Per Aberdeen News, a film focused on former Lipscomb men’s basketball Coach Don Meyer is being planned. The filmmakers hope to shoot in both Nashville and Aberdeen, S.D. (home of Northern State University – the school where Meyer coached until his retirement in 2010). The film’s producers were scouting on location in Aberdeen this past week.
The independent film, currently going by the working title of My Many Sons, has yet to be fully cast but hopes to secure funding and talent to begin production this year. The project is reportedly attracting notable names and anticipates a release window of 2013.
The newly founded Moonglow Films will head up the project, with Hollywood veteran Brad Wilson serving as a producer. Carol Miller will serve as the screenwriter and a co-producer. Director Ralph E. Portillo will helm the project.
Miller reportedly interviewed former Lipscomb and NSU players and read the biographical books How Lucky You Can Be: The Don Meyer Story and Playing for Coach Meyer to prepare for the screenplay. She also met with Meyer to discuss the project. The script has completed its first draft and is currently being re-written.
Lipscomb alum Casey Bond, a former MLB player who recently starred in the 2011 film Moneyball, will have a role in the film in addition to having a producer’s credit.
The idea for the film reportedly came to light when Lipscomb administration told Bond last fall that he should pursue making a movie about Meyer. Bond was very keen on the idea, and he pitched the project to Moonglow Films.
“I just had an epiphany on how this movie could be done,” Bond told Aberdeen News. “So I got ahold of Brad and told him, ‘I have this amazing story.’ He was into it and believed in it right away. And the idea just blossomed from there.”
With 923 wins, Meyer is one of the most successful coaches in NCAA history, having led Lipscomb to a NAIA Championship in 1986. He coached at Lipscomb until 1999.
Meyer is currently recovering from a successful pacemaker surgery.
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