It’s been a long time – too long! Baseball fans have waited nearly a decade for a quality, well-marketed baseball movie. Meanwhile, Hollywood funding for feature films has fixated on high-budget, formulaic, action-adventure stories based on comic books. They’ve ignored many modest budget projects in other genres, leaving theaters with less films to show and moviegoers with few choices for heartwarming dramas and comedies.

And it’s left millions of baseball fans without a movie that feeds their passion and speaks to their souls for far too long.

Create a baseball “dramedy” with a unique, award-winning script based on true events. With story and audience aligned, we’re inviting fans to become owners, each making a modest investment in this revolutionary approach to movie funding. This is in stark contrast to a few insulated Hollywood executives funding a formulaic movie in search of an audience.

We’re inviting fans to invest in the project. We don’t want benefactors, we want owners!

We believe The Dude is Legit! is The Rookie meets Heaven Can Wait

Movie logline: Thanks to help from the Baseball Gods, a 50-year-old pitcher makes his professional debut three decades after a devastating shoulder injury crushes his dream and creates a dysfunctional relationship with the game.

The Dude Is Legit! has at least five compelling aspects that make it a unique and timely project:

1. An Award-winning script. The Dude Is Legit! is more than just a good baseball story, as the script has won “best of” for dramas in three recent film festivals.

2. Based on true events. Audiences long for heartwarming underdog stories, especially those based on true events. The Dude Is Legit! is based on the true story of a 51-year-old fulfilling a childhood dream of playing professional baseball. It’ll make you think twice about using age as an excuse.

3. The Baseball Gods captivate imagination. The Baseball Gods add an intriguing angle to the story, urging us to question coincidences in our own lives. For as long as players have lamented their bad luck, they’ve believed the Baseball Gods determine their fate. Their job is simple: They make sure everybody gets what’s comin’ to ‘em.

4. Finally, a Baseball movie. It’s time! We’ve waited nine years since the most recent box office successes “Million Dollar Arm” (2014), “42” (2013) and “Moneyball” (2011). Baseball fans LOVE their baseball movies!

5. Fan Owned. Baseball fans have a chance to OWN a piece of The Dude Is Legit!. Through this “Equity Crowdfunding” opportunity, baseball fans can own equity in the production company.

Each of these project components adds interest and marketability and creates enormous potential for earned media to create a large, intrigued, and engaged audience.

Thanks to help from the Baseball Gods, a 50-year-old pitcher makes his professional debut 30 years after a devastating shoulder injury crushes his dream and creates a dysfunctional relationship with the game.

Dan earns a D-1 baseball scholarship, but a shoulder injury ends his promising pitching career and dream of playing pro ball, leaving him to wonder if he was ever good enough. He returns to adult baseball 30 years later reminding him of his passion and love of the game. Playing awakens a fiery and dysfunctional combination of competitiveness and frustration at being a “coulda-been.”

The Baseball Gods narrate this improbable tale, led by Goldy, an insightful pitching veteran from the Negro Leagues, and Karma, a feisty softball catcher. They discover that Dan’s injury was their mistake and must put aside their failed romance to intervene at key points in Dan’s life to fix it. As Goldy and Karma wrestle with guilt, forgiveness, and training Earl, a struggling Baseball God, they devise a way for Dan to start on the mound for a team in the Pecos League against 23-year-old studs. Can he heal his relationship with the game and finally believe he’s “legit” on the field and in his own heart and mind?

Anyone with an unfulfilled dream – especially due to bad luck – can identify with Dan’s struggle to make peace with his passion, and the Baseball Gods offer a fresh, comedic angle to this heartwarming true story.

All investors are planned to be recognized in several ways:

• Name in movie credits. All investors are planned to be listed under “Thank you to the following fan owners:” banner (listed alphabetically according to height).
• Certificate of ownership. Investors can download a PDF certificate of ownership in The Dude Is Legit!
• Chance to be in the movie! Receive one entry into a drawing to be an on-set extra in the film! We plan to select 20 investor fans for this opportunity - two are planned to be expenses-paid.

For more information, visit the movie website here. 

