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CANADA BASKETBALL EXCLUSIVE MOVIE PREMIERE

MORE THAN A GAME MEDIA PRE-SCREENING OPPORTUNITY

(Toronto, ON) Canada Basketball and Maple Pictures will host a special VIP charity event on October 27 (7:00 p.m. ET) to celebrate Canada’s successes on the court with an exclusive screening of MORE THAN A GAME – the LeBron James documentary. The national basketball community will come together for one night to celebrate the accomplishments of Canada’s national teams in qualifying for all four FIBA World Championships in 2010.

Here is the link to the event invitation: http://basketball.ca/en/hm/download.php?id=239

Media are invited to attend a pre-screening hosted by Maple Pictures. Please note that the feature-length documentary, MORE THAN A GAME featuring LeBron James and directed by Kristopher Belman will be released on October 30 in Toronto and Vancouver.

Director Kristopher Belman will be in Toronto on October 27 (as a special guest at the Canada Basketball event) and 28 and will be available for a limited number of interviews.

Here is the link to the film’s website: http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikebasketball/en_US/mtag_ms

MEDIA SCREENING DETAILS:

Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Varsity Theatre - 55 Bloor St. W, Toronto, ON
7:00pm (RSVP required)

Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Varsity Theatre - 55 Bloor St. W, Toronto, ON
10:00 am (RSVP required)
Notes and images are available at www.maplepictures.com - just click on PUBLICITY.



To set up an interview or RSVP for a screening, please contact:

Candace Stevenson
Manager, Publicity & Promotions
Maple Pictures
cstevenson@maplepictures.com
416-415-7234

To set up an interview or RSVP for the Canada Basketball VIP charity night, please contact:

Tanya Phillipps
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Canada Basketball
tphillipps@basketball.ca
416-276-9329





BACKGROUNDER ON MORE THAN A GAME:

The synopsis for MORE THAN A GAME follows:

Five talented young basketball players from Akron, Ohio star in this remarkable true-life coming of age story about uncommon friendship in the face of unprecedented fame. Their coach is a hard-driving, charismatic but inexperienced player’s father. Their leader future NBA superstar LeBron James. This is the “Fab Five’s” story – an improbable nine-year journey that takes them from a decrepit inner-city gym to the doorstep of a national high school championship. Along the way, the close-knit team is repeatedly tested—both on and off the court—as James’ unparalleled talent explodes into worldwide celebrity, threatening to destroy everything they’ve set out to achieve together. MORE THAN A GAME combines a series of unforgettable one-on-one interviews with rare news footage, never-before-seen home videos and personal family photographs to bring this heartwarming and wholly American story to life.


Here is some information on Kristopher Belman:

KRISTOPHER BELMAN (Co-Writer/Producer/Director) is an accomplished coffee barista, burrito peddler, and seller of women’s shoes. He mastered these crafts in order to fund his first film, MORE THAN A GAME.

Originally from Akron himself, Kristopher studied two years of Theater at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio before transferring to Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television.

During his 3rd year of undergraduate studies, Kristopher began principal photography of MORE THAN A GAME to fulfill a course requirement. His senior thesis project included a short form version of the film, as well as the structural development of what would later become the feature.

Upon graduation, Kristopher continued directing the film, shifting its focus to feature length. After 5 years of filming, editing, and maxing out credit cards, Kristopher hung up his mocha stained apron and enlisted producers Harvey Mason Jr., Matthew Perniciaro, and Kevin Mann to help finish the feature-length version of the documentary.

Recently Kristopher has been developing several projects for television and film-in both the fields of fiction and non-fiction. He has also jumped into the commercial world-his first project, “Replay,” is a Gatorade sponsored documentary series featuring NFL greats Peyton and Eli Manning. Originally conceived for the web, the series (directed along-side MORE THAN A GAME editor V. Scott Balcerek) is now being negotiated for television.



BACKGROUNDER FOR CANADA BASKETBALL:

Summary of 2009 NATIONAL TEAMS AND PLACEMENT:

TEAM
2009 EVENT
LOCATION / DATE
PLACEMENT

Senior Women
FIBA Americas Championship for Women
Brazil

(September 23-27)
3rd Place - qualify for 2010 World Championship

Senior Men
FIBA Americas Championship for Men
Mexico

(August 19-30)
4th Place – qualify for 2010 World Championship

Junior Women
FIBA U19 World Championships for Women
Thailand

(July 23 – August 2)
4th Place – highest ever finish for Canada

Junior Men
FIBA U19 World Championships for Men
New Zealand

(July 2-12)
7th Place – second highest finish for Canada

Cadet Women
FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Women
Mexico

(June 16-20)
2nd Place – qualify for 2010 World Championship

Cadet Men
FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Men
Argentina

(June 17-21)
3rd place – qualify for 2010 World Championship

Development Men & Women
FISU Summer Universiade
Serbia

(July 1-12)
Men – 9th Place

Women – 11th Place































Moving forward for 2010 NATIONAL TEAMS AND COMPETITIONS:

TEAM
2010 EVENT
LOCATION / DATE

Senior Women
FIBA World Championship for Women
Czech Republic

(Sept.23-Oct. 03)

Senior Men
FIBA World Championship for Men
Turkey

(August 28–Sept. 12)

Junior Women
FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women
TBD

Junior Men
FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men
TBD

Cadet Women
FIBA U17 World Championship for Women
France (July 16-26)

Cadet Men
FIBA U17 World Championship for Men
Germany (July 2-11)


Canada Basketball is a private, not-for-profit corporation that is committed to the growth of the sport in Canada. Just as important, Canada Basketball is focused on the development and preparation of Canada’s national teams for the Olympic; Pan American and FISU Games as well as the World Championships. The aspiration of Canada Basketball is to instill the pride, commitment, passion and respect that Canadians personify into the development of basketball across the country and internationally.