By Randy O. Williams
Produced By Magazine
Summer 2012
Hollywood’s playbook has long been open to footballers. Oh, sure, the glamour positions of acting have been filled by such gridiron talent as Paul Robeson, Woody Strode, Mark Harmon and Jim Brown, but where are all the linemen, the blocking backs and special teams players to do the producing, writing and directing? Those behind-the-scenes crafts, as well as editing and cinematography, were the focus of the inaugural NFL Pro Hollywood Boot Camp that took place over four intense (but fun) days in April on the back lot of Universal Studios.
The program was born out of a meeting between Film Life CEO Jeff Friday and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs at a film festival produced annually by Friday down in Miami. It was funded by the Player Engagement Division of the NFL (an educational arm which also offers programs in broadcasting, business and music for current and former NFL players), which revealed NFL players’ most common ambition was becoming a successful Hollywood producer after their playing days.
“What happens is that they’re approached by people who are not the most knowledgeable sorts, trying to induce them to invest. [It] often turns out to be a losing proposition,” says the producer, who has worked on entertainment projects with former NBA great Shaquille O’Neal among other athletes. “I thought this program would help rectify that. It is a program that gives an athlete an overview of how the movie industry works and what the economics are. But it also provides an understanding of the different crafts involved in the behind- the-scenes operations of filmmaking — something all effective producers need to have a sense of.”
While football has been known as the school of hard knocks, so has Hollywood. Among the lessons learned from the inaugural NFL Pro Hollywood Boot Camp is the new- found respect these players gained for the role of the producer. Part of what the Hollywood professionals conveyed in the curriculum (involving lectures, panel discussions and hands-on filmmaking), is that in finding the right story, financing, production, distribution, casting and marketing, successful producers are a lot like a combination of a great NFL coach, GM, team owner and league executive rolled into one. Finance, creative, line so many variables come into play that the players fully grasped what this craft entails.
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