Some of the cast of the upcoming film “Faith, Family and Football” including Eddie McClintock who will be playing St. Marys football coach Jodi Mote, Christian Dattilo, Addison Dattilo and Larry Orton as Coach Bill Hamlin. (Photo Provided)
St. MARYS — The makers of a film about the St. Marys community and its connection to high school football are eager for the community to see it.
“Faith, Family and Football,” being made by JCFilms Studios, is in post-production after having filmed this past fall around St. Marys and elsewhere.
“We have a rough cut,” said Jason Campbell, president of JCFilms. “There are still one or two pickup scenes that still need to be done.
“The film is looking good. Our whole thing is we want the best possible representation of the school and Pleasants County. We are just taking our time to put something together that is very special.”
They are looking at late spring or early summer to release the film with a premiere being planned for the St. Marys community before it is released to their own platform, JC+ and then it will be released on Amazon’s streaming service.
“Faith, Family and Football” is about Jodi Mote, who has coached St. Marys football for more than 20 years, including after a 2014 stroke, which led him to a career working with special needs students.
The film takes place in the present day, but includes a number of flashbacks to the days of Coach Bill Hanlin.
St. Marys in 1963 under Hanlin was undefeated and unscored upon in 10 consecutive games. He became head football coach at Glenville State College, now university, in 1966, spending nine seasons there and leading the Glenville Pioneers to an undefeated regular season in 1973.
Hanlin, who died in April 2019, retired in 1988 as the executive secretary of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission and helped Mote coach St. Marys to its first state football championship in 2016.
The cast includes Eddie McClintock as Jodi Mote, Julie Wallace DeKlavon as Mandy Mote and Larry Orton as Coach Bill Hanlin. Actor Dean Cain and former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon also appear in the film.
“Working in Pleasants County was absolutely wonderful,” Campbell said. “It is such a great community that really got engaged with the film.”
Mote and the football team participated as well as others from around the area.
“There are some really talented actors and actresses that live in the area and from Parkersburg, that were a part of it,” Campbell said. “It was a really good group.
“We are looking forward to making more films in the area.”
The film is part of a new initiative JCFilms has to go to each county in West Virginia with Cain and make faith and family films, based on stories and things that have happened in a particular area. “Faith, Family and Football” is one of the first films in this new initiative.
They have had productions in Lewis, Upshur and Harrison counties already. This summer they are planning to do filming in Doddridge, Calhoun and Webster counties.
“We go to these counties and find something that is very cool and unique to that county,” Campbell said. “We try to craft a film around that storyline.”
Upshur has the town of Buckhannon, where the company has used locations for several films. A story about a Lewis County bank robbery in the 1800s was the basis of a film.
When it came to Pleasants County, they saw close ties between the community and the high school football program.
“The more time we spent there, the more we realized that football was a big deal in St. Marys and Pleasants County,” Campbell said. ”We also saw how important Coach Mote is to the team and the community as well as a special needs educator.
“I think people will see a great community that comes together that supports the football program and their young people. I think the title of the film, ‘Family Faith and Football’ is perfect for Pleasants County.”
The production had the help and cooperation of local officials, including the Pleasants County Commission.
“They were the first ones who said, ‘Let’s do this for the community,’” Campbell said.
Commission President Jay Powell was thrilled to be able to work with the production team to make the project happen.
“The Christian film being made here in Pleasants County and being based off of some of our history within the community was certainly a special experience,” he said. ”Although we have been reminded by the producers over and over the movie is not 100% factual, it is based off of true stories throughout our history, and for the filmmakers to choose our community was a tremendous blessing.”
Many within the community are looking forward to seeing the film when it is released.
“We are excited to see the finished product later this year and certainly very thankful for the opportunity JCFilms gave Pleasants County,” Powell said. “We look forward to seeing what God does with a Christian film such as this and just truly feel blessed for our community having the opportunity to be a part of something this special.”
Campbell credited the community with coming up with some older cars, bicycles and wardrobe.
“The community really came in and helped us out to make it all look very believable,” he said.
Other things such as locations that may not exist anymore or other aspects of the film were accomplished through “movie magic,” Campbell said.
There are locations in West Virginia that can represent certain time periods in the past and the present as well as a lot of natural beauty that can be shown in their productions.
“The whole purpose of this program is to show a side of the state many people don’t associate with the state,” Campbell said.
He said many films set in West Virginia feature hillbillies and opioids.
“There is so much more to this state with technology and education as well as family and faith,” Campbell said. “Faith is important, family is important, and football is important. With this film, I think people will see a part of West Virginia that is really missing in our culture right now.”
He hopes films like the ones they are doing help change how people see West Virginia.
“Films change culture,” Campbell said. “Films give an idea of what a place is like. We hope these films we are making coming out of West Virginia change the narrative of the state.
“I think they hit a home run here.”
Powell is hopeful the spirit of the community comes through the story.
“Only the Good Lord above could have orchestrated a small part of Hollywood coming to Pleasants County to film a movie the world will have the opportunity to experience,” he said. “Time will tell what God will do with the film but for now I can attest it was a very neat experience for our small community.”
Contact Brett Dunlap at [email protected]
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2024-03-01 05:01:13
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