TORONTO BASKETBALL COMMUNITY TURNS OUT FOR "MORE THAN A GAME" - By Cameron Mitchell, basketball.ca
Last Updated: November 02, 2009
TORONTO - Theatre 14 at the Scotia Bank Theatre was packed Tuesday night for a special advance screening of More Than a Game, the LeBron James documentary. The VIP charity event was hosted by Canada Basketball and helped raise funds for Canada’s national teams.
Maple Pictures generously donated the screening, days before the film's North American release. The event was a huge success and a who’s who of Toronto’s sporting and entertainment community showed up to support Canada Basketball.
Movie critic Richard Crouse and Toronto Raptors analyst Jack Armstrong hosted the event. Senior Men’s National Team Head Coach Leo Rautins also attended the screening and brought several Team Canada players with him. The event was attended by players from the Women’s National Senior Team, the Men’s National Senior Team and by several Junior Team members. Maurizio Gherardini of the Toronto Raptors, Sherman Hamilton of The Score and Paul Jones of the FAN 590 and Sportsnet.ca also came out to support Canada Basketball.
But the special guest of the evening was the film’s director Kristopher Belman, who treated the audience to a question-and-answer session after the screening.
More Than a Game chronicles the lives of five young basketball players from Akron, Ohio, called the “Fab 5.” It follows them through all of their successes and failures -- from middle school through to their last game together at the National High School Championship.
The film tells the stories of four-foot-11 point guard Dru Joyce III, “Angry Man” Romeo Travis, big man Willie McGee, high school football star Sian Cotton, LeBron James and coach Dru Joyce II.
More Than a Game became a seven-year passion project for Belman. It began in 2003 as a school assignment while Belman was attending Los Angeles’s Loyola Marymount University. Each student was asked to create a 10-minute documentary on a subject of their choosing. Stuck for ideas, the Akron native went back to the place that he felt most comfortable –- home.
“I was reading about these boys in high school. They were doing some incredible things on the court, but it said that they had played together since the fourth grade and they were going to the same high school together no matter what. I was blown away by that,” said Belman. “That showed a sophisticated type of friendship that a lot of people in their 30s and 40s don’t have.”
It didn’t take long for Belman to discover that the story of the “Fab 5” was turning into much more than a 10-minute documentary. After completing his class project -– “I got a B-plus on it” -- Belman continued to follow the team and record footage, ultimately turning the film into a feature length documentary.
The film chronicles the ups and downs of the “Fab 5.” From their humble beginnings practising on linoleum floors in the Salvation Army, to their decision to all attend St. Vincent–St. Mary High School, all the way to the backlash after LeBron James blew up into a celebrity phenomenon.
More Than a Game uses one-on-one interviews, rare news footage, and never-before-seen home videos and personal photographs to tell the story of the “Fab 5.” The film goes out of its way to explore the unique story behind each member of the “Fab 5” and every player gets a chance to tell his story so that the film isn’t just about LeBron James.
“At the end of the day I always knew that LeBron’s story would be told because of what he is becoming, but it was these guys' stories that were never going to be told unless I got in there and told it,” said Belman. “I was bursting at the seams to have the chance to tell these guys' stories and I feel very fortunate for getting the opportunity to do so.”
More Than a Game opens in select theatres across the country on Friday, Oct. 30.
Maple Pictures generously donated the screening, days before the film's North American release. The event was a huge success and a who’s who of Toronto’s sporting and entertainment community showed up to support Canada Basketball.
Movie critic Richard Crouse and Toronto Raptors analyst Jack Armstrong hosted the event. Senior Men’s National Team Head Coach Leo Rautins also attended the screening and brought several Team Canada players with him. The event was attended by players from the Women’s National Senior Team, the Men’s National Senior Team and by several Junior Team members. Maurizio Gherardini of the Toronto Raptors, Sherman Hamilton of The Score and Paul Jones of the FAN 590 and Sportsnet.ca also came out to support Canada Basketball.
But the special guest of the evening was the film’s director Kristopher Belman, who treated the audience to a question-and-answer session after the screening.
More Than a Game chronicles the lives of five young basketball players from Akron, Ohio, called the “Fab 5.” It follows them through all of their successes and failures -- from middle school through to their last game together at the National High School Championship.
The film tells the stories of four-foot-11 point guard Dru Joyce III, “Angry Man” Romeo Travis, big man Willie McGee, high school football star Sian Cotton, LeBron James and coach Dru Joyce II.
More Than a Game became a seven-year passion project for Belman. It began in 2003 as a school assignment while Belman was attending Los Angeles’s Loyola Marymount University. Each student was asked to create a 10-minute documentary on a subject of their choosing. Stuck for ideas, the Akron native went back to the place that he felt most comfortable –- home.
“I was reading about these boys in high school. They were doing some incredible things on the court, but it said that they had played together since the fourth grade and they were going to the same high school together no matter what. I was blown away by that,” said Belman. “That showed a sophisticated type of friendship that a lot of people in their 30s and 40s don’t have.”
It didn’t take long for Belman to discover that the story of the “Fab 5” was turning into much more than a 10-minute documentary. After completing his class project -– “I got a B-plus on it” -- Belman continued to follow the team and record footage, ultimately turning the film into a feature length documentary.
The film chronicles the ups and downs of the “Fab 5.” From their humble beginnings practising on linoleum floors in the Salvation Army, to their decision to all attend St. Vincent–St. Mary High School, all the way to the backlash after LeBron James blew up into a celebrity phenomenon.
More Than a Game uses one-on-one interviews, rare news footage, and never-before-seen home videos and personal photographs to tell the story of the “Fab 5.” The film goes out of its way to explore the unique story behind each member of the “Fab 5” and every player gets a chance to tell his story so that the film isn’t just about LeBron James.
“At the end of the day I always knew that LeBron’s story would be told because of what he is becoming, but it was these guys' stories that were never going to be told unless I got in there and told it,” said Belman. “I was bursting at the seams to have the chance to tell these guys' stories and I feel very fortunate for getting the opportunity to do so.”
More Than a Game opens in select theatres across the country on Friday, Oct. 30.
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