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Press Releases< back to Press Release listParticipant Productions & State Street Pictures to Ride the Wave of Bobby MartinezLos Angeles, November 19, 2007 – Participant Productions is teaming with State Street Pictures producers Bob Teitel and George Tillman to develop the astonishing true story BOBBY MARTINEZ, one of the top professional surfers and the first Mexican-American on the world tour, it was announced today by Ricky Strauss, President of Participant. Robert Munic has been set to write the screenplay. “Bobby is an anomaly; he straddles two worlds,” says Teitel. “Forced to maintain his identity on the streets while secretly forging his way into the competitive world of professional surfing, Bobby embodies the struggle of an individual simply trying to go the distance.”“BOBBY MARTINEZ is a perfect Participant movie because it tells an inspiring story of how one guy overcomes incredible odds and uses his personal triumph to help others. It breaks new ground for us, as it’s a story for and about urban youth. Beyond that, Bobby himself is an inspirational maverick,” said Jonathan King, EVP Production. BOBBY MARTINEZ follows the meteoric rise of champion surfer Bobby Martinez, whose life began in the harsh, gang-ridden streets of Southern California. Most of his friends and family members were in prison, in gangs or dead. Bobby stunned the surfing world by sweeping every major amateur tournament in his first year of competition, and winning the ASP Rookie of the Year honors in his first pro season. In the process, he transformed himself into a hero and beacon of hope for his community. This coming-of-age story depicts a unique collision of Southern California's surf and street cultures. Nate Moore, Participant’s director of Production will oversee the project. Rene Rigal, State Street’s vice-president of development and production, will serve as associate producer. He first learned of Martinez’s story from a newspaper article. Rigal began a phone campaign to track down Martinez. “I called all of his sponsors as well as Al Merrick, of Channel Islands, his board shaper. Understandably no one would put me in touch with Bobby because he was competing on the world tour,” said Rigal. Ultimately he located Martinez at the “Rip Curl Somewhere In Mexico” WCT Surf Competition in La Jolla, Mexico and organized a lunch between Martinez, Teitel, Tillman, his manager Bryan Taylor and himself. Martinez, a fan of State Street’s body of work, hit it off immediately with the three. State Street developed with Robert Munic and ultimately brought Bobby’s story to Participant Productions. “Martinez overcoming obstacles and effecting change by inspiring a generation of youths to believe that it’s ok to go after your dream felt like a natural fit for a Participant movie,” stated Tillman. Robert Munic is a writer in great demand. He’s currently writing the features FIGHTING, directed by Dito Montiel for Rogue and starring Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard as well as NO TRUE GLORY, a true story of the battle of Fallujah for producers Michael Shamberg & Stacey Sher. He also is the writer on three television pilots including THE CLEANER, an A&E one-hour that will is about to go into production; DETENTION, a half hour dramady from ABC Family about a group of kids in High school detention and STRAIGHT EDGE a one hour drama for FX that is being produced by Overbrook. Participant Productions is a Los Angeles-based production company that focuses on socially relevant, commercially viable feature films and documentaries. Participant's films have been chosen to awaken, inspire and empower audiences to take action and create change. The company is headed by CEO Jim Berk and President Ricky Strauss. Participant was founded by philanthropist Jeff Skoll, who serves as Chairman. Upcoming releases include Mike Nichols’ CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR, Marc Forster's THE KITE RUNNER, Errol Morris’ S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure) and THE VISITOR, Tom McCarthy’s first film since THE STATION AGENT, Brett Morgen’s CHICAGO 10, Louise Hogarth’s documentary ANGELS IN THE DUST, Ted Braun’s DARFUR NOW, starring and produced by Don Cheadle, and Jonathan Demme’s JIMMY CARTER MAN FROM PLAINS. Participant’s AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH won two Academy Awards -- for Best Documentary and Best Original Song -- and has become one of the highest grossing documentaries in history. Past films have included GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, SYRIANA, NORTH COUNTRY and MURDERBALL which collectively received 11 Academy Award® nominations in 2006. For further information, please visit www.participate.net. State Street Pictures’ releases include ROLL BOUNCE, THE BARBERSHOP franchise, MEN OF HONOR and SOUL FOOD. Next up for State Street is a biopic about the hip hop artist Notorious B.I.G. for Fox Searchlight which finds Tillman directing, Teitel producing alongside Voletta Wallace, Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts and Sean “Diddy” Combs exec producing. State Street is also producing PHENOM starring Chris Brown at Screen Gems. # # # < back to Press Release list
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