EXCLUSIVE: Colin Hanks and Sean Stuart’s production outfit Company Name is teaming with current and former NFL players Troy Palomalu, Ryan Kalil and Jordan Gross to make a feature film about football players in American Samoa. The untitled project, a drama to be penned by Jim Burnstein and Garrett Schiff (Love And Honor), is based on true events and centers on an assistant football coach in the ’80s who goes to American Samoa on a fool’s errand to recruit a high school phenom. Of course what he discovered was a gold mine of talent that the college and pro ranks have mined ever since.
Hanks and Stuart are producing with Polamalu, the now-retired All-Pro safety from the Pittsburgh Steelers; his fellow USC Trojans alum Kalil, now the center for the Carolina Panthers; and retired former Panthers tackle Gross. UTA Independent Film Group is packaging the film and will rep distribution rights.
Hanks was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe last year for Season 1 of FX’s Fargo, while Stuart has worked on ESPN’s 30 For 30 Shorts. Their Company Name banner produced the docu feature All Things Must Pass about the rise and fall of Tower Records, which bowed at last year’s SXSW.
Schiff & Burnstein’s football script The Quarterback’s Tale with producer Marc Platt, sold to MGM in a multi-studio bidding war a few years back. Their 2007 TV movie Ruffian earned star Sam Shepard a SAG Award nomination. Their projects in development include Naked Shakespeare at Voltage Pictures and the animated film Pazzo for Original Force Entertainment.
Hanks and Stuart are repped by UTA and attorney Tye Gonser. Burnstein and Schiff are with UTA and attorney Eric Brooks.