Every once in awhile, a little film builds up enough momentum to become something really grand and special. Recent films such as Precious, Slumdog Millionaire and The Hurt Locker have swept the Oscars and smashed box office records in the process. The Perfect Game, the heartfelt and funny story of a scrappy Little League team seems poised to be one such film.
The film, based on the the book The Perfect Game, by W. William Winokur, itself has had quite a rough road being brought to the screen with its primarily Latino cast but should the Hispanic community and family audiences rally behind the film like the media is beginning to, it is certainly well on it’s road to golden success. It opens on April 16th.
I had the opportunity to speak to The Perfect Game Producers, David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud about their special little film and here is what they had to say:
For those who haven’t heard of The Perfect Game, what is this film about?
The film is about having a dream, in this case, a group of kids with very little to start with, except they shared a dream and were willing to take action to try to realize it. It’s a true UNDERDOG story if there ever was one. It has HUGE heart.
What was it about this little film that struck a chord for you?
The script made us laugh and cry. Not a group cry, but as Producers looking for a great story, we both read it and we had to do it. The fact that it came from a first time writer, William W. Winokur, also blew us away. We went to Monterrey, Mexico with Bill and met the players as well as the people in the community and realized pretty quickly we were being trusted with something very special. We are honored to be part of their story.
At what point did you become involved?
Five years ago. William (Winokur) likes to say, “The only people on this story longer the The real players and him, are Christian and me”…When it was a script, and during the time when the rights were being optioned. That story in itself is a very funny story.
Why do you think it’s taken so long to really launch?
Well, to see how much we could take. …Why should our journey be any less difficult than the boys’ real journey portrayed in the film?
Do you believe everything happens for a reason?
OMG, YES. But the results will tell us if the timing of the film’s release is the blessing we hope it is. Having had business partners who had achieved major success in this town, one had a Best Picture win, and the other had two series go to 200 episodes, both would say, “timing is everything, and no one knows what will work with the audience, except the audience”.
This is primarily a baseball movie, a genre we’ve seen many times before, what is so different about this film that you think will have people flocking to see it?
If you like baseball or sports movies you certainly will like The Perfect Game, but it is really so much more than that. We have heard comparisons to “The Blindside”, which I loved, but is it a football movie? I think the story is much deeper then the sport that is the backdrop of the film. These kids had nothing, and no one, except a few people who were caught up by the kids’ dream and faith that they, if given the chance could do something that no one in their city had ever accomplished. By the way, the original goal was to play one game of real Little League baseball, in uniform, and see America. The fact that they were the first non-American team to, thirty days later against all odds, would go on to win the Little League World Series, in the only Perfect Game in the Final Game. NEVER before or since in over seventy years. Incredible, but only part of it, that’s not even the heart of the story. You’ll have to see it and than you’ll know what I mean.
You’ve said publicly that perhaps the original distributors of the film felt that it was not commercial enough, do you think this has anything to do with the fact that the film has mainly a Latino cast?
We [I] don’t believe we said that, or that was even the case. It’s true, we brought it to a lot of places and they didn’t engage for their own reasons. It has a great cast and we tried to be true to the real people that they portray. It is a Latin, Mexican hero story and also has other ethnicities as well. But the things these people went through to get where they were going, goes beyond one group of people. It’s a family story, a Latino hero and faith story too. Just like the real kids in the film, we have had a number of people, huge brands, and others that have embraced the film and us personally because they loved the story and were also witnesses to the huge effort it was finishing and getting to get the film out to the audience. The film has had many heroes that supported it beyond us.
With the spotty at best track record of Latino films in the past, why do you think the Hispanic community will or should support this film?
We hope the limited amount of other Latino hero stories like this film that have come out of Hollywood, will give the Latino American audience something special to support the film. We had a major event for the film in Monterrey Mexico a week or so ago and we were amazed at the public response to the film. The cast that attended said they have never seen anything like it. It was such an outpouring of positive emotions it is hard to describe in words.
If this film goes on to become a massive success, what’s the first thing you’re going to do to celebrate?
It’s hard to imagine what to do since we have been on the project so long…ok, one, reach out and thank with all our hearts, all of the other team members, people, and brands that supported the journey this film has been. Then take my wife and three kids to Lego Land and have a day or two that don’t revolve around this film.