Spirit Quest Film Screening

Caroline Manard, Don Casper, Greg Ropp, Anne Mills, Matthew Johnson, Jim Hughes

It was a homecoming of sorts.  It was my first return to Erie, PA since we shot part of the movie there in the Summer of 2007.  While planning the movie, we needed to find a location to shoot our Bill Klem re-enactment that could pass as a 1920’s era baseball field.  Ainsworth Field in Erie, PA fit the bill, but in addition the folks we met were excited about being part of the project.  That made a huge difference for us.

John Fette and the Glenwood Baseball League Players became 1920’s ballplayers and the residents of Erie donned period suits and hats, becoming fans at a 1921 ballgame in Boston.  In one long sunny day in August 2007 the shoot was complete.

Soon after, the film went into post-production and about a year and a half later the finishing touches were being put on the film for it’s first public showing.  This past weekend was our first opportunity to share the final product with the folks of Erie.  Spirit Quest Film Festival organizer Greg Ropp really welcomed us and featured our film along with it’s ties to the Erie area.

Although this festival is in it’s first year, it was run quite well, mostly due to Greg’s long experience in running the Eeerie Horror Festival.  The film screened in the historic Erie Playhouse and we had a great turnout including many of the folks who were in the film as actors and extras.

Ray Manard & Don Casper answering audience questions

We shared in a Q&A with the audience right after the screening.  It was great to come back and share the film with the people who helped make it.  Thanks to Greg Ropp, Matthew Johnson and the many actors and extras of Erie, PA!

Signed and sealed

‘Signs of the Time’ salutes William Klemm and Dummy Hoy as baseball originators.

BY DAVE RICHARDS dave.richards@timesnews.com

Erie-Times News 9-3-2009

The base runner slides into home, the catcher tags him, and the umpire emphatically gestures with his thumb. You know he’s out. If you attended a ballgame around the turn of the 20th century, though, you’d be clueless. In baseball’s early days, umpires shouted their calls. They didn’t use their arms or thumbs, and ballparks had no announcers to tell you anything. So how did baseball signals originate? The story is trickier than spotting a balk. Rochester director Don Casper’s documentary “Signs of the Time” — partly filmed at Ainsworth Field — zeroes in on the two most likely candidates. Pioneering umpire William Klemm, a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, is credited on his Cooperstown plaque with introducing arm signals. Deaf player William “Dummy” Hoy, who mostly played for the Cincinnati Reds, developed a system of hand signals with his third-base coach so he’d know if pitches were balls or strikes. He retired in 1902 — three years before Klemm started umpiring.

“Signs of the Time,” narrated by Richard Dreyfuss, includes re-enactments with actors playing Hoy and Klemm. “Both of these individuals lived lives before movie cameras were [prevalent] and, in some cases, there are not a lot of photos of them,” Casper said. “So to tell the story of what kind of people they were, we re-enacted key moments or slices of life from their careers to demonstrate their personalties. “That’s really what the film’s about — illustrating what kind of people they were.” For scenes with Klemm, Casper needed a ballpark that could replicate the early 1920s. Ainsworth Field fit the bill. “We chose Erie because it had a great look to it, and No. 2, the people we met there in charge of the field were really excited about it,” Casper said. Glenwood League players donned vintage uniforms to play period ballplayers in the scene. About 100 or so area residents wore period clothing for Ainsworth crowd shots. One long day of shooting in Erie resulted a three-minute scene.

For Hoy’s scenes, Casper shot at the Genesee Country Village and Museum in Rochester, which replicates a 19th-century village, including a ballpark. Hoy’s scenes take place in 1887, when he played for Oshkosh, Wis. Casper said “Signs” leaves it up to audiences to draw their own conclusions about who deserves credit for inventing signs. But it’s clear where his heart lies. He became interested in making the film while working as a TV director and producer at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a federally funded deaf college in Rochester. “I found a group of deaf individuals who were trying to campaign to get their hero Dummy Hoy inducted into the hall of fame based on his career and what he contributed by inventing hand signals. I had never heard of Dummy, so I started reading more about him and the efforts to get him recognized and thought it was an interesting story.” Hoy racked up more than 2,000 career hits and still ranks among baseball’s all-time Top 20 base stealers. He died at age 99 in 1961. He hasn’t made it to Cooperstown yet, but is enshrined in the Cincinnati’s Hall of Fame. Casper said he was too modest to campaign for his own induction. “Hoy was the type of guy who was real humble. He wasn’t the type who was going to go out there and stand on a mountain top and claim credit for everything. He felt, ‘Well, my accomplishments will be recognized.’ That’s not necessarily the way the history books are written.”