The Dude Is Legit! has won “Best of” at three recent industry film competitions:

The traditional model for moviemaking in Hollywood is that a few, well-insulated movie executives make the decisions on what stories get made. They make one big bet (investment), hoping they can find an audience.

However, it is widely reported that 80% of studio films fail to make a profit, often because the studios don’t know what audiences want (Forbes). This makes them .200 hitters!

The Dude Is Legit! aims to flip this model. Instead of a project in search of story and audience, we’re starting with an aligned story and audience. Rather than a few people making one large bet, we’re inviting baseball fans to each make a small bet on a project that resonates with them. These fan investors become the film’s biggest cheerleaders helping grow a large audience.

Having a great director, producers and cinematographer is essential to a film’s success. The goal of The Dude is Legit! is to have a creative team chosen for both storytelling ability AND enthusiasm to bring this funny, heartwarming story to life. We plan to continue discussions and interviews with directors through this initial equity crowdfunding phase of the project. Here’s what we’re looking for:

Director. Make us feel the highs and lows. An experienced artist with skill in showing the depth of characters and their emotional arcs. A visionary with an eagerness and ability to collaborate with other talent to tell a compelling story. Love of baseball is essential; thorough understanding of the game is desired.

Producer(s). Enhance the wonderment of the story. Experience with CGI and SFX may be essential to highlight the mystery and uniqueness of the Baseball Gods. Skilled project managers and problem solvers, producer(s) may have the knowledge, experience, and network to guide the project from pre-production through distribution. Love of baseball is essential; thorough understanding of the game is desired.

Cinematographer. Push the envelope. Use unique camera angles, lighting, and camera movement to punctuate action and character development. Use drones and other technology to create baseball action that connects the audience to the romance of the game.

Baseball Advisory Team. Put the audience in the dugout. A team of current and / or former players can ensure the authenticity of the baseball action. They plan to train actors on baseball skills and source talent for baseball scenes / extras / stunts.

Baseball fans LOVE their game and are a massive demographic that’s easy to identify and reach. They self-identify, configuring their social media and news feeds for the latest info on players, games, trivia, and history. They wear baseball apparel with pride and attend games as players, parents of players, and fans of college and professional teams.

The current planned budget for the movie project is between $8MM and $10MM.

Budget variables include costs for lead talent, marketing, and locations.

Costs may be offset by state and local incentive programs that could vary between 20% to 40%.

The plan is for the creative team (once onboard) and executive producer to decide upon (finalize) the variables to determine a working budget.

Dan Clemens: Chasing the Dream

In June 2019 Dan got the call every baseball player dreams of: “You want to come play pro ball?”

For Dan, the call was 30 years late, three decades after a devastating shoulder injury and three surgeries ended his promising D-1 pitching career.

A few days later he took the mound for the Tucson Saguaros of the independent Pecos League against 23-year-olds fresh from D-1 and D-2 programs and several previous MLB draftees working their way back to affiliated ball.

Despite the age difference, Dan took a shutout into the fifth inning, prompting his youthful teammates to exclaim: THE DUDE IS LEGIT!

The experience was a highlight of Dan’s career, but many of his most memorable and meaningful experiences in the game have come as high school coach (five years) and youth coach (11 years). He’s also played in competitive adult leagues for more than 20 years, pitching on four national championship teams.

After telling this story to hundreds of friends (really anyone who would listen), he and his sister Laurie co-wrote the movie script The Dude Is Legit!. The screenplay is true to Dan’s story and shows his dysfunctional relationship with the game: He couldn’t be away from the game he loved, but being close to it reminded him of what he lost in college. His story brings out themes of following your passion, aging, and unconditional love.

The script also highlights the important role the Baseball Gods play in the game, ensuring “everybody gets what’s comin’ to ‘em.” They comically narrate the story, realizing that Dan’s college injury was their mistake and have to figure out a way to make things right.

How else do you explain a 51-year-old making his professional debut?

Have you had experience with the Baseball Gods?

Over the past three decades many good baseball movies have been made. It’s time for another that tells a heartwarming story in a unique way.

**All figures are in actual dollars (non-adjusted) from IMDB.

Don’t you wish you could have owned a piece of one of these baseball films?

You DO have a chance with the next one – invest now!