Post by robertboyd on Mar 20, 2007 16:27:33 GMT -5
www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/SPORTS/703200359/1002
Movie will focus on Bears' owners
By Tom Ensey
Montgomery Advertiser
Lights! Camera! Action!
Bears ...
The owners of the Montgomery Bears will be the subjects of a film that will be directed and produced by a local media production company, it was announced in a news conference Monday.
Mike Mink and John Morris, who own Montgomery's indoor football team as well as the American Indoor Football Association, spoke to the media along with George Caldwell and Jim Lofton, co-owners of Ox In the Ditch Productions.
Caldwell, who will direct the movie, said it will take the form of a docudrama, using archival footage dating from last summer when Mink and Morris took over the team, then called the Montgomery Maulers. The club was in turmoil, stemming from controversy surrounding unpaid players and bounced checks to vendors.
Mink and Morris helped stabilize the situation and led the team to the playoffs.
It'll be a sports story, Caldwell said, but the games themselves won't be the focus.
"Football will be the pallet we use to tell the story about John and Mike," said Caldwell, who appeared as an actor in a number of television shows in the 1980s. He has lived in Montgomery since 1999.
Caldwell said the project drew his interest when he read a story in the Montgomery Advertiser about Mink's and Morris' backgrounds. Both grew up poor before becoming successful in business. They got in football after Mink's mother was murdered in Tampa, Fla., several years ago.
She had always wanted Mink to be a football coach, so he used money from her life insurance policy to start a semipro team in Tampa.
Caldwell said the story will show that poverty and tragedy are not barriers to success.
"It'll be a feel good story, about how Mike and John pulled themselves out of poverty, then gave something back in memory of Mike's mom," Caldwell said. "It'll be emotional, moving and sometimes funny.
"I think it's a can't-miss story."
The movie will be shot on hi-definition video almost entirely in Montgomery, Caldwell said. The executive producer will be Roger Lee Harrison of Las Vegas, who owns a company called Joule Media, and who also has a background in producing film and television shows.
Harrison was not at Monday's press conference.
Caldwell wouldn't comment directly on the project's backing, except to say it was not a concern to him. He said the finished product will have "reasonable expectation for potential outlets."
Morris said he and Mink agreed to the making of the movie because Caldwell convinced them it would portray a message they believe in.
"I grew up poor, standing in line for free cheese and butter," Morris said. "But no matter how far down you are, if you work and do things for the right reason, you can pull yourself up."
Caldwell said shooting will begin on Saturday when the Bears open their home season at Garrett Coliseum against the Tallahasssee Titans.
Movie will focus on Bears' owners
By Tom Ensey
Montgomery Advertiser
Lights! Camera! Action!
Bears ...
The owners of the Montgomery Bears will be the subjects of a film that will be directed and produced by a local media production company, it was announced in a news conference Monday.
Mike Mink and John Morris, who own Montgomery's indoor football team as well as the American Indoor Football Association, spoke to the media along with George Caldwell and Jim Lofton, co-owners of Ox In the Ditch Productions.
Caldwell, who will direct the movie, said it will take the form of a docudrama, using archival footage dating from last summer when Mink and Morris took over the team, then called the Montgomery Maulers. The club was in turmoil, stemming from controversy surrounding unpaid players and bounced checks to vendors.
Mink and Morris helped stabilize the situation and led the team to the playoffs.
It'll be a sports story, Caldwell said, but the games themselves won't be the focus.
"Football will be the pallet we use to tell the story about John and Mike," said Caldwell, who appeared as an actor in a number of television shows in the 1980s. He has lived in Montgomery since 1999.
Caldwell said the project drew his interest when he read a story in the Montgomery Advertiser about Mink's and Morris' backgrounds. Both grew up poor before becoming successful in business. They got in football after Mink's mother was murdered in Tampa, Fla., several years ago.
She had always wanted Mink to be a football coach, so he used money from her life insurance policy to start a semipro team in Tampa.
Caldwell said the story will show that poverty and tragedy are not barriers to success.
"It'll be a feel good story, about how Mike and John pulled themselves out of poverty, then gave something back in memory of Mike's mom," Caldwell said. "It'll be emotional, moving and sometimes funny.
"I think it's a can't-miss story."
The movie will be shot on hi-definition video almost entirely in Montgomery, Caldwell said. The executive producer will be Roger Lee Harrison of Las Vegas, who owns a company called Joule Media, and who also has a background in producing film and television shows.
Harrison was not at Monday's press conference.
Caldwell wouldn't comment directly on the project's backing, except to say it was not a concern to him. He said the finished product will have "reasonable expectation for potential outlets."
Morris said he and Mink agreed to the making of the movie because Caldwell convinced them it would portray a message they believe in.
"I grew up poor, standing in line for free cheese and butter," Morris said. "But no matter how far down you are, if you work and do things for the right reason, you can pull yourself up."
Caldwell said shooting will begin on Saturday when the Bears open their home season at Garrett Coliseum against the Tallahasssee Titans.