“Signs of the Time” also includes interviews with such baseball notables as Earl Weaver, Brooks Robinson, Fred Lynn, and Bob Feller. Oscar-winner Dreyfuss adds marquee value and more by narrating. “He played the father of a deaf character in ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus,’ a great role of his. He had experience dealing with a lot of issues in movies, like striking down the barriers of communication and learning sign language — all themes the movie deals with,” Casper said. “So we thought it was a good fit, and apparently he agreed.” Casper and others involved with “Signs of the Time” will attend the Erie premiere. It’s open to everyone — including the deaf. “That’s why we’ve subtitled the movie, so everyone can enjoy the film,” he said.

“Signs of the Time” will be shown Saturday at 7 p.m. during the Spirit Quest Film Fest at the Erie Playhouse, 13 W. 10th St. Admission is $5 at the door. Tickets also available online at www.spiritquestfilmfest.com

“Signs of the Time” at Grand Rapids Film Festival

Greg Short at the Grand Rapids venue.

I have recently returned from promoting our film at the Grand Rapids Film Festival in, you guessed it, Grand Rapids, Michigan. This was a first year festival so there are some kinks to work out, but overall it was a good experience. One of the things that I enjoy the most about going to film festivals is meeting the other filmmakers. It is always amazing to me how no matter what your budget is or your notoriety, everyone follows a similar path and has similar obstacles to overcome. It’s very reassuring to know that you are not alone in your trials and tribulations.

So how were the movies? I enjoy seeing the never-ending stories that there are to be told. I was happy that our film was chosen to play here because this festival focused on the films that promote positive messages and that are family-oriented. Because of this many of the films featured were faith-based. A couple in particular stood out. Click Clack Jack is a short film that is intended for children. It reminded me a lot of an ABC Afterschool Special that I used to watch all the time when I was a kid. Good production value, good moral to the story. We had some interesting conversations with executive producer, Keith Thomas, about his path to becoming a filmmaker from production through distribution. I wish him the best of luck. A film called As We Forgive left the most impression on my heart. It is a documentary about two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. This film will make you question your own ability to forgive and show how forgiveness can breath life back into people and their communities. Powerful stuff.

Our film had a decent attendance considering it was playing against the headliner film Like Dandelion Dust. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any audience feedback since apparently all the volunteers handing out the ballots appeared to be at the premiere event. Oh well. I guess now it is our turn to forgive.

Hardacre Film and Cinema Festival

August 7-8, 2009

Iowa has lots of corn. It also has deep ties to the game of baseball and lots of movie fans. That’s what I experienced this past weekend while attending the Hardacre Film and Cinema Festival in Tipton, Iowa.

Don Casper in front of the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter, Iowa

THE TRIP: Ray Manard and I arrived the night before the Festival and had a full day before the festivities were to kick off so we decided it would be appropriate to do a little baseball sightseeing. It was raining pretty hard so instead of driving up to Dyersville to see the baseball diamond where the movie Field of Dreams was shot, we drove west past Des Moines to Van Meter, Iowa, the birthplace of Bob Feller and home to a beautiful museum dedicated to his life and career both in the Navy and on the baseball diamond.

The Marquee lit up at night!

Inside the Hardacre Theater

WHAT IS A HARDACRE? All the films during the fest are screened at the Hardacre Theatre in a the very small and friendly town of Tipton. The theatre was built in 1916 with money donated by a rich dude from Tipton named.. Hardacre. The theatre first served as an opera house but within 3 years was converted to show films. Today it shows primarily second run movies and is open 6 days a week.

Will Valet, Louise Woehrle, Joe Wilson, Ray Manard, Don Casper, Tommy Haines

THE FILMMAKERS: We saw a bunch of great films over two days (see rays blog) and met a number of great filmmakers including Joe Wilson who presented his documentary OUT IN THE SILENCE. It is a moving story showing how a courageous teenage boy struggles with coming out about being gay in a small Pennsylvania town that torments him and his family. Also Louise Woehrle presented her doc PRIDE OF LIONS which is a story of hope and renewal in Sierra Leone where a community comes together in order to survive the atrocities of war.

