How a dog almost ruined our shoot

When we were trying to secure a location to interview Wichita Wings legend Kevin Kewley, he suggested the home of his friend and former coach, Roy Turner. It's a nice pad with a beautiful background on the east side. Perfect, right?
What we didn't realize was Roy had a dog. I don't know what kind of dog it was, or how old it was. I don't even know if the dog was a boy or a girl. What I did know was that dog really wanted Kevin's attention while we were trying to interview him.
We tried putting the dog outside, and in other rooms, but the dog was having none of it.
While this was happening, Roy was not on the set. Fortunately, Mike Carpenter was. Mike was visiting from his home in Denver, where he went to film school with co-director Kenneth Linn, and was helping us with the shoot that night.
The dog decided it would be acceptable to receive off-screen attention from Mike, who was able to pet the creature while manning the sound and the main camera. Crisis averted.
(I should note that diverting the dog's attention would have been a perfect job for producer Tim O'Bryhim. Unfortunately, I forgot to tell him about the shoot. I have a feeling I'm going to hear about that one.)

Angels aren't just in heaven

Last week we had the good fortune to spend some time with four Wichita Wings Angels. It turns out that they often get together to rehash old times and enjoy each other's company. Lucky us! We brought Wings memorabilia and some old video footage for them to enjoy. Needless to say, it was loads of fun to see their reactions to the good ol' days.

We weren't the only ones to come bearing gifts. They showed us their collection of old Angels uniforms, which are still in excellent shape. Each of these ladies enjoyed sharing their memories of the Wings' glory years; though we probably enjoyed hearing about it even more. We were happy to share what we had as well, and were able to leave them with a few DVDs of old footage that brought a smile to their faces.

Whenever we speak to the people involved with the Wings' players, coaches, owners, cheerleaders, or office staff, we are reminded of how special those days were for both the people involved and the city of Wichita. The Wings truly did make this town bigger than it had been before. We're just glad we can put it on film for you.

Why we needed a little Shine

Yesterday, I wrote about the demolition of the Wichita Eagle's longtime home at 825 E. Douglas on the blog for our documentary "Out Here In Kansas." Today, I decided I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the Eagle on this blog, also.
Before the building was torn down, I decided it was important to shoot an interview there with former Wings beat writer Tom Shine (pictured). Tom's father, the late Neal Shine, was a legendary editor and publisher of the Detroit Free Press. His son Conor is a reporter for the Dallas News.
As for Tom ... he never left Wichita, and I for one am grateful for that. He's the one who hired me at the Eagle. He's a lively storyteller and is absolutely one of my favorite people in the world.
Tom wasn't my boss for long. I was his last hire before he left the sports desk, and he's now the Eagle's deputy editor.
As for me, I went on to write sports for 11 years at the Eagle. In all that time, I never covered a single Wings game. Do I wish I would have? Not on your life. It's much more fun to be a fan.

Local author and...music video producer??

Has your life ever taken an unexpected turn? Did you ever start walking down one path and find yourself on another? Have you ever unexpectedly helped make a music video about the Wichita Wings? Most of you might be able to answer "yes" to two of these three questions. But it's the third that I didn't really see coming.

One of the joys of working with a group of creative filmmakers is that they can take relatively mundane parts of a book and turn them into something you'd never imagine. And I definitely didn't imagine this. But when Adam Knapp, Jon Pic, and Kenny Linn told me their idea for this shoot, I immediately loved it. I can't really go into details because we'd like for this to be a surprise, but I can tell you it will be '80s-rific and will involve one of your favorite all-time Wings stars. 

The shoot itself was loads of fun. We had the help of a bunch of talented young ladies who made it all pretty easy on us. I'm not exactly Martin Scorsese, so I stayed well away from the cameras. But the guys that are actually shooting this movie have a gift for this sort of thing. It was an awful lot of fun to watch them work their magic. A great hair and make-up team transformed these actresses into something you'll all recognize...a blast from the past. My role? Look, I am pretty darn good at bringing snacks...and helping find talent...and answering Wings-related questions. Also, I can pick up a pizza like a BOSS.

Not every documentary film includes a music video. But this isn't your normal documentary. The Wichita Wings were an extraordinary phenomenon, and they deserve an extraordinary film. Hopefully, that's what we'll deliver.

More to come soon...

Why we couldn't resist the Wings story

I met Tim O'Bryhim on the best night of my life.

