More Info on the movie:]


Marshall filming to start in March

Matthew Thompson
Daily Mail staff

Monday January 30, 2006

A movie detailing the aftermath of the 1970 Marshall University
plane crash will start filming March 20 in Huntington with Matthew
McConaughey starring, according to the producer of the project.

Basil Iwanyk will produce the as-of-yet unnamed film for Warner
Bros. Pictures. The director will be Joseph McGinty Nichol, who goes
by "McG" and is known for his work on the "Charlie's Angels" film
series and music videos by Korn and Sugar Ray.

McConaughey, star of such films as "A Time to Kill" and "Amistad"
will star as head coach Jack Lengyel. Lengyel led a rebuilt football
team the season following the tragedy.

Iwanyk, 36, said the film would capture the repercussions the school
and Huntington faced while recovering from the plane crash that
killed 75 people including 37 members of the football team.

"This project is a labor of love for all of us involved," Iwanyk
said in a Sunday telephone interview.

The film's genesis began two years ago when Iwanyk and his
production staff were pitching ideas at Warner Bros. Iwanyk brought
up a story of a 1958 plane crash in Munich, Germany, which killed
eight Manchester United soccer players along with various
journalists and team officials

While discussing it, Iwanyk and his executives were reminded about
the Marshall plane crash. Iwanyk said the crash story was familiar
to him, but he didn't know much more beyond the lives it claimed.

"The more we did research, we realized that this was a story you
could not make up," Iwanyk said. "The story was just so emotional,
it just made sense."

On Nov. 14, 1970, on the way back from a loss to East Carolina
University, Marshall's charter plane crashed while trying to land
during a rainy night at Tri-State Airport in Huntington. Along with
the players, the crash claimed the lives of the coaches, flight
crew, team boosters and journalists covering the team.

The team rebuilt the following season behind new head coach Lengyel,
who took the Marshall position after leaving Wooster College in
Ohio.

With a collection of freshman and transfer students, the football
team pulled an upset its second game of the season over a heavily
favored Xavier team. The young Thundering Herd won 12-10 on the last
play of the game. Marshall won two games that year.

After working a year and a half on the script with screenwriter
Jamie Linden, the filmmakers went to Huntington to approach Marshall
University officials about the project.

Keith Spears, Marshall's vice president of marketing and
communication, said many studios approached the school in the past
about making a film about the tragedy. Spears said Warner Bros. was
chosen because it guaranteed putting time and money into the project
to make it as accurate as possible.

"We have been impressed with the crew because they have come with
right attitude," Spears said. "We wanted to make sure that the film
made would respect and honor the people who died in the crash along
with their relatives and friends."

The filmmakers spent many months of research in the Huntington area.
School officials opened up Marshall's archives to the filmmakers.
They also put them in touch with many individuals related to the
crash including Herald-Dispatch sportswriter Ernie Salvatore and
WSAZ sportscaster Keith Morehouse. Morehouse lost his father, Gene,
a play-by-play announcer for the team, in the crash.

Iwanyk said the local people involved were a little skeptical about
the project, but the crew assured them the film would be made with
utmost respect and accuracy.

"They put us through the ringer asking us all sorts of questions,"
Iwanyk said. "We just wanted to assure them that we weren't making
up fake stuff. The story speaks for itself."

The crew even attended a Marshall football game last fall, and
Iwanyk met Gov. Joe Manchin. He said the governor and state
officials have been key in getting the film off the ground.

"He searched me out, came up and shook my hand," Iwanyk said. "The
state and the governor have been extremely helpful with this movie."

The film will begin shooting around the Marshall campus before
moving on to Atlanta for further production. A release date has not
been set for the film.

Contact writer Matthew Thompson at 348-4834



--- In herdrumors@yahoogroups.com, "herdrumors" <herdrumors@y...>
wrote:
>
> The other day Marshall announced that they will consider adding a
four year Engineering
> Program. Today it was announced on WSAZ that Warner Brothers will
be filming a movie
> about the Marshall plane crash.
>