Ted Leonsis, the producer and vice chairman of AOL who coined the term 'filmanthropy', has come up with a new film financing mechanism for his latest film Kicking It. The feature documentary about the power of sports as an agent for change is being financed by a group of businessmen, venture capitalists and philanthropists.
The film, directed by Susan Koch, is the story of how thousands of homeless people from around the globe train and compete to represent their country in the Homeless World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. Koch follows six players from different parts of the world as they confront the daily challenges of being homeless and how their lives are transformed by sport.
Leonsis, who espouses film as a platform to catalyse social change, assembled a group of financiers - Raul Fernandez, Jack Davies, Mark Ein, Sheila Johnson, Rick Allen, Nigel Morris and Soroush Richard Shehabi - to back and produce the film alongside Todd and Jedd Wider and financier Joe Edeleman.
'I am very proud to be a part of this film and to bring a team together that shares this interest as it aligns very closely with our professional and personal life - using teamwork to change lives,' said Leonsis. 'It's also right in the goal zone of what I want to do as a filmmaker through the concept of filmanthropy. That is, create a new category of filmmaking that activates discussion as well as new volunteers and new funds that benefit a social cause.'
Leonsis' first film was the documentary Nanking which is set to be released domestically on Dec 12 by THINKFilm. Kicking It is scheduled to complete production later this year.
The film, directed by Susan Koch, is the story of how thousands of homeless people from around the globe train and compete to represent their country in the Homeless World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. Koch follows six players from different parts of the world as they confront the daily challenges of being homeless and how their lives are transformed by sport.
Leonsis, who espouses film as a platform to catalyse social change, assembled a group of financiers - Raul Fernandez, Jack Davies, Mark Ein, Sheila Johnson, Rick Allen, Nigel Morris and Soroush Richard Shehabi - to back and produce the film alongside Todd and Jedd Wider and financier Joe Edeleman.
'I am very proud to be a part of this film and to bring a team together that shares this interest as it aligns very closely with our professional and personal life - using teamwork to change lives,' said Leonsis. 'It's also right in the goal zone of what I want to do as a filmmaker through the concept of filmanthropy. That is, create a new category of filmmaking that activates discussion as well as new volunteers and new funds that benefit a social cause.'
Leonsis' first film was the documentary Nanking which is set to be released domestically on Dec 12 by THINKFilm. Kicking It is scheduled to complete production later this year.
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