Home
.png)
.png)
This is a feature produced for ABC and ESPN, narrated by Jimmy Rollins. First aired on ABC on 8/25/2012 from the producers of OPPOSITE FIELD, an upcoming feature documentary film...
Latest News:
PEARL OF AFRICA SERIES 2.0
The incredible outreach for Uganda Baseball continues thanks to the hard work of Ruth Hoffman who has teamed up with Commonwealth Games Canada and the Roberto Clemente Foundation to launch the Pearl Of Africa Series 2. This ongoing effort to support the growth and opportunity of baseball on the ground in East Africa was announced at the Govenor General award ceremony for the Caring Canadian held on Monday, June 3rd. Check out coverage here.
Two Ugandan coaches have also been invited to spend several months in Canada and America by the Vancouver Cannons along with two female softball coaches by the South Surrey White Rock Minor Softball Association for an opporunity to learn and share coaching and organizational ideas needed to help young Uganda Baseballers succeed at the highest levels of competition.
The best way to keep up to date and help the effort is to like the Facebook Page
UGANDA BASEBALL'S NEWEST FAN
"Barack Obama can't get enough of the Ugandan Little League team. As Air Force One takes off from another campaign rally in Ohio, the President settles into his airborne conference room, gum lodged in the back of his mouth, with ESPN's live coverage of 12-year-olds' World Series baseball on the flat screen. He raves to his staff about the story line, an up-from-obscurity fable of barefoot kids from East Africa playing in central Pennsylvania. There is, after all, something familiar about the narrative arc: long-shot outsiders, international roots, hope, aspiration, change."
THE STORY CONTINUES
Uganda baseball has made history and become the first African team to play (and win a game!) at the Little League World Series. This incredible chapter will be told as part of our forthcoming documentary which follows Uganda Baseball's amazing journey of heartbreak, resilliance, and hope. As we finish the final editing, the best way to keep updated for screening information and news about Uganda Baseball is to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and signing up for emails.
FULL DOCUMENTARY COMING SOON
Check out the director's blog for continuing updates on Uganda Baseball. The latest blog update also shares the director's thoughts on the recent "Kony 2012" phenomenon, a complex issue to be sure, but one that has put Uganda in the public conversation in an interesting light.
Forbes Magazine also takes notice of Opposite Field amidst the Kony 2012 interest.
THE GAME THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN
Right to Play Fundraising Page
We are thrilled to announce a truly historic event. The 2011 Canadian Little League Championship Team from Langley Canada which never got a chance to play against Uganda in Williamsport after their Visas were denied is going to Uganda in January to play the game that should have been. Money raised for this event will go towards constructing a baseball field closer to the players homes in Uganda, starting an educational scholarship fund and sending more teams to International Tournaments in the future. Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies and Derek Lee of the Pittsburgh Pirates and will be serving as guest coaches.
Jimmy Rollins on his upcoming trip to Uganda
CNN FEATURES OPPOSITE FIELD
Opposite Field and its director Jay Shapiro were featured on CNN'S Internationally broadcast program 'Inside Africa'. Click to watch the 2 part program: Part 1 Part 2
AMAZING RESPONSE
The response to the ESPN feature has been incredible. We've been contacted by everyone ranging from 9 year old boys who want to send their gloves to Uganda to MLB Superstars ready to help at high levels. We are working to coordinate all of this amazing support to really benefit the baseball program in Uganda. Keep checking here for some possibly very exciting news… And if you are looking for ways to help check out the GET INVOLVED tab at the top of the page for ideas.
ESPN'S SPORTSCENTER
ESPN's Sportscenter airs a 5 minute feature about Uganda's Little League team and the 2011 Little League World Series on Sunday, August 14th during the 10am show.
PRESS:
GET INVOLVED:
Keep an eye here as we continue to work with Right To Play and Play Global! on ongoing support programs for Ugandan Baseball
To donate used baseball equipment go to pitchinforbaseball.com
OUR TEAM:
Jay Shapiro / Director / Producer Jay Shapiro is an avid baseball fan and filmmaker. He studied documentary and film production at Clark University. He was awarded a fellowship by the Anton Group to produce a documentary in Ghana entitled "Like Me, I am Here." He also worked in the film industry on projects such as "The F Word," "The Final Season," "Vintage Baseball," and "Baseball Discovered." Jay has also written three screenplays, including a biopic of Josh Gibson. Most recently, he was Creative Marketing Director at MLB Advanced Media directing and producing baseball videos for television, Jumbotron, and multimedia outlets. He has spent three summers living in West Africa including Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Cote D' Ivoire.
Nick Goldfarb / Matador Productions / Producer Nick Goldfarb is a producer and writer based in New York City. He recently completed production of “Experience 3D,” a groundbreaking series of 3D documentaries for Discovery. His other credits include: “The F Word,” “The League,” and “Threads”. He is also the President of MainStreet Media, a nonprofit documentary film and TV production company whose credits over the past two decades include films “The F Word” and “Desperate Hours” and the TV series “Capitol Journal” and “Devil’s Advocate.” He has also served as a production executive at AOL and MTV.
Krista Saponara / Producer Krista Saponara is an Emmy Award winning producer and director whose career spans 18 years of documentary, series, and specialty show work featured on ESPN, TNT, PBS, ABC, TLC, and FOX. As Executive Producer and Producer, she spearheaded the development and production of the PBS feature length documentary "The Street Stops Here," a portrait of that nation's best high school basketball coach Bob Hurley, Sr. and his lifelong commitment to save the lives of inner city kids and the poor Catholic high school that gives them hope. Krista has been responsible for creative direction, intellectual property and original programming development, overseeing production and post-production departments. She conceptualized, produced and directed Telly Award winning commercial campaigns for the Big Ten Conference and Converse. Currently an independent filmmaker and content creator, she continues her search to find people, stories and projects that will educate and entertain but most importantly, inspire.
GEG – Gentile Entertainment Group John and Anthony Gentile/ Executive Producers John and Anthony Gentile have produced, written and directed more than 150 hours of award-winning family & primetime entertainment for television for the brands they created under their youth entertainment company Abrams Gentile Entertainment. They have also produced the AMC documentary New York at The Movies. In addition to creating and producing they have produced the campaigns for over 200 movies, television and Broadway productions ranging from Star Wars to Dreamgirls along with designing & developing related merchandising for their brands which have resulted in over One Billion dollars of retail sales since the company's inception.
Ant Gentile & Jessica Gentile/End of Era Productions/Co-Producers Ant Gentile, founder and president of End of Era Productions has designed and produced audio and visual content for both the music, television and motion picture industries. Credits and clients have included sound design and production for the feature film “Cruzando”, the ABC TV series “Van-pires”, Sesame Worshop’s “Pinky Dinky Doo” and the upcoming documentary series, “The Last Mob War”. EOE has also created original brand content for the media company, Yoostar Entertainment Group. Ant is also a partner in the music publishing company Rebel-One Publishing, an arm of Rebel-One management.
CONTACT:
MATADOR PRODUCTIONS
551 West 21ST St, 3rd Floor,
New York, NY 10011
Nick Goldfarb
nick@matadorprods.com
(917) 568-3214
Krista Saponara
kristasap@gmail.com
310-717-6304
GENTILE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
244 West 54th Street, 9th Floor,
New York, NY 10019
(347) 746-2440 office
(917) 478-3929 mobile
Copyright © 2011