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Photos By Tarsicio Macias
Single A Productions decided to make a film about a Dominican baseball player and his story playing for the Swing of the Quad Cities.
With the influx of Latino players in the major leagues, it comes to no surprise that some of the players in the film are Latino. Some filming done was at John O’Donnell Stadium in Davenport, Iowa and the co-writer and directors for the film are Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck who also directed Half Nelson, a top ten film of 2006.
Filming took place in the Dominican Republic, Iowa, and Ariz. The filmmakers are still deciding a name for the movie.
The first assistant director was Mariela Comitini and the second assistant director was Juan Zuniga who has directed commercials in the Miami area. Some notable actors in the film are Michael Gaston who plays the pitching coach and is best know for his roles in TV shows “Prison Break” and “Jericho”.
Richard Bull was on “Little House on the Prairie”. According to second assistant director, Juan Zuniga, filming will be done in October, editing will be done in the spring of 2008 and the film should be released at the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009.
Rayniel Rufino is from the Dominican Republic and wears the number 13, playing third baseman Jorge Ramirez. Previously, Rufino had been in “Liberty Kid”. Today, he lives in New York City. Rufino thought the film was great and says that great people behind the film gave it some life. “Working with everybody has been a pleasure,” Rufino said.
Jesus Diaz is from Venezuela and wears the number 24, playing the role of center fielder Ed Poveda. This is his first movie but he had small roles on Telemundo’s soap opera’s “El Cuerpo del Deseo” and “Decisiones”. He said that the film crew made everything real easy. Diaz was happy with the accurate portrayals of Latinos in the game. “In real life, Latinos are getting known in baseball. Most of the [baseball] awards are for Latinos,” he said.
Geraldo Ramirez is from Venezuela and wears the number 46 playing catcher Orlando Mato. He lives in Miami and this is his second movie. He played a bad guy in Telemundo’s soap “El Cuerpo del Deseo”. His favorite baseball player is Andres Galarraga because he’s a good story of what the Latino players go through. “Galarraga was critiqued at the beginning of his career; nothing stopped him even with his battle with cancer. For that he’ll always be the best.” Ramirez stated. Ramirez said that the Latinos in the film get along perfectly. “The film is excellent, some of the actors are Latinos and we understand each other,” Ramirez said.
Kelvin Garcia is from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and wears the number 22, playing the role of pitcher Salvador Torres. This is the first movie role for the nineteen year old. His favorite player is David Ortiz and Garcia did play some professional baseball for an enterprise. Garcia says that he feels proud of the star of the film, Algenis Perez, and the way Latinos are portrayed in the film.
“Latinos are reflected good, giving us opportunity, talent, and better effort,” Garcia said.
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