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Crooked Arrows: How Lacrosse Hit The Big Screen

Everyone here at LaxAllStars.com is thrilled to see a movie like Crooked Arrows hitting the box office this year. We’re also extremely honored to have the film sponsoring our website this month! From time to time, you may see banner ads on our site promoting Crooked Arrows – if you see one, please make sure to go to the movie and support the cause!

In order to fill everyone in on the movie a bit more, we’ve lined up some awesome content that will run on LAS over the next 3 weeks. Our first piece is an insider interview with the Producers of the film, Mitchell Peck and J. Todd Harris. Make sure you check out the full interview below to learn how and why Crooked Arrows came to be the first ever major motion picture featuring lacrosse.

Also, don’t miss your chance WIN A FREE WOODGRAIN SHAFT from the set of Crooked Arrows! We got our hands on a little movie set swag to check out, and of course, we’re giving it all away…  it’s just what we do!

LAS: So, why make a lacrosse specific movie right now?  Lacrosse has made an appearance in films before, but it’s never been this central to a film’s storyline.  What makes 2012 the right time?

Crooked Arrows: We think it’s been the right time for the past few years, and it will be the right time for the next few years.  Lacrosse experienced meteoric growth in the last decade and the sport is reaching a tipping point from a mass culture point of view.  It has a long way to go to be on the same level as football or basketball, but it’s trending, hot and big.

https://youtu.be/VBvjEjHKMMA

Do you guys have a connection to the sport of lacrosse outside of Crooked Arrows?  How did you get involved in this project?

Mitchell Peck, the producer who developed the script, played high school lacrosse in Richmond, Virginia.  Though a bench-warmer, he grew to love the sport.  The producing group went out of its way to bring lacrosse elite into the fold of the movie so the movie could be authentic and have support from the sport’s core.  Mitchell Peck brought the script to producing partner J. Todd Harris in 2008, and he saw an opportunity to make a movie for a passionate fan base.

Your film showcases the Native American roots of lacrosse, and it also features Native Americans in a number of feature roles. How important was the heavy Native American influence to the film getting made?

A first lacrosse movie could have gone a number of ways, but we felt that paying tribute to the roots of the sport was the natural way to go.  We were very fortunate to have two Native American co-producers who made sure the Native American aspects of the film were accurately and wisely rendered.  We also turned to the people of Six Nations when it came time to cast our hero team.

We were lucky to find Neal Powless, from Onondaga, to lead this group and bridge the cultures for this movie.  The Native American point of view is actually this movie’s secret sauce, and what differentiates it from being just another sports movie.

Can Crooked Arrows serve as a catalyst for an even larger expansion of lacrosse within the popular culture world?  Does that even figure in to the making and promotion of the film?

We feel like we hopped onto a moving train, but we have some rocket fuel to make the train shoot forward even more quickly.  Our plan is to appeal to the lacrosse-base first, but our hope is that the movie will appeal to many beyond the lacrosse world.

crooked arrows lacrosse movie fan jersey
Crooked Arrows is big in Bed-Stuy already!

In fact, our early test screenings have shown that you really don’t need to know anything about lacrosse to enjoy the movie, but if you do know it, it just enhances the experience.  We do think the movie will open up the world’s eyes to this amazing sport.

What do you hope to get out of this movie?  On its most basic terms, why did you decide to make Crooked Arrows a reality?

We made this movie because we saw an opportunity and, happily, fell in love with all the trappings of that opportunity.  As producers, there are many different movies to choose from, but what’s particularly rewarding about this one is how many people are waiting to see it.  It’s fun to serve an enthusiastic base.  It’s been like finding yourself at the head of a parade for a few blocks, so we have a responsibility to lead wisely and then let the game carry on its fantastic growth.

What will people think when they leave the theater?

We think people will leave feeling entertained, enlightened and hopeful.  People who don’t know lacrosse going in are going to have their eyes opened wide.  Even people who do know the sport are going to learn a few things about its history.  At the end of the day though, it’s a human story about re-connecting with one’s heritage and, while sometimes funny, it’s ultimately moving.

We hope people will be moved. Why else make a movie?

These were some great answers, Todd and Mitchell!  Thanks for taking time out to explain why you wanted to make this movie!
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Crooked Arrows Giveaway!

The LAS Staff received some Crooked Arrows swag from the set for our own personal enjoyment, but since we aim to Grow The Game, we’ve decided we should have a giveaway instead! Trust us, we would have loved to have kept this stuff.

The first prize is a very cool WOODGRAIN SHAFT straight off the set. The shaft is a composite material and it’s quite light.  The outside looks just like a wood shaft, until you get really close. Looking for a shaft to just “throw around with”?  Well this might just be the ideal product for you.  It’s got a snazzy look and a really cool story and provenance. A keepsake for years to come…

wood grain lacrosse shaft
Super cool, right?

How To Enter: 

1) Come up with a GREAT fake prep school name!

2) Submit it in the comments section below.

In Crooked Arrows, the top team is Coventry Academy, a fictional prep school made up for the film. We think that’s a pretty nifty name and all, but now it’s YOUR turn to come up with a good one.

Submit the most unique and impressive prep school name in the comments section below, and this shaft will be yours!

The winner will be named at the sole discretion of LaxAllStars.com, but here’s a hint: keep it clean and intelligent to have the best chance of winning!