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General  | General | 5/27/2005

Filming "Prospect" at the PG World Wood Bat Tournament By Filmmaker Rick Stephenson

Perfect Game Staff
Editors Note: Rick Stephensen is the filmmaker who has produced what we believe is the best documentary ever made for those interested in baseball prospects or those who want to become one. Rick filmed at the PG/BA WWBA World Championship this past October. "Prospect" turned out to be an unbelievable educational film. Rick is now working on a new film, that should be equally important to baseball players, parents and others involved in the game. Here he tells about his experience at the World Championship. To learn more about "Prospect" go to www.prospectmovie.com

Rick's Story
 
          My film crew and I arrived at the 2004 Perfect Game World Wood Bat Tournament at two in afternoon soaked in sweat. We drove down to Fort Myers in a jeep packed to the ceiling with equipment and no air conditioning. This wasn't a big deal in Virginia, but once we hit Georgia, October seemed more like August.

          We pulled into the parking lot at Hammond Stadium, the Twins spring training complex, exhausted from the sixteen hour drive. The jeep's engine released heat like a desert road. I needed to get moving, but nerves and lack of sleep left me a bit overwhelmed. I had been on over thirty shoots in the last two months, some featuring stars like Ben Wallace and Colin Farrell, but this was the first time I was producing. And the film business is like baseball - when your job is to produce, you either produce or move on to a different job.

          I pulled it together, cleaned myself up, and double checked to make sure the camera gear was intact. A few minutes early, I wondered into the stadium to look around before meeting with the Perfect Game staff. Inside a game was already in progress. The bleachers were filled with clusters of scouts taking notes and pointing the radar guns. I pulled out my Perfect Game schedule. The tournament wasn't supposed to start until that evening. After scrambling through my papers, I figured that this must be a scrimmage arranged by Perfect Game for the scouts. Every player looked like a prospect. I walked over to a guy warming up the left fielder to figure out what was going on. I asked him what team he was on. 

"The Twins" he said.

I looked through my team list.

"The New Jersey Twins" I asked.

"No, the Minnesota Twins."

"I don't see you guys on the list." He looked at me like I was an idiot. I stared blankly for a moment. "Oh, those Twins." \

Turns out it was an instructional league game and indeed, every player on the field was a prospect. Let the filming begin. 

          After some stumbles, we figured it out and came back that night for the first game of the tournament. The opening ceremony during the Wood Bat Tournament is a spectacle unrivaled in amateur baseball. Hours before the game, the stadium was already packed with players, parents, and a coach from almost every college in the country. The recruiters and scouts hustled through the concourse like traders at the stock exchange.

          My crew and I moved through the fray to find a good place to shoot. Once we found a spot along the left field line, we set up the tripod and loaded the camera with tape. After making a few adjustments on the camera, I hit record and panned over the sea of scouts throughout the bleachers. This was the beginning to what would later become "Prospect."

          We filmed furiously over the next few days before heading back to Virginia. I was relieved after the initial success. If only I had known the long road that lay ahead. We shot approximately thirty more days over the next three months. That doesn't sound like a lot of work, but to shoot a scene for a film, you have to clear a location, travel, and most importantly, convince people that your project is worth taking hours out of their day to interview.

          But the high points make all the paperwork and phone time worth it. I got to interview several big leaguers like David Wright, Mike Cuddyer, Chad Tracy, BJ Upton, and Terry Francona - who was fresh off a World Series win. Those moments made up for the days when I planned to bring out a group of my former college teammates to recreate game situations and it snowed. That left me with three "actors" to work with. But like baseball, you make the adjustments and you react to the situation. And now that the film has released, the adjustments seemed to have worked. The feedback on the finished product has been beyond what I could have hoped. We've had agents calling to get copies for their clients in the minor leagues and I've met many interesting baseball people along the way. But while Prospect is doing so well, it is only the beginning. It's time to get back to the lab. We've got a new project in the works and I can't wait to get the cameras rolling.
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