MyNorth News Service

(Press Release provided by Richard Cameron White)

TRAVERSE CITY: The second feature film from director and Traverse City local Richard Cameron White will premiere on Video OnDemand platforms everywhere Tuesday May 12th, 2015.

The documentary will be available initially for rental or purchase on the vast majority of VOD services such as iTunes, Amazon, Roku, Xbox, DirecTV, Comcast, AT&T Uverse and many more.

Afterward, beginning September 12th, following a four month run on VOD, The Roughnecks is slated to begin a 24-month contract streaming on Netflix.

Passion. Pride. Peewee.

#TheRoughnecks

What: ​The Roughnecks is the true story of the Fort Worth Ridglea Roughnecks Peewee football team, one of the most storied youth football organizations in all of Texas, the Mecca of football in America.

This low-budget, indie documentary, from the producers of The Twilight Saga and The Fault in our Stars (among many other Hollywood blockbusters), chronicles the unbelievable journey of a team of passionate 10- and 11-year-old boys plus their coaches and families, as they embark on their final chance at winning the Youth Football Super Bowl, a title which has evaded many of them for years.

Football is one of the largest aspects of American culture. The Roughnecks not only paints a picture of youth football in America, but by embedding themselves with the team for over four months, whether in the huddle at home or in the classroom, audiences are given an opportunity to experience the high and lows of youth football firsthand.

The Roughnecks is an energetic, family-friendly sports movie about fathers and sons, football, and transitioning to manhood in our modern era.

This is where it all begins. This is Peewee football in Texas.

Teaser Trailer: ​https://vimeo.com/110833742

Festivals: ​The Roughnecks had its world premiere November 8th, 2014, at the Lone Star Film Festival in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. While the film didn’t win any awards, it was the only movie the festival was compelled to add not one, but two additional screenings to in order to accommodate popular demand. Prior to the premiere, the filmmakers gave a special screening to (now 14-year-old) Roughneck players, coaches, and families who saw themselves on the big screen for the first time.

To date, the Lone Star Film Festival is the only film festival to have screened the film. However, The Roughnecks has been viewed at agencies for executives in Hollywood to great reviews. It was featured as well at last July’s special TC hometown screening at the State Theatre. Very few people have seen the film aside from these screenings.

Who: ​The Roughnecks was directed by Richard Cameron White after being commissioned by producer Marty Bowen.

roughnecks 2

27-year-old director Richard Cameron White began his filmmaking career at East Junior High School in Carol Roehrich’s 8th grade theatre classes and participated in plays at TC Central High School before transferring to Forest Hills Northern in Grand Rapids, MI. There he excelled on stage and discovered his passion for filmmaking in the media and broadcast department, where he created weekly videos for the school’s daily morning news broadcast.

After a short stint running Track and Field at Central Michigan University, Richard Cameron White (known by friends as “Cam”) transferred to film school in Orlando, FL. While there, he directed 10 of 11 potential class projects, including their final thesis film. He was also commissioned for his first ever paid project — a nude cooking show. It was during this time he began working on a story and project that would eventually become the 133-page script and his first feature-length film, The Sleeping Bear, a movie he shot exactly one year after graduation.

Set in Northern Michigan, White shot The Sleeping Bear in September of 2010. He describes the process as, “the most challenging undertaking of my life.” After production White raised an additional $11,000 on the (new at the time) crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter.com, to finish the film. White premiered the The Sleeping Bear in December of 2011 at the Traverse City Opera House to a 600-person sold-out crowd and minute-long standing ovation. However, after contacting 100 potential distributors to no avail, White decided to “put the movie on the shelf” for good.

After college, White drove to Los Angeles with $1,500 to his name, where he sold his body to science and donated semen to pay the bills while interning for Temple Hill Entertainment, the production company behind movies such The Twilight Saga, Dear John (and other Nicholas Sparks movies), and more recently, blockbuster hits like The Maze Runner and The Fault in Our Stars, as well as TV shows like ABC’s Revenge and upcoming movies such as Paper Towns. At Temple Hill, White met his mentor, future Roughnecks producer, and former UTA (United Talent Agency) power agent Marty Bowen.

Between his time with Temple Hill Entertainment and his production company RCW Pictures, White was lucky to jump years of the Hollywood ladder and work as a nonunion EPK (Electronic Press Kit) filmmaker, where he would be embedded for months on movies around the country with the likes of Will Ferrell and Channing Tatum. In between producing EPK’s and The Sleeping Bear, White made a living working with companies, nonprofits, and ad agencies directing low-budget commercials, videos and short documentaries. In particular, his work with Ray Lewis for a football client led to a viral video featured as a “Staff Pick” on Vimeo.com. The exposures and previous relationships led to the opportunity to direct The Roughnecks with Bowen, who is a co-director on the film.

In July 2012, White, along with only two other crew members (and friends) Chris Cook and Ryan Hase, moved to Fort Worth, Texas where The Roughnecks was filmed. After four months of production, White spent another 9 months of post-production with editor, co-producer, and good friend Nick Ruff. The two whittled down 400 hours of footage to a final hour and a half long film. After which White worked hand-in-hand with James Tanner and David Vanacore Music to create the score for the film, one of the highlights of the movie.

Finally, after well over a year of waiting, the film premiered in November at the LSFF to great success. Shortly afterward it was acquired by The Orchard digital distribution which is working with Prodigy PR in Los Angeles, gearing up for its May 12 and September 12th release dates.

White returned home to Traverse City in the summer of 2014 for various reasons, including surgery resulting from a surfing injury and to spend time with family and girlfriend Kaatje Dohm. He’s spent the past year and a half attempting to build a “creative digital development company” right here in TC. He is currently the bartender at Bistro Fou Fou and the proud father of a brand new puppy.

For more information, please contact Cam directly at the number listed above. To support the film as well as Cam’s film career in a very competitive industry, please follow him on Twitter @RCamWhite and tweet about the movie using #TheRoughnecks

 

Photo(s) by Roughnecks