Skip to main content

Films about Ohio phenoms LeBron James and Nathaniel Ayers - 'More Than a Game' and 'The Soloist' - open in local theaters

Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx in a scene from The Soloist movie
Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx in a scene from 'The Soloist'

The Soloist
, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr., tells the true story of Cleveland native Nathaniel Ayers, a gifted young musician whose life falls into chaos when he is overtaken by schizophrenia.

Foxx plays Ayers and Downey Jr. plays journalist Steve Lopez, an L.A. Times columnist who encounters Ayers, now homeless, in downtown L.A. Lopez takes on Ayers' story - not believing, at first, that this talented homeless man once went to the Julliard School in New York - and the two form a bond of friendship unexpected by both.

Scenes of Ayers childhood were shot in Cleveland. Foxx was on hand for the shoot.

LeBron James and teammates from St. Vincent St. Mary High School
LeBron James and his St. Vincent-St. Mary teammates

LeBron documentary 'More Than a Game'

Another film coming soon about another Northeast Ohio phenomenon is More Than a Game. The documentary paints a portrait of Cleveland Cavaliers great LeBron James during his days at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.

More than that, it tells the story of how James worked his way through a difficult life to find friendship and family among his high school basketball teammates. The trailer is slick and the film looks like it could be the next Hoop Dreams. Certainly, it looks like it could have been a feature film. (And it was: 2023's Shooting Stars.)

With talk that James is shopping a TV show based on his life growing up in Akron, you can be sure that this documentary would serve as a great pilot.


Connect with Midwest Movie Maker on Facebook and Instagram
… and don’t forget to subscribe to the Midwest Movie Maker newsletter





Comments

Popular Posts

Everything we know about ‘Superman’ filming in Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio

Writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quietly's Superman from DC's All-Star Superman Among the films awarded 2024 film tax incentives by the Ohio Department of Development is Genesis , a Warner Bros. production that DC Comics fans know is nothing more than Superman ’s secret identity. The film was one of 23 film, television, and theater projects awarded incentives through the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit Program. Superman, formally titled  Superman: Legacy , kicks off writer/director James Gunn’s DC Universe . Here’s everything we know about the production. Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, caricatured by Shuster Superman  will film on location in Cleveland and Cincinnati Superman  will film in Cleveland and Cincinnati, according to OhioData . On-location work in Cleveland is expected to start in mid-June and last through July 30, according to one source. Those dates could include Cincinnati locations. Neither Warner Bros. , the Greater Cleveland Film Commissi

Two Disney films - 'Ella McCay,' 'Eenie Meanie' - and M. Night Shyamalan feature ‘Trap’ among Ohio Film Credit award recipients

Samara Weaving will star in 'Eenie Meanie,' shooting in Cleveland > > > Two Disney films, Ella McCa y and Eenie Meanie , and M. Night Shyamalan’s next feature film, Trap , were among eight recipients of Ohio’s Motion Picture Tax Credit program, announced at the end of July. Projects selected by Ohio’s Motion Picture Tax Credit program receive a refundable tax credit of 30% on production cast and crew wages, as well as other in-state expenditures. The eligibility criteria encompass a wide spectrum of creative endeavors, including feature-length films, documentaries, pre-Broadway productions, miniseries, video games, and music videos. Four other projects, encompassing an array of genres and narratives, were awarded production tax credits, as well. The program’s goal is to act as a powerful catalyst, encouraging both in-state and out-of-state filmmakers to choose Ohio as the canvas for their artistic endeavors. All eight awardees include: Samara Weaving in 'Ready or

5 Horrific Questions with 'Fetish of Flesh's' Freddie Meade

A test scene from the upcoming 'Fetish of Flesh' by Demented Media >>> Newark, Ohio’s, own Freddie Meade was 11 years old when he became a horror movie fan and we all have Andrew Copp to thank for it. Copp was an ultra-low-budget indie filmmaker from Dayton, Ohio, known for The Mutilation Man and Church of the Eyes . Copp died in 2013. “I met Andrew Copp and Tom 'Woodstock' Lee [Copp’s colleague], and I thought it was incredible that I actually got to meet someone who did that,” Meade says. That chance encounter set him on his filmmaking path. Meade's latest project, A Fetish of Flesh , is a spine-tingling endeavor that blurs the line between reality and fiction. Drawing inspiration from their own experiences, Meade and his friends ventured into the woods to create their first movie. However, what transpires in A Fetish of Flesh is a chilling tale of a group of students embarking on a thesis project, stumbling upon a modern-day Manson family reminiscen