NBA All-Star Mark Eaton’s Life Comes to the Big Screen
We at Crazy Parkite Productions are proud to announce that we have optioned the rights to NBA All-Star (and former starting center for the Utah Jazz) Mark Eaton’s inspirational journey into the NBA.
At 7′4″, everyone assumed that Mark Eaton should play basketball. Everyone, that is, except for Mark. As a shy awkward teen, Mark tried basketball in high school, but spent most of his games sitting on the bench. “Back then, coaches didn’t know what to do with big guys like me,” says Mark, now philosophical about how he was treated. High school basketball tore down Mark’s confidence so much, that he decided to forego college. Instead, Mark went to auto mechanic school and then got a job at a Mark C. Bloome tire store in Anaheim. From there he was literally plucked from the grease pit by Cypress College assistant coach Tom Lubin, who drove by one day and saw Mark standing out front talking to a customer. “He was the biggest human being I had ever seen in my life!” Declares Tom, sharing his first impression of Mark.
Mark’s incredible journey from that point is a rocky road of ups and downs as Mark goes from basketball star at Cypress College to benchwarmer at UCLA and finally to barely making it into the Utah Jazz as a fourth round draft pick at age 25 (old by today’s draft standards). From there, no one, not even Mark, expected his meteoric rise in the NBA to multiple record holder in blocked shots and All-Star player.
Crazy Parkite Productions plans to shoot the currently untitled Mark Eaton story in Utah in fall of 2007. Screenplay by Stacy Dymalski, produced by Stacy Dymalski, Billie Harsch, Kim Page, and James Harsch. Stay tuned to this blog for preproduction and casting news as it unfolds.
December 20th, 2006 at 11:56 am
That’s really cool! My husband and I were down at a Jazz game and I think Mark Eaton still holds some records. Didn’t he reitire in 1995?
December 21st, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Stacy, this looks fascinating! I can imagine so many directions such a project could take. I look forward to watching this develop!
December 28th, 2006 at 8:58 am
Stacy, I am thrilled that this idea is actually coming to pass. I know that you and the rest of the crew have the passion and expertise for this project. I can’t wait to see the finished product!!! Keep up the great work.
February 11th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
As a friend of Mark Eaton’s since his Cypress days, I would like to remind you not to dismiss or underestimate the influence and faith that Don Johnson, Mark’s coach at Cypress College, had in Mark’s formative days as a basketball player. Coach Johnson was the one who put his neck on the line, who worked with Mark and gave Mark the confidence to believe that he could play basketball. Tom (Lubin) get’s, deservedly, credit for getting Mark to Cypress. But without Don Johnson’s patience and coaching skills, Mark’s basketball career could have been different. As a former Cypress player and fan of Coach Johnson’s, he has been the source of inspiration and confidence to myself and many fine young men who participated in the Cypress College Basketball program. I hope he gets the credit he deserves in your film.
Thank You,
Mark Miller
Orange, California