The King and Me - Movie
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The King and Me is a sweeping documentary telling the tale of Dave Blackburn’s life long love affair with fast pitch softball, The Maccabi Games, The State of Israel, Barnstormer Eddie Feigner and much more.
It covers the sporting aspects of Dave's life and it goes much deeper into the human interaction and life long bonds that are forged only through the heat of competition.
It is a special brotherhood unified not by blood but by the elation of winning and sharing the crushing disappointment of loosing with your teammates, the mutual desire to practice and excell in your chosen sport.
The story highlights how important it is to, trust your intuition and follow your little voice of inspiration where ever it leads you through life.
It also emphasizes, “Dreams can become reality, if you focus your energy and apply yourself to a specific goal. The rewards can be life altering as illustrated by Dave's example of, perserverence, never give up, try, try, try until you succeed or find an alternative avenue that garners the simular results.
Dave Blackburn is a 6 time medalist for "Team USA". 4 gold, one silver and one bronze. Dave played in the Maccabi Games in Israel and the Pan Am games in South America for a quarter of a century representing Maccabi USA.
The Maccabi games are a quadrenneel event. it is the third largest sporting event on the planet. It is not general knowledge to sports fans in America but I guess America is not necessarly the be all, end all of everything in the world.
In 1985 the game of Men’s fast pitch softball was introduced into the Maccabi Games in Israel. Dave Blackburn started on the ground floor, the first year of the softball program and represented, “Team USA”, as the primary softball pitcher for America. Dave's time on the mound lasted longer than any other athlete in the history of the Maccabiah Games in any event, bar none.
When Dave was asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the gold medal game in 2013 he thought that was a great honor but he had no idea the Maccabi family had a treat in store for him during the medal ceremony.
Mabbabi retired Dave's number which is the first time this honor has been bestowed on any athlete in the games. Each player on the softball teams that wore Dave's number 7 walked up to Dave on the pitchers mound and took off their jerseys and surrendered they're number to Dave in a show of solidarity and respect for his accomplishments and the sheer amount of years he played.
Dave was also the pioneer that saw the writing on the wall as far as the internet was concerned and put together the first streaming simulcast for the live play by play during the softball games. It went world wide as it happened and no one was doing anythiing like that at the time. Dave laid the foundation for the standard that has become a regular feature during the competitions. Live streaming. This was how he became a active member of the Producers Guild in Hollywood. Which is where we think is the perfect place for the premier screening of the movie.
Dave got a spiritual awakening from being exposed to his Jewish history through the Israel Connect Program Maccabi oversees. He gained a respect for his heratige that he could only understood by going to Israel and experiencing the depth of his roots first hand.
Everyone should take the time to research their origins and gain pride knowing that there is a story behind every family on earth, if you know that history you may better understand your place in the bigger scheme of things. Sometimes if you know where you've been it's easier to put things in perspective as to where and how you are going to proceed in life and where you are heading. This is also a part of our story.
When Dave was a child his father was a softball pitcher for many local teams. One weekend he played an exhibition game against Eddie Feigner and his, 4 man softball team, “The King and His Court”. Feigner's softball team was a lot like the Harlem Globtrotters, only not on the basketball court but on the softball diamond.
Dave was inspired by Feigner and his unusual style and crazy antics so he followed the path that Feigner blazed that ultimatly lead him around the world representing Maccabi USA and pitching softball.
Dave's favorite quote was, "once every four years I'm transformed from a Schlub to a Celeb".
Eddie Feigner's bigger than life, facinating story is a sequence in the movie. Feigner was the origin of Dave's love for softball driving him to pursue pitching his entire adult life.
In 2010 Dave suffered a life altering accident, he was a passenger in a car on it’s way to a game when there was a horrendous head on collision. He had to be air lifted from the scene to a Phoenix hospital. Dave broke 25 bones and was in a coma for two months. When he woke up he had a part of his leg amputated along with many other internal injuries. He was confined to a wheelchair and would never be able to pitch softball again.
He had to overcome real adversity to get back into life and carry on. All Dave said was, ” I’m alive and that is the only thing that matters”. So he took up table tennis.
Dave decided he needed to share his exploits for the last thirty years in a documentary film. He went back to the Maccabi Games and changed his sport to ping pong.
He took a film crew to Israel and did interviews with teammates, competetors, event staffers and shot the grandure and scope of the Maccabi Games for the documentary.
