In a world where most these juvenile inmates return to prison or meet with violent ends on the streets, Porter and Moore face seemingly insurmountable barriers. No one wants to compete against convicted criminals, but through relentless pursuit and a jolt of inspiration, Porter and his team fight their way to redemption and a second chance.

Based on a true story, Gridiron Gang sends out a message that one man can make a difference and the most hopeless kids in our society can change the course of their lives through hard work, commitment and bold leadership. The film is directed by Phil Joanou and written by Jeff Maguire based on the documentary Gridiron Gang. Gridiron Gang opens nationally on Sep 15.

Filmmaker Lee Stanley had already been involved in the lives of violent juvenile offenders for several years before he seized on the idea of making a film about the Camp Kilpatrick football program. One of his earlier docus, "Desperate Passage," won several awards for its story of the ten-day at-sea expeditions Stanley took with incarcerated young men on his sailboat to teach the boys teamwork and self-confidence.

I had volunteered my time to kids in lock-up for 15 years, says Stanley. When I first started, I was cautioned by one of the probation counselors that if I changed one kid, Id be lucky. And I agreed, that if I could change even one kids life, it would all be worth it.

Stanley directed and produced the 1993 Emmy Award-winning documentary Gridiron Gang with his wife, Linda Stanley. Their son Shane, an Emmy Award winner who often worked with his father, served as the docus co-producer and Second Unit director. The film chronicled the teams 1990 Cinderella season, the camps first with an 11-man high-school-level football team. That year, coaches Sean Porter and Malcolm Moore led their team (which was comprised of hardened juvenile offenders) through a monumental season, during which they shook off their early losses and reached the regions championship game against Montclair Prep High School. Although Montclair Prep had lost only three games in the past four years, the Camp Kilpatrick Mustangs held them to a hard-fought 13-7 Montclair win a game many say the Mustangs could have won except for a series of unfortunate penalties and mistakes late in the fourth quarter. By making it through even one game, however, the Mustangs had already proven themselves winners.

Gridiron Gang was a powerful example that if you can invest some time and care into a kid, that kids life will change, says Lee Stanley.

When producer Neal H. Moritz (The Fast and the Furious, xXx, Sweet Home Alabama) saw the documentary, he was immediately moved and intrigued. I was watching television one day and I came across this documentary about taking troubled kids and making them into a football team, Moritz relates. I watched the entire thing and I cried. I said to myself: I have to make this into a feature film.

Fictional narrative The first step was coming up with a compelling fictional narrative interweaving the situations that made the documentary so compelling. Moritz turned to busy screenwriter Jeff Maguire, who had recently earned an Oscar-nomination for his script for In the Line of Fire starring Clint Eastwood. Jeff could not have been more in demand at that time, recalls Moritz. He also happened to have seen the documentary around the same time I did and had been so moved he volunteered at a prison camp. Right away he told me he wanted to be involved and immediately talked to all the kids, the coaches and the Stanley family. What he realized is that there was so much to the story that the hardest part was going to be fitting it all into a two-hour movie.

As the project was developed, Moritz began his search for the proper teaming of director Phil Joanou and Dwayne The Rock Johnson, and he knew his search was ended. Director Phil Joanou

Known for his direction of documentaries (U2: Rattle and Hum), feature films (State of Grace), commercials and music videos, didnt even need to read the entire script to be convinced he wanted to direct Gridiron Gang. After reading only the first 30 pages of Jeffs screenplay, I knew I wanted to be a part of this story. I was already hooked into the kids and Sean's struggle to overcome the odds."

Casting "The Rock"

Dwayne The Rock Johnson was equally eager when he first heard about the project over dinner with producer Moritz. Neal told me about the movie and handed me the script, says Johnson, star of such recent popular films as The Scorpion King and The Rundown. He asked me to watch the documentary before I read it. I did and I was moved and inspired. The battle that Sean Porter and those kids went through was amazing. I liked the fact that most of the young men who accepted the Mustang challenge back then went on to become productive citizens. It made me admire them even more.

For Moritz, Johnson was the ideal fit for the character because He embodies all the qualities of who Sean is. Sean Porter was a troubled kid himself and playing football saved him. Seans story paralleled Dwaynes since, as a kid, Dwayne had been arrested numerous times and was also saved by channeling his energies in a positive way through a competitive sport like football.

It was exciting to have Dwayne, because hed lived this story himself, says Joanou. He and Sean Porter were similar in so many ways. Dwayne understood Seans toughness and his dedication to the kids, as well as the role football could play in helping them change.