It was last year's world premiere of "Out Here In Kansas," a documentary short I had just poured several months of my life into. Many Wichita celebrities were there, including the mayor. We sold out the venue at Roxy's Downtown - had to turn people away at the door, actually - and the film was incredibly well received. We even received a standing ovation. Because of the challenges we overcame to make the movie, it was a completely gratifying moment.

Tim's brother Brendan was largely responsible for this. I first met Brendan about 10 years ago at a social event, and through the next decade we would invariably run into each other in different places (usually either at the gym or in a bar). Brendan started following what we were doing with "Out Here In Kansas," he asked if I wanted to speak at one of his social groups, and that evolved into the photo you're looking at right now.

Brendan's brother was there that night. I was already aware of Tim O'Bryhim and Michael Romalis, who had made some headlines after co-authoring the book Make This Town Big: The Story of Roy Turner and the Wichita Wings. I was glad to learn they wrote it. Sometimes history has a way of forgetting just how big of deal certain things were.

And make no mistake about it - the Wings were a big deal. They transcended sports, really, and engrained themselves into Wichita's pop culture. How many Wichitans were soccer fans before the Wings came along? Not many, I'll bet. I'm a perfect example.

Understand, the 1980s were my adolescent and teenage years. I was a country kid at a rural high school. Soccer was not on my radar. Then along came the Wings. Suddenly my friends and I were pooling our resources so we could make two or three trips a year to the Kansas Coliseum, just to be part of the excitement. Soon, after playing in high school football games on Friday nights, we were turning around Saturday mornings to play in a soccer league - a league that didn't exist before the Wings had swallowed Wichita whole.

So ... back to our movie premiere on Oct. 11. After meeting Tim, the first words out of his mouth were his desire to collaborate on a documentary about the Wings.

It sounded cool. I knew Roy Turner a little bit, socially and professionally, and he was certainly fun to be around. He's a personable character, as were many of his players. My team had been bothering me to start on a new film since the minute we wrapped up the old one. Why not the Wings?

But where would we get the money? Filmmaking, even on the independent level, is not cheap. I had already gone broke making "Out Here In Kansas," even with our fundraising campaign. True, most of the key players in the Wings franchise were still alive, but they were scattered all over the country and the rest of the world. The logistics were troublesome.

But what it came down to was, I really wanted to do it. And I knew we could do it well. Roy (pictured on the left) was going to help however he could. Michael (second from the right) and Tim (far right) had already written a 500-page book that could serve as our blueprint. I already had a great working relationship with Kenneth Linn, the DP and editor of our last documentary, and producer Jon Pic. The opportunity is right in front of our faces, and everyone involved in the project is excited about it.

So here we go. I hope you look forward to following our filmmaking process on this blog ... and
I promise you, the rest of my posts will not be a long as this one.

How it all began

When Mike Romalis and I were researching and writing Make This Town Big: The Story of Roy Turner and the Wichita Wings, we would often comment on how we wished our readers could SEE the events we were writing about. After all, this was the oh-so-flashy 1980s, when even the hair was big and bold. Alas, we didn't have the budget for a full-color book with fold-out pictures of Andy Chapman's leather pants. But we did joke about making a Wings movie. Now, it's no joke.

Last fall, my brother Brendan invited me to attend the world premiere of a documentary film made by the local journalist Adam Knapp. That film, Out Here in Kansas, was being unveiled to the public at Roxy's Downtown, one of Wichita's most stylish theaters. At the end of the screening, as I joined the packed house in loud applause, I wasn't just thinking about the emotional storytelling or the fine technical craftsmanship of the filmmakers...I was thinking about the story of the Wichita Wings.

I was able to meet Adam that evening, though only briefly. I'm pretty sure the first words out of my mouth were, "Hey, your next film should be the story of the Wichita Wings." I smiled as I said it. I probably laughed too. But it wasn't a joke. I meant it. For the first time, it became possible to imagine the Wings on the big screen. Luckily for all the Wings-lovers out there, Adam began to imagine it as well. It's no surprise. The story of the Wichita Wings is a story of the people of Wichita coming together for something special. Great films are about compelling human stories and the tale of the Wings is full of them.

Once Adam and his team of filmmakers (co-director Kenneth Linn and producer Jon Pic) agreed that they wanted to make this documentary film, we sat down with Roy Turner and Mike Romalis and had our first conversation about Adam's vision for the movie. Since that wonderful day, I've had zero doubt in my mind that this story, that means so much to so many of us, is in the right hands. Adam and I look forward to keeping you all up to date on the progress of the film by posting regularly on this blog. Like you, I can't wait for the finished product!