He returned with footage in hand and we worked on the project for a year when fate, chance and kizmet reared it's ugly head. Dave was found in his Santa Monica apartment deceased from the strain his body had endoured since the accident had occured. Everyone was dumbfounded.
Dave was a bigger than life charcter and the last thing we expected was that. He seemed to overcome any adversity he encountered and had done so through out his recovery from the accident.
Since Dave passed we've continued to work on the documentary in an aggressive manner. We have the blessing and encouragement of his family to finish what Dave started. Now we're hoping Dave's extended Maccabi family will rally behind us with financial support as well as access to archival footage no one else has.
Currently we have 100 minutes of edited footage broken into 10 sequences that represent Dave's life, influences and history over the past 55 years. In the last year we have accomplished a great deal and a lot of "The King and Me". is edited. We are trying to finish the story we started with Dave without compromise of the constraints we're experiencing. No budget being the main concern we're dealing with.
We have three more segments that need to be addressed and we need to do the highlight reels of the gold medal games where Dave led, Team USA, to victory over Canada.
Canada was and still is the main competition for "Team USA", they have an outstanding program and are strong competitors with many talented players. Team USA and Team Canada have come to have a mutual respect for one another after all these years and all the other softball teams from countries across the globe are improving by leaps and bounds in the softball program.
Our last crowd funding campaign got us enough money to cover expences for a couple of months but we have been covering the expenses and the time vampire associated with a venture of this magnititude for the last 7 months. Now we need your financial help to finish.
We have carried the ball down the field 80 yards and we're currently at the 20 yard line looking into the end zone, a field goal will not do, we need to score a touchdown to complete this labor of friendship and love.
Two to three more months and we can share the inspiritation and insights that Dave Blackburn wanted to pass on through his approach to life.
We were friends with David for over 25 years so we'd really like to make this documentary a reality, not only for Dave but for his family and all the Maccabi Volunteers and athletes, Dave's teammates and ourselves as well, but mostly for our friend,,, it was his last work in progress.
PLEASE help make his desire a reality and contribute to the documentary finishing fund.
WEB SITE FOR MORE INFO:
http://thekingandme.pairsite.com/
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
http://smdp.com/documentary-examines-santa-monica-sports-icon/151093
It covers the sporting aspects of Dave's life and it goes much deeper into the human interaction and life long bonds that are forged only through the heat of competition.
It is a special brotherhood unified not by blood but by the elation of winning and sharing the crushing disappointment of loosing with your teammates, the mutual desire to practice and excell in your chosen sport.
The story highlights how important it is to, trust your intuition and follow your little voice of inspiration where ever it leads you through life.
It also emphasizes, “Dreams can become reality, if you focus your energy and apply yourself to a specific goal. The rewards can be life altering as illustrated by Dave's example of, perserverence, never give up, try, try, try until you succeed or find an alternative avenue that garners the simular results.
Dave Blackburn is a 6 time medalist for "Team USA". 4 gold, one silver and one bronze. Dave played in the Maccabi Games in Israel and the Pan Am games in South America for a quarter of a century representing Maccabi USA.
The Maccabi games are a quadrenneel event. it is the third largest sporting event on the planet. It is not general knowledge to sports fans in America but I guess America is not necessarly the be all, end all of everything in the world.
In 1985 the game of Men’s fast pitch softball was introduced into the Maccabi Games in Israel. Dave Blackburn started on the ground floor, the first year of the softball program and represented, “Team USA”, as the primary softball pitcher for America. Dave's time on the mound lasted longer than any other athlete in the history of the Maccabiah Games in any event, bar none.
When Dave was asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the gold medal game in 2013 he thought that was a great honor but he had no idea the Maccabi family had a treat in store for him during the medal ceremony.
Mabbabi retired Dave's number which is the first time this honor has been bestowed on any athlete in the games. Each player on the softball teams that wore Dave's number 7 walked up to Dave on the pitchers mound and took off their jerseys and surrendered they're number to Dave in a show of solidarity and respect for his accomplishments and the sheer amount of years he played.
