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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
May 31 2014
Kenosha author finds Hollywood interest in his book about Illinois
high school championship team
By Bob Wolfley of the Journal Sentinel
May 31, 2014 2:00 p.m.
What attracted Dan Manoyan of Kenosha to tell the story of a
championship high school basketball team in Illinois is what has that
story poised to become a Hollywood film.
Manoyan, a retired Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sportswriter, wrote the
2007 book "Men of Granite" about how a group of poor boys of immigrant
parents in Granite City, Ill., came to win a state title in 1940.
"I was drawn to the fact that there were so many ethnics on that
team," said Manoyan, who grew up in Waukegan and is a graduate of the
University of Illinois. "I am half Armenian myself and there were four
Armenians on the team. Plus Andy Phillip, whose real name is Andras
Fulop, who is Hungarian, and a couple other guys were Yugoslavian and
Macedonian. You just don't see that, especially in southern Illinois,
which is basically pretty rural."
Overcoming poverty, soaring beyond class and defeating bigotry in a
tough steel town are all elements of a story Manoyan first learned
about when he was reading a history about the Illinois State High
School Association basketball championships.
Manoyan was encouraged by a screenwriter to shop the book as a film.
"I've always thought 'Hoosiers' was the greatest sports movie ever
made," Manoyan said. "And I thought this story was comparable in
content, if not better than 'Hoosiers.' This is a similar story about
an underdog high school basketball team that wins a state championship
against steep odds. 'Hoosiers' was about a little school overcoming
big schools. These (Granite City) guys had a lot more to overcome.
They weren't accepted in their own hometown. They were second-class
citizens."
Producer Valerie McCaffrey read the book after she was contacted by
Manoyan. She loved it.
They found Armand Kachigian, who is from Granite City, to write the
script.. Dwayne Johnson-Cochran is to direct. Cinematographer Jeffrey
L. Kimball is on board.
William Hurt is interested in playing the team's coach and Kevin Dunn
the school principal.
Last week it was reported that Shirley MacLaine is negotiating to play
the role of Sophia Prather, a schoolteacher who encourages the boys to
play for the high school team.
The film is scheduled to begin shooting in October, Manoyan said, much
of it in Granite City.
The championship game took place in Huff Gym, now called Huff Hall, on
the University of Illinois campus. The school has given permission to
the filmmakers to use the building to re-enact the title game.
IMBd lists the title of the film as "Boys of Lincoln Place," which
refers to the poor neighborhood in Granite City where the players
lived. That could wind up as the film's title, since the movie is
about the boys' lives in high school, not their adulthood.
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/261375461.html
May 31 2014
Kenosha author finds Hollywood interest in his book about Illinois
high school championship team
By Bob Wolfley of the Journal Sentinel
May 31, 2014 2:00 p.m.
What attracted Dan Manoyan of Kenosha to tell the story of a
championship high school basketball team in Illinois is what has that
story poised to become a Hollywood film.
Manoyan, a retired Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sportswriter, wrote the
2007 book "Men of Granite" about how a group of poor boys of immigrant
parents in Granite City, Ill., came to win a state title in 1940.
"I was drawn to the fact that there were so many ethnics on that
team," said Manoyan, who grew up in Waukegan and is a graduate of the
University of Illinois. "I am half Armenian myself and there were four
Armenians on the team. Plus Andy Phillip, whose real name is Andras
Fulop, who is Hungarian, and a couple other guys were Yugoslavian and
Macedonian. You just don't see that, especially in southern Illinois,
which is basically pretty rural."
Overcoming poverty, soaring beyond class and defeating bigotry in a
tough steel town are all elements of a story Manoyan first learned
about when he was reading a history about the Illinois State High
School Association basketball championships.
Manoyan was encouraged by a screenwriter to shop the book as a film.
"I've always thought 'Hoosiers' was the greatest sports movie ever
made," Manoyan said. "And I thought this story was comparable in
content, if not better than 'Hoosiers.' This is a similar story about
an underdog high school basketball team that wins a state championship
against steep odds. 'Hoosiers' was about a little school overcoming
big schools. These (Granite City) guys had a lot more to overcome.
They weren't accepted in their own hometown. They were second-class
citizens."
Producer Valerie McCaffrey read the book after she was contacted by
Manoyan. She loved it.
They found Armand Kachigian, who is from Granite City, to write the
script.. Dwayne Johnson-Cochran is to direct. Cinematographer Jeffrey
L. Kimball is on board.
William Hurt is interested in playing the team's coach and Kevin Dunn
the school principal.
Last week it was reported that Shirley MacLaine is negotiating to play
the role of Sophia Prather, a schoolteacher who encourages the boys to
play for the high school team.
The film is scheduled to begin shooting in October, Manoyan said, much
of it in Granite City.
The championship game took place in Huff Gym, now called Huff Hall, on
the University of Illinois campus. The school has given permission to
the filmmakers to use the building to re-enact the title game.
IMBd lists the title of the film as "Boys of Lincoln Place," which
refers to the poor neighborhood in Granite City where the players
lived. That could wind up as the film's title, since the movie is
about the boys' lives in high school, not their adulthood.
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/261375461.html