John Kent Harrison
A Conversation with John Kent Harrison
(Director)

Q: What motivated you to direct this movie?
A: I've wanted to work with David Rosemont for a long time. He and I met in Oklahoma at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. We both won awards for our films there, and we had a long talk and tried to find some project to work on together. Because of scheduling conflicts, we weren't able, and then suddenly this arrived. Baseball's the only sport I've never played. I grew up in Canada and played cricket.

Q: What challenges did you face in directing this movie?
A: I have to create three World Series games in two stadiums that don't exist. That's a challenge. We had to create ways of shooting a stadium that didn't exist, to integrate the visual effects into the dramatic. I don't want people to say, "Wow, look at those visual effects of the stadiums." I don't want them to notice the stadiums. They're just part of the storytelling. But, in fact, there are tremendous visual effects to create that feeling. It's visually invisible.

Q: What was it like working with Matthew Modine and Kristin Davis?
A: Matthew and I have worked together before on What the Deaf Man Heard. So we have a good relationship, a good working relationship. We have this nice rapport, and our sensibility and humor is the same. With Kristin, it's also an easy communication. We've come to really understand each other, and it's been a lot of fun working with Kristin.

Q: When you read the script, what was it about it that grabbed you?
A: I just love Americana. I've made films on different American periods, and baseball in 1909 is quintessential America. American people really don't know about that period.