SUN JULY 24, 2022 7:00 PM

BULL DURHAM

$10.00 (member) ; $15.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Introduction and Q&A with filmmaker Ron Shelton. 

Book signing with Ron Shelton for his new book The Church of Baseball at Skylight Books next door, prior to the screening at 6:00 pm and after the screening at 9:30 pm.

Tickets are no longer on sale for this event.

  • RELEASED IN: 1988
  • 108 MINUTES
  • DIRECTED BY: RON SHELTON

ABOUT THE FILM:

This debut feature from writer-director (and ex-minor leaguer) Ron Shelton was ranked the No. 1 greatest sports movie of all time by Sports Illustrated. Kevin Costner is pitch-perfect as “Crash” Davis, a catcher who’s devoted a dozen years to baseball with only 21 days in the majors to show for it. Assigned to mentor a promising pitcher (Tim Robbins), he must compete for the rookie’s attention with Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), the team groupie who dates one player every season. As they groom the hurler for the big leagues, Crash and Annie gradually are drawn to each other.

FORMAT: 35mm

DISTRIBUTOR: Park Circus

ABOUT THE CHURCH OF BASEBALL:

From the award-winning screenwriter and director of cult classic BULL DURHAM, the extremely entertaining behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film, and an insightful primer on the art and business of moviemaking. 

“This book tells you how to make a movie—the whole nine innings of it—out of nothing but sheer will.” — Tony Gilroy, writer/director of MICHAEL CLAYTON and THE BOURNE LEGACY 

“The only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the church of baseball.” —Annie in BULL DURHAM

BULL DURHAM, the breakthrough 1988 film about a minor league baseball team, is widely revered as the best sports movie of all time. But back in 1987, Ron Shelton was a first-time director and no one was willing to finance a movie about baseball—especially a story set in the minors. The jury was still out on Kevin Costner’s leading-man potential, while Susan Sarandon was already a has-been. There were doubts. But something miraculous happened, and The Church of Baseball attempts to capture why.

From organizing a baseball camp for the actors and rewriting key scenes while on set, to dealing with a short production schedule and overcoming the challenge of filming the sport, Shelton brings to life the making of this beloved American movie. Shelton explains the rarely revealed ins and outs of moviemaking, from a film’s inception and financing, screenwriting, casting, the nuts and bolts of directing, the postproduction process, and even through its release. But this is also a book about baseball and its singular romance in the world of sports. Shelton spent six years in the minor leagues before making this film, and his experiences resonate throughout this book.

Full of wry humor and insight, The Church of Baseball tells the remarkable story behind an iconic film.