Shooting

It was very important for Joanou that the film be shot at the actual Camp Kilpatrick, a functioning youth probation camp high in the Santa Monica Mountains between the communities of Malibu and Agoura. Producer Stanley helped him secure the location by interceding with the City Council. Shooting at the camp was crucial for conveying accurately the environment in which the story transpired. Being able to shoot at Camp Kilpatrick made all the difference in the world, he says. I truly believe the impact of the film would have been dramatically lessened if we had not shot around 120 real prisoners. Every day, we would look out into the camp and see the real version of our story unfolding. It helped to keep us honest.

There were some serious concerns voiced about using Camp Kilpatrick for the filming, admits Stanley, such as How would the inmates and staff tolerate a 200-man shooting crew in their domain ever day The Los Angeles County Probation Department asked us a very important question: How can the wards benefit from this So Shane and I suggested creating a production class on the camp grounds that would teach the wards the methods of filmmaking they were witnessing every day around them.

Conducting a Camp

The class was taught throughout production, with Joanou and The Rock offering their service as speakers. Stanley also made arrangements to take small groups of wards around the actual production as it shot, pointing out the many facets of making a movie on location. Our department heads took time out to explain their roles in the production and to answer questions. It was an inspiration for the kids and showed them that someone respected their lives and their space, says Stanley.

Before production began, the filmmakers addressed another crucial aspect: creating a viable football team for the many sports sequences. Allan Graf, a noted film football coordinator who had created teams for such films as Friday Night Lights, Necessary Roughness and The Replacements, was hired to train the actors and their stunt doubles for the Camp Kilpatrick Mustangs, as well as to work with the members of the opposing teams.

A training camp was set up at Moorpark College, just a few miles from Camp Kilpatrick in Los Angeles San Fernando Valley. Many of the actors chosen for the central Camp Kilpatrick team were athletes, but few had actually played football in high school or elsewhere.

I think only one guy on the main team had ever played much football, says Graf. And Mo, the guy we picked to play our quarterback, had never thrown a football in an actual organized game, but that played to our advantage because we didnt want these players to be too good. After all, at the beginning of the film, they are supposed to be terrible.

Football Training

Graf and his assistant football coordinator, Justin Riemer, went over all the prospective plays and players with Joanou before football training started. Allan is the best in the business at putting the football team together, says Joanou, and making sure the football looks authentic and believable on every single play. I wanted to try to show our actual actors as much as possible instead of doubles, so that we would stay involved with our characters during the games.

The camp lasted three weeks, during which time the main actors learned every aspect of the game. Jade Yorker, who played star running back Willie Weathers, was basically a basketball player in real life. I had played some pee-wee football, he says. I had some talent and dreamed of playing football like Deion Sanders. But when I went to high school, I chose not to play. I chose acting instead. But what a blessing it was to come out here and play football again.

Graf would start each training day with a chalk talk classroom session, in which the new plays of the day were diagrammed and discussed. All the guys had playbooks. We used the classroom time to teach them the plays step by step just so everyone knew what they were doing. In the classroom, they were all focused on me and payed attention. We do the same thing in pro football. We also wanted to make sure the actors played safely, because you cant finish a football movie with injured actors.

Stunt doubles were trained to take most of the potentially damaging blows on the field, although the actors were involved on every play. A large group of specialty players portrayed the opposing teams.

After two weeks of daily drills and conditioning, everyone was ready to start filming at Camp Kilpatrick. Seeing the camp for the first time was a sobering experience for cast and crew alike. The facility was spartan and surrounded by high fences and tightly secured with guards at each exit.

Working on the actual Camp Kilpatrick football field, the team bonded in ways similar to the real Mustangs while more than 100 real inmates went about their day with a movie shooting around them. Every so often a real fight would break out, or a real ward would be marched into the box in the solitary confinement building. I would look out into the camp during filming, recalls Joanou, and Id see the kids lined up, being given orders. Sometimes a fight would break out and a kid would be sent to the box. And Id think I am actually shooting that scene later today.

Producer Stanley was adamant that the crew not wear gang colors certain shades of red or blue while working at he camp. Knowing that these colors could set off some of the prisoners was important. Everyone had to sign an agreement that they would not wear certain colors, he says. By so doing, we showed the kids at the camp that we understood their world and that we werent trying to provoke them by being disrespectful.

The truce between the filmmakers and the inmates continued throughout the six weeks of shooting at Camp Kilpatrick. Although the wards were within earshot of the crew at all times, both sides were asked not to address one another.

Visual Look

Joanou and his director of photography Jeff Cutter used multiple cameras on every play to maximize their coverage. The director and football coordinator Graf also concentrated on using the real actors as much as possible for the games while, at the same time, ensuring that they were kept out of harms way for the bruising blocking and tackling shots. We didnt want to hold the actors out too much, says Joanou. They had to run the plays, they had to take some real hits. They had to make it real. But it was incredibly demanding, because wed have these guys out there for 12 hours a day. Even if youre playing a real football game, you arent out on the field more than four hours at the most. And here these kids were out there all day long with five cameras for several weeks.