Despite growing up legally blind, a high school wrestler overcomes great odds and attempts to win a New Jersey state championshipA filmmaker has kicked off a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to generate funding to complete his feature documentary about a blind high school wrestler.
"I need your help to raise $40,000 to finish post production on my film 'A Shot in the Dark,'" filmmaker Chris Suchorsky wrote in his introduction to his Kickstarter page established this past week. "I actually need $51,350, but I'm trying to be realistic. This is my first attempt at Kickstarter and I'm hoping my film and rewards will motivate you to help me finish the film."
"A Shot in the Dark" is about Anthony Ferraro, a blind high school wrestler in New Jersey who had been coached by a former wrestling teammate Seton Hall University in the late 1990's. Suchorsky had reconnected with his ex-teammate, who introduced the filmmaker to the story by sharing a two-minute "sizzle reel" about Anthony Ferraro by his brother Ollie, who wanted to make an 8-10 minute film about the wrestler. (That original sizzle reel, along with a trailer put together by Suchorsky, are both available for viewing at the Kickstarter page for "A Shot in the Dark.")
After meeting with Ollie Ferraro, Suchorsky agreed to take on the project, with one change: the film would be a feature-length documentary. Suchorsky traveled to New Jersey to start filming, while Ollie stayed in Los Angeles for his job.
"After a year of shooting, the film ended up in the proverbial can. Work, marriage, and a mortgage became priorities for me. Ollie left Hulu, moved back to New Jersey, and took a job as a producer. Life essentially got in the way of finishing the film."
"In the summer of 2015, I decided to pull the film off the shelf," Suchorsky continued. "The film had been hanging over my head for two years. By late August, I had found enough free time to rough out the first 15 minutes of the film. Ollie and I had been working on a number of projects since he had moved back to New Jersey. I was trying to set up a time for us to sit down and watch what I had cut together. Sadly, on August 28th, 2015, Oliver Ferraro passed away. He never saw what I had cut together."
At Oliver's funeral, his mother said she would do what she could to get the documentary about Anthony Ferraro finished. That propelled Suchorsky to continue working on his film. Now he needs financial help to complete post-production, and has established his Kickstarter page to reach out to the wrestling community (and others) to generate the funds he needs to finish "A Shot in the Dark."
Of interest to wrestling fans -- and fans of wrestling films: Suchorsky said he had contacted singer/songwriter Tom Cochrane of Red Rider, seeking permission to use the band's classic song "Lunatic Fringe" as featured in the 1985 movie "Vision Quest" in his documentary. Cochrane said yes ... apparently making the song available to Suchorsky "for pennies on the dollar."
To learn more about "A Shot in the Dark" (and see the trailer and Ollie Ferraro's original sizzle film) -- and make a donation -- click here.
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