I want to thank Will Valet, all the festival organizers and the great audiences that showed up to support the films. We had a short Q&A session after our film which was a real pleasure to talk with such a passionate and educated group of filmlovers. I would recommend this festival to any filmmaker in the years to come. It was really a great experience.

New Teaser Trailer

So it’s been awhile since my last post.  We’ve been busy organizing festival screenings and developing some new promotional material.  Here is the world premiere of the new 60 second Teaser Trailer:

I plan to update the blog from every festival as we start to screen the film this summer and into the fall.  In addition we are hard at work editing special features and deleted scenes in preparation for a Home Video Release hopefully by the end of the year.. we’ll see…  Stay tuned to the email list and facebook for more festival announcements coming in the near future.  As always all up-to-date screening information is at http://www.signsofthetimemovie.com/screenings.html

West Coast Screening 9/19

SoCal Independent Film Festival

SATURDAY 9/19: Rev up for our PURE SPORTS CINEMA TRIPLE FEATURE PREMIERES Expected start time: 11:00AM Exact time TBA.

THE MIND OF THE DEMON: THE LARRY LINKOGLE STORY is the long awaited story of Metal Mulisha co-founder and motocross pioneer, Larry Linkogle.  Special guests, action sports industry pros and motocross legends are expected to be in attendance on this day filled with sports related movies, exhibitions, guests and more! SOCAL RATING: PG

BOARDHEADS celebrates those that board — from surfboards to skateboards to kiteboards to snowboards to alternative board sports.  BoardHeads is narrated by Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) and features the biggest names from the respective board sports including Kelly Slater and Sunny Garcia.  Special Guests expected. SOCAL RATING: PG

SIGNS OF THE TIME is the story and history of the development and use of “signs” in baseball and features hall-of-fame interviews with players and umpires.  This documentary is narrated by Richard Dreyfuss. Special Guests will be in attendance.

The SoCal Independent Film Festival is organized by experienced industry professionals and takes place in Southern California’s beautiful Huntington Beach.  Named as one of MovieMaker Magazine’s 20 Festivals worth the entry fee, the SoCal has award winning movies and screenplays; industry speakers; professional workshops; Q&As with directors and actors; special guests; a professional panel of jury members and screeners; volunteer opportunities; and scores of film watching attendees.

MIDWESTERN PREMIERE

Signs of the Time has been selected to be screened during the Hardacre Film and Cinema Festival August 7 & 8 in Tipton, Iowa.  The festival showcases films from around the world including features, short subjects, documentaries, experimental films, and animated films. The festival also often features live entertainment and takes place during Tipton’s Ridiculous Days event.  The festival is held annually in Tipton’s historic Hardacre Theater, a locally operated movie palace that has been in operation since 1917 and continues to showcase first-run films daily.

Visit www.signsofthetimemovie.com/screenings.html for all current information on screening venues, times and ticket information.

Baseball documentary selected for Erie premiere

Erie, PA – (6/16/2009)

The feature-length documentary, Signs of the Time has been selected for its Erie premiere on Saturday September 5th as part of the Spirit Quest Film Festival.  The screening will be held at the Erie Playhouse on 13 W. 10th Street at 7:00pm.  The filmmakers will be in attendance immediately following the screening to answer questions.  Portions of the film were shot at Erie’s Ainsworth Field during the summer of 2007 and feature many Erie residents as actors and extras.

On Location at Ainsworth Field in Erie, PA

Where did baseball hand signals come from? In exploring this seemingly simple question, the feature-length documentary, Signs of the Time, unveils stories of inspiration and controversy that transcend sports. Narrated by Richard Dreyfuss, and featuring numerous baseball personalities, the film unravels the mystery surrounding baseball’s greatest innovation discovering our need to interact with those around us even in the face of adversity.  For more information and to view a trailer online visit: www.signsofthetimemovie.com

The Spirit Quest Film Festival was founded in order to bring thought provoking, entertaining and uplifting works of cinema to audiences.  The festival’s mission is to inspire, enlighten and challenge audiences by showcasing films that explore the best (and sometimes the worst) of the human experience. For scheduling and ticketing information visit: www.spiritquestfilmfest.com

MANY LOOKS OF DON

Signs of the Time is like many films and documentaries in particular by the fact that it was produced/shot/edited over a long period of time.  There were many times when we were shooting and spending all sorts of time working on it and other times when we were working for a living and not so much was happening.  Anyways in looking back through the pictures we took along the way it became interesting to me how often my hairdo changes.  It’s not so much on purpose, but the fact I’m lazy and don’t go to the hair cutting place on a regular schedule.  So the following is my best attempt to retrace my steps throughout the film and comment on my haircuts.  (This is a Blog exclusive by the way…if you are reading this you should be honored…and probably horrified)

WARNING: The following pictures are shocking.  If you are squemish in any way please stop now and burn your computer.

