''Calvin Marshall'' is a 2009 coming of age-

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by Gary Lundgren and starring

Alex Frost Alexander Robert Frost (born February 17, 1987) is an American actor best known for his roles in ''Elephant'' and ''Drillbit Taylor''. Early life Frost was born in Portland, Oregon. He attended high school at the Arts & Communication Magnet ...

as the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

, a determined but talentless college baseball player, and

Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include ''Reality Bites'' (1994), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken Li ...

as his coach. After two years of raising funds, the film was shot in and around Ashland and Medford,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

in November–December 2007, and was released in 2009.

Plot

Calvin Marshall is a charismatic student at Bayford City College. When he tries out for the baseball team for the third straight year, ex- minor leaguer Coach Little is exasperated by Calvin's persistence despite Marshall's lack of baseball skills. Determined to make the team, Calvin wins Little over with pure heart and love of the game. While rehabilitating during an injury, Calvin announces games for the Lady Bisons

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team and is entranced by their star, Tori. Preoccupied with caring for her sick mother and more interested with meaningless flings, Tori is unsure what to make of Calvin's advances.

Cast

as Calvin Marshall *

as Coach Doug Little * Jeremy Sumpter as Caselli *

Michelle Lombardo Michelle Helen Lombardo (born September 16, 1983) is an American model and actress. Lombardo gained fame with her appearances in the 2000s ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues.'' She made her film debut in ''Dishdogz'' in 2005 and began acting o ...

as Tori Jensen *

Cynthia Watros Cynthia Michele Watros (born September 2, 1968) is an American actress recognized for her roles in both daytime and primetime television. In 1994, she was cast in the regular role of Annie Dutton on ''Guiding Light'', which earned her the Day ...

as Karen * Andrew Wilson as Ernie * Jane Adams as June Marshall *

Abraham Benrubi Abraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi (born October 4, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his appearances as Jerry Markovic on the long-running medical television drama '' ER'', for his first role as Larry Kubiac on the series '' Parker Lewis C ...

as Coach Dewey *

Josh Fadem Josh Fadem (; born July 19, 1980) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. Early life Fadem was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Booker T. Washington High School. He has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 2000. Career ...

as Simon * Rosie Thomas as Sondra *

Diedrich Bader Karl Diedrich Bader (born December 24, 1966) is an American actor and comedian who is best known for his comedy roles. He has appeared as a series regular in television sitcoms ''The Drew Carey Show'', '' American Housewife'', and '' Outsourced' ...

as Fred Deerfield * Darwin Barney as Murphy

Production

Production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

Broken Sky Films was started by Gary Lundgren, Anne Lundgren, Michael Matondi, and Mark Cunningham in 2000, and its first production was Gary Lundgren's

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

"Wow and Flutter". Cunningham had planned to fund ''Calvin Marshall'', but did not have the money to create the company's first full-length

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

. They hired a

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenp ...

, Christine Sheaks, who successfully sought out

for the part of Coach Little. Over the two years it took to raise enough money, a number of financiers pulled out but Zahn's promised participation attracted further sponsorship. ''Calvin Marshall'' began filming on November 11, 2007 in Ashland,

. Line producer Gary Kout said that Ashland was chosen as a filming location because "the setting of the film sfictitious and Ashland has a timeless feel to it and creates a beautiful backdrop." The Lady Bisons volleyball scenes were filmed at

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

's McNeal Pavilion and gymnasium, with around 200 extras standing in as supporters in the stands. North Mountain Park's softball fields were used for several of the scenes in the film. Other locations included city streets and local homes in Ashland, the Whiskey River Cafe and Lounge in Central Point and the Rogue Valley Family Fun Center in Central Point; between US$400,000 and $500,000 was spent on filming permits for public places. Production moved to Medford,

where locations included the

Harry and David Harry and David, LLC (Harry and David) is an American-based premium food and gift producer and retailer. The company sells its products through direct mail, online and in retail stores nationwide, and operates the brands Harry & David, Wolferman' ...

Baseball Park. Principal photography concluded on December 15, 2007.

Release

''Calvin Marshall'' premiered at the Austin Film Festival in October 2009.

Awards

David Raines, Mark Server, and Kent Romney were nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing, DVD Original Programming" for ''Calvin Marshall'' at the Cinema Audio Society Awards in 2011.https://www.deadline.com/tag/cas-awards-nominees/

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvin Marshall 2009 films 2000s coming-of-age comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films Films shot in Oregon American independent films 2009 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films