In 1999, I teamed up with filmmaker John Bennardo to write what we hoped would become the first major motion picture about lacrosse. We knocked out the script in three months and began shopping it around town. Everyone loved the characters and the story; however, no one on the West Coast knew anything about the sport!
There was no Google back then, so our first plan of attack was to show studio executives how epic the sport could be. I sketched out some poster ideas and set out to hire an artist to bring them to life.
Unfortunately, I barely had enough money to buy Ramen noodles, so the posters would have to wait. That's when I reached out to storyboard master Shane Donahue, who, for the cost of a Burrito Supreme, sketched out the opening scene of the film. The following boards got us in the door with actor Richard T. Jones, who agreed to star as the coach of the team, but that's as far as the project got (at least for now).
Incidentally, I'll never forget handing Richard a lacrosse stick as we stepped out of the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel. He had just agreed to take on the role of a lacrosse-playing god, and in his attempt to cradle the ball, it went flying out of his stick, and bounced into traffic - nearly causing a Mercedes pileup.
In mid-cringe, he turned to me and said, "I should probably practice."
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