Dave was also the pioneer that saw the writing on the wall as far as the internet was concerned and put together the first streaming simulcast for the live play by play during the softball games. It went world wide as it happened and no one was doing anythiing like that at the time. Dave laid the foundation for the standard that has become a regular feature during the competitions. Live streaming. This was how he became a active member of the Producers Guild in Hollywood. Which is where we think is the perfect place for the premier screening of the movie. Dave got a spiritual awakening from being exposed to his Jewish history through the Israel Connect Program Maccabi oversees. He gained a respect for his heratige that he could only understood by going to Israel and experiencing the depth of his roots first hand.
Everyone should take the time to research their origins and gain pride knowing that there is a story behind every family on earth, if you know that history you may better understand your place in the bigger scheme of things. Sometimes if you know where you've been it's easier to put things in perspective as to where and how you are going to proceed in life and where you are heading. This is also a part of our story.When Dave was a child his father was a softball pitcher for many local teams. One weekend he played an exhibition game against Eddie Feigner and his, 4 man softball team, “The King and His Court”. Feigner's softball team was a lot like the Harlem Globtrotters, only not on the basketball court but on the softball diamond. Dave was inspired by Feigner and his unusual style and crazy antics so he followed the path that Feigner blazed that ultimatly lead him around the world representing Maccabi USA and pitching softball.Dave's favorite quote was, "once every four years I'm transformed from a Schlub to a Celeb".
Eddie Feigner's bigger than life, facinating story is a sequence in the movie. Feigner was the origin of Dave's love for softball driving him to pursue pitching his entire adult life.
In 2010 Dave suffered a life altering accident, he was a passenger in a car on it’s way to a game when there was a horrendous head on collision. He had to be air lifted from the scene to a Phoenix hospital. Dave broke 25 bones and was in a coma for two months. When he woke up he had a part of his leg amputated along with many other internal injuries. He was confined to a wheelchair and would never be able to pitch softball again. He had to overcome real adversity to get back into life and carry on. All Dave said was, ” I’m alive and that is the only thing that matters”. So he took up table tennis.
Dave decided he needed to share his exploits for the last thirty years in a documentary film. He went back to the Maccabi Games and changed his sport to ping pong. He took a film crew to Israel and did interviews with teammates, competetors, event staffers and shot the grandure and scope of the Maccabi Games for the documentary.
He returned with footage in hand and we worked on the project for a year when fate, chance and kizmet reared it's ugly head. Dave was found in his Santa Monica apartment deceased from the strain his body had endoured since the accident had occured. Everyone was dumbfounded.
Dave was a bigger than life charcter and the last thing we expected was that. He seemed to overcome any adversity he encountered and had done so through out his recovery from the accident.Since Dave passed we've continued to work on the documentary in an aggressive manner. We have the blessing and encouragement of his family to finish what Dave started. Now we're hoping Dave's extended Maccabi family will rally behind us with financial support as well as access to archival footage no one else has.
Currently we have 100 minutes of edited footage broken into 10 sequences that represent Dave's life, influences and history over the past 55 years. In the last year we have accomplished a great deal and a lot of "The King and Me". is edited. We are trying to finish the story we started with Dave without compromise of the constraints we're experiencing. No budget being the main concern we're dealing with.
We have three more segments that need to be addressed and we need to do the highlight reels of the gold medal games where Dave led, Team USA, to victory over Canada.
Canada was and still is the main competition for "Team USA", they have an outstanding program and are strong competitors with many talented players. Team USA and Team Canada have come to have a mutual respect for one another after all these years and all the other softball teams from countries across the globe are improving by leaps and bounds in the softball program. Our last crowd funding campaign got us enough money to cover expences for a couple of months but we have been covering the expenses and the time vampire associated with a venture of this magnititude for the last 7 months. Now we need your financial help to finish. We have carried the ball down the field 80 yards and we're currently at the 20 yard line looking into the end zone, a field goal will not do, we need to score a touchdown to complete this labor of friendship and love.
Two to three more months and we can share the inspiritation and insights that Dave Blackburn wanted to pass on through his approach to life.
We were friends with David for over 25 years so we'd really like to make this documentary a reality, not only for Dave but for his family and all the Maccabi Volunteers and athletes, Dave's teammates and ourselves as well, but mostly for our friend,,, it was his last work in progress.
PLEASE help make his desire a reality and contribute to the documentary finishing fund.
WEB SITE FOR MORE INFO:
http://thekingandme.pairsite.com/
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
http://smdp.com/documentary-examines-santa-monica-sports-icon/151093
Organizer
Brian StuArt Hanish
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
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