Midwest Movie Maker

After his star turn in 'Trainwreck,' LeBron is looking for more Hollywood opportunities It’s getting even hotter in Cleveland. LeBron James ’ SpringHill Entertainment group and producer Bill Lawrence ( Scrubs , Spin CIty ) will use Cleveland as the setting of a new NBC sitcom. The show, titled There Goes the Neighborhood , follows “the first white family to move into a predominantly black, newly gentrified neighborhood in Cleveland.” Cleveland.com described it as a reverse Jeffersons . Neil Goldman, Garrett Donovan and Ron Funches will write and co-executive produce. James’ SpringHill Entertainment, part of LRMR Management, sold a second series to NBC as well. The drama is based on the life of Dr. James Andrews, a sports medicine surgeon. SpringHill and James already have two shows on the air - Cleveland Hustles on CNBC and Survivor’s Remorse on Starz. A third, The Wall , is a game show set to debut on NBC. There Goes the Neighborhood will join other sitco...

The cast of 'Survivor's Remorse,' LeBron James and Maverick Carter's new Starz Network sit-com We had a little fun this summer after NBA superstar and Akron , Ohio , native and resident LeBron James announced his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. We thought it would be fun to cast the film version of his return to Northeast Ohio . We had no idea James was already deeply involved in film projects of his own. In late September, James, along with Springhill Productions partner Maverick Carter, one of James’ childhood friends, debut Survivor’s Remorse on the Starz network. The comedy deals with a young basketball phenom as he makes his way in the big leagues. The show is less a reflection of James’ real life than it is of his and Carter’s survivor’s guilt for becoming incredibly successful. “I explained to Tom how I have it sometimes, because of my family and my neighborhood where I come from,” Carter told The New York Times recently. Tom is Tom Werner, produ...

LeBron James returns home to the Cleveland Cavaliers When LeBron James ended weeks of speculation by announcing his decision to leave Miami and return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, what he really did was cap the kind of sports story that is quickly optioned by a major motion picture studio and transformed into a summer blockbuster - maybe even an Oscar contender. It’s the kind of story that deserves the feel good treatment. Young gun breaks the heart of his Midwest city - fans, friends and family, learns that there's more to life than just the "one thing," and redeems himself by Coming Home (assuredly the title). Here’s how I imagine Coming Home .  Movie opens in a small gym. We see James in the distance in a contemplative moment, alone, shooting hoops. He says nothing - in fact, he has very few lines in the entire film. Over this quiet moment, we slowly hear the rising sounds of sports radio - Baskin and Phelps , maybe. It is June 25, the day James announces ...

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 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 Hi...