Uplifting baseball movie shot in Labatt Park set to hit big screen

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London is making yet another appearance in Hollywood, this time showing off one of its prized possessions: Labatt Memorial Park.

The world’s oldest continuously operating baseball diamond takes a starring role in the upcoming film You Gotta Believe, a drama directed by Ty Roberts starring Luke Wilson from Legally Blonde and Anchorman, as well as Greg Kinnear from As Good as It Gets and Little Miss Sunshine.

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The film being released Friday tells the true story of the Cinderella run of a team from Fort Worth, Tex., to the 2002 Little League World Series.

In the movie’s trailer, Labatt Park is transformed into the Howard J. Lamade stadium in South Williamsport, Penn., where the series was played.

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Cineplex, which is hosting special screening events for the movie at SilverCity London starting on Friday, said local baseball players were tapped for small parts in the movie.

Andrew Dodd, manager of Film London, was unavailable for an interview Wednesday.

Kapil Lakhotia, executive director of the London Economic Development Corp. (LEDC), which runs Film London, said the organization is “super pumped” for the movie.

“Of course, as Film London has grown its profile and attracted a number of productions over the last couple of years, this one is special because it was also shot in a very special place, Labatt Park, which has such a historical significance,” he said.

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Film London curates a database that includes 200 special locations, 170 performers and 130 crew that it markets to location scouts, Lakhotia said. Labatt Park, one of the locations, likely satisfied all the characteristics for which the production crew was looking, he said.

The same was true for Fanshawe Lake, Lakhotia said, which recently drew the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger for filming of the second season of the Netflix comedy-action show Fubar. 

“By creating those databases of locations and talent, we market ourselves to the production community to be open for filming here,” Lakhotia said. Film London also works to streamline permitting and resources it provides to the crew.

Last year, London welcomed 15 productions that led to the creation of more than 200 jobs and “created a good revenue stream for the community,” Lakhotia said.

While not included in the job figures, many Londoners also opt to be background actors. To aid that process, Film London also runs training and awareness seminars to help recruitment and add to the talent database.

A July staff report to city council outlined that in the organization’s three-year history, Film London has landed more than 30 film and television productions that have generated more than $1 million in economic spinoff and created 300 jobs.

Council voted in July to make permanent the $300,000 in annual funding to Film London through the LEDC.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

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