Less than two months ago I was sitting on the couch, going through the weekly Longreads newsletter, when the first article just grabbed me and pulled me in. The Most Amazing Bowling Story Ever.
As a kid I bowled a lot, so when a story about bowling comes across my radar, I get really excited. I blasted through the article before I could even load it into Instapaper. It was about a special night in Plano, Texas, where bowler Bill Fong embarked on a streak to 900. That’s 3 perfect games in a row, something only 21 other people have done.
The story really pulls you along, going back and forth with the streak and the backstory of Bill Fong. The whole time I’m reading this I keep thinking, “This would make an awesome movie.”
Fortunately I didn’t read the teasers with the article, so I didn’t see the end coming. If you want, you can read the whole thing here.
But different images were just stuck in my head, and I kept thinking how much of a fun movie this would make. So I emailed the author, Mike Mooney, who coincidentally was also the author of the article on the story Andrew and I were shooting in Odessa. He agreed – it would make a cool film.
Fast forward through a phone call to an excited Bill Fong and some pre-production planning, I hit the road with a car full of gear about a week ago. After hours of hanging out at the Plano Super Bowl, filming countless strikes, and even driving a camera strapped to a race car down the lane, Strike is officially in the can.
I’m excited to start editing, and it’s been great how fast this project has moved forward. I’ll be writing a few more posts about production (especially the race-car camera). It was shot mostly on the Sony EX1 and Canon 5D, but I also shot on the GH2 and we rented a Sony FS700 for slow motion. Plus a GoPro. Interesting experience with all five cameras.
Of course there’s a Kickstarter to go along with the film. It’s near it’s goal, and it’s to cover the costs of production and post-production. There’s rewards for as little as $5 – any support will help.
Check out the Kickstarter project here.
If you have any questions, about the film or production, leave it in the comments and I’ll address it in the future posts!