FULL DUDE

DATE: Winter/Spring 2006
LOOK:  “Full Dude”

Here we are at the beginning. Pre-production has been going on for a few months and Jim and I have done alot of driving around. Cooperstown, Cincinnati, Cleveland. Lots of site surveys, pre-interviewing subjects for the film and researching photos. I think this photo was taken driving on the NYS Thruway en route to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It’s my best Jeff Bridges impression and pretty much says to the world…”I don’t give a sh*t” Long hair sucks BTW, it blows around gets in your eyes and takes along time to dry. But everyone looks at you like you are a freak so it does have it’s advantages.
 

TRIMMED UP DUDE

DATE: June 20, 2006
LOOK: “Trimmed Up Dude”

You know when you go to see your Grandfather and he says something like..”Go get your haircut you little punk!” ??  Well because of this, I figured I would clean myself up and cut my hair before we went to interview Bill Werber.  This was the first shoot of the whole film and we did it on his 98th birthday so I wanted everything to run like clockwork.  Well it didn’t really work.  Just about the first thing Werber said to me was that I needed a haircut.  At that point I kind of regretted not giving him the Full Dude, but even at 98 years old I didn’t want to piss him off so at least I made the attempt.

 
Is this exciting or what!  If you’ve made it this far without throwing up or threatening never to use the internet again, please continue…

THE VISOR

DATE: July 2006
LOOK: “The Visor”

If you’ve ever grown your hair long before you know that there are the pain-in-the-ass stages.  The times when it’s to long to comb neatly and too short to put in a ponytail or do anything with.  I was starting to bring back the Full Dude, but the hair was too short.  This inspired my next look. This was really the only way of keeping the hair out of my face and I tended to wear it all the time. This picture was taken in Cincinnati after a shoot during dinner at a sushi restaurant.

 

COWBOY

DATE: February 2007
LOOK: “Cowboy”

This one really stumped me.  I truly don’t know what I was thinking.  Maybe I was just watching Tombstone on TBS, or thought…’When in Texas…”  But I went for the shaved chin and little tuft of hair under the lower lip for the 19th century cowboy saloon look.  Not my best effort.  This photo was taken right after interviewing Bobby Bragan in Fort Worth Texas.  It turned out to be a great interview, but we were stuck in airports with delays trying to get there, it was one of those brutal trips where you are sitting on the airplane waiting to takeoff and get de-iced for about 4 hours…we almost didn’t make it.

 

CLEANED UP

DATE: February 2008
LOOK: “Cleaned up”

Here I am standing with Ray Manard and Eric McMaster in front of the grip trailer at the loading dock of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  This marked really the end of principal photography on the project…that’s why we are all smiling.  IAlso we knew in the near future there would be a cold beer in our hands.  We had driven through a snow storm to Cooperstown to shoot inside the Hall of Fame.  It was really a cool experience.  We were the only people amongst all the plaques at night during a blizzard….very surreal.  Anyways, it seems that I went GQ and cleaned it up..Bill Werber would have been proud.

DONO

DATE: Spring 2009
LOOK: “Dono”

Here I am with Michael Barreca (actor who plays Dummy Hoy) and Jim Hughes (Producer/Screenwriter).  This was taken during the Rochester High Falls International Film Festival right after the screening.  I’m sporting the month overdue dude-like do with the Dono glasses. Well that about takes up up to date…not sure what’s next maybe tattoos and a fu-man-chu???

AUDIENCE AWARD for BEST DOCUMENTARY

I was truly blown away.  Monday morning we found out that the audience balloting choose our film as the best documentary of the festival.  A true honor.  The film had an encore screening last night (Monday 5/18) at the Little Theatre in Rochester, NY and had a great turnout.  Thanks to all who voted and supported the film during this festival it was a great experience!

Here’s my crappy iPhone picture from the marquee that night.

Film Festival 5/18