total cost for the project has been estimated at $8.2M.
This has become a crowd-funding initiative. (Spike Lee has already raised more than $1.4M for his next movie on Kickstarter). Mark also has some investors lined up and an experienced, successful agent to take the book to the New York Times Best Sellers list.
Heres what we are doing: STAGE 1:
We are holding nationwide tryouts to find the best ballplayers we can between the ages of 8 and 25. We dont want actors; we want ballplayers with personalities who arent camera shy. We need to fill the roles of the main character, Dylan Michael/Matt Wolf. We also need teammates, opponents, coaches and all other on-the-field personnel you see in a baseball game. Yes, umpires, too.
Mark has had tryouts in Dayton and Cincinnati to date. Finalists from those areas have already been selected to compete nationwide for roles. Mark wanted me to work on organizing this process in the NYC/Boston areas. But I told him I had to do this here in the Capital Region first.
So, we will, as mentioned above on Aug. 22.
There is no charge for these tryouts. We hope to make money through donations, which you can offer online when you register. You have to register to get a tryout. If you want to show up unregistered, you will be pushed to the back of the line of those who have registered. Of course, if you come with generous donation in hand, we will register you on-site. You also dont have to donate the minimum of $50 unveiled on the Web site. It all adds up in the end. There are several options from which to choose.
****THE SITES: markrdonahue.com or LastAtBatTheMovie.com (Click on Donate/Enter then click the Pre-register link. You will find several options).
Registered players go first. The tryouts will be extremely brief. A couple of swings, a couple of tosses, a sprint around the bases and off you go. The main character is a Mike Trout/Miguel Cabrerra/Bryce Harper type. He will probably be a right-fielder or center-fielder in the movie. We will have either a college or professional coach or both to observe. The look is important.
Please register your kids, friends kids, relatives, anyone at all who plays organized baseball. We are seeking players of any color, race, creed, origin. We want ballplayers, not actors.
Just know that at least one person (five is more likely) in each region where tryouts are held will be selected for some role in the movie. Ill do my best to get as many from this area as I believe are right for any role. I will have some input, albeit not heavily weighted. Again, 8-25 years of age. And you can be a pro player.
STAGE 2: This is going to be a whole lot of fun! We will hold scripted tryouts for all speaking roles, including the ballplayers we select from the tryouts. This will occur probably 2-3 weeks after the on-the-field tryouts at Central Parks Music Haven stage. (Will post date when its confirmed). We are seeking men and women to play roles as the main characters family and friends from the time he is 8 to the time he turns 40.
We are seeking two reporters for key roles one older and one younger plus several others who might not get speaking parts, but will appear on camera.
Fans. Every game needs fans! Every game needs umpires.
At least one scene from Schenectady will appear in the movie, so we will need fans, coaches and umpires. I will have the unpleasant task of choosing the umpires from our area to compete for a spot in the film. But everyone must register. Heres a list of some of the non-baseball playing roles. The ages depend on at what age Dylan is featured as his character evolves: Bartender around age 25. Bonnie age 35-40. Cara age 25-40 (Dylans model wife) Dylan's father 35-40 Female baseball player age 14 Flo (nurse) age 60 (professional nurses urged) Luke age 50-60 Marie age 25 Matt Wolf age 27-40 (got to be a solid ball player) Nat age 60 Pauly age 60 Radio and TV play by play announcers Randy age 35-60
Guess youll have to read the book to know who these characters are!
We will have casting agents on hand as well as a cameraperson and sound person.
Yes, this is somewhat of a novel approach to making a film. Spike Lee believes in it. Yes, hes a known commodity. But we all have to start somewhere. Mark has chosen this path; as mentioned, he refuses to sell the rights.
If you read the book, you will understand. Youve all probably seen a dozen or more baseball films. Actors arent ballplayers.
There was an article in Fridays TU in the Capital region section. More media promotions are being scheduled.
I realize I havent covered all the bases. Feel free to contact me for any questions, but dont text. You can also contact Mark Donahue through one of the Web sites mentioned above.
Thnx. Jim Konstantakis 45/55 CDMSBL Giants Northeast/Southeast Regional Manager Search for Dylan Michael Jkonst512@gmail.com; 518-772-0851; 518-461-7850
