BASKETBALL THROUGH ADVERSITY “BOBCATS ON THREE” PREMIERING ON DEMAND FEBRUARY 12, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Bevan. |. kbevan@ruggedentertainment.com | (424) 354-3835
BASKETBALL THROUGH ADVERSITY
“BOBCATS ON THREE” PREMIERING ON DEMAND
FEBRUARY 12, 2021
Bobcats On Three, directed by Alison Taupier, is a powerful documentary following the Paradise High School girls’ basketball team after the most devastating fire in California history destroys their entire town. It is a compelling mixture of hometown realism and heart - a story of courage, resilience and basketball.
The documentary is produced by Flat-Out Films and Diamond Docs, directed and written by Alison Taupier, and produced by Michael Shevloff and Jeff Taupier. Executive producers are Paul Crowder and Dashiell Hopper. Co-producers are Emily Kretzer and Ira Flowers. The film was edited by Sierra Neal, and the music was composed by Matter Music.
The film premiered at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Joanne Feinberg, director of programming said “It is the best portrait of Paradise after the fire that I have seen––so authentic and heartfelt. It has really stuck with me.” It was the winner of the Award of Excellence at the Best Shorts Competition and recently won Best Documentary at the Pasadena International Film Festival.
In 2020, the film aired as an introduction to a WNBA game on ESPN and ABC. It is slated for worldwide release On Demand through Rugged Entertainment.
HOW IT BEGAN
In late 2018, Alison Taupier was researching a project about women athletes when fires started to break out in California. She watched as the Camp Fire burned for 17 days straight, destroying 153,336 acres and 18,804 homes and buildings. 85 people had lost their lives and over 90% of Paradise was burned to the ground. She read a story in the L.A. Times that captured her heart: young girls finding strength during adversity through basketball. A coach who had risked her life evacuating 91 elderly people early on the morning of November 8th was now intent on trying to maintain some normalcy and hope for this group of young women athletes. Four days after the fire began and while it was still burning, Coach Sheila Craft got together with her Paradise High School girls’ basketball team, some of whom didn’t even have sneakers, and started the journey back. Alison went to visit Sheila and the team in December and found a story and characters so inspiring and compelling that she remained to film their season.
"Once I started to film this amazing group of teenagers, I knew I had to stay to find out how their season would turn out.” - Alison Taupier, Director
"Some of the girls didn't even have a pair of sneakers. But we had basketball and we had each other." - Sheila Craft, Bobcats Coach
Peter Spirer, Bobcats On Three Distributor Rugged Entertainment President, says “As a California resident, I remember being glued to the horrific images of the Camp fire and thinking about what could be done to help that community. When Alison and Michael brought their film to my attention, I realized this would be the way that I, and Rugged Entertainment, could help heal the community’s devastation which touched each and every person.”
BOBCATS ON THREE – ON DEMAND
Now the whole country can share in this story of overcoming adversity and devastation. A true testament to a caring coach, and the will of the girls who love the game. On-Demand platforms include Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Microsoft Store, InDemand (Comcast EST/Cox EST), Vudu. Here’s the trailer:
The linktree with On Demand platform links will be updated with links as they become available.
LOGLINE
Bobcats On Three is a powerful documentary following the Paradise High School girls’ basketball team after the most devastating fire in California history destroys their entire town.
SYNOPSIS
Coach Sheila Craft had just begun her new, dream job as Varsity Coach of the Paradise High School girls’ basketball team. She had successfully recruited 44 strong players across 3 squads and their season was just about to begin until the morning of Nov. 8th 2018 changed everything. Sheila Craft was at her job at an elderly care home in Paradise, CA. that morning. At 8:00 a.m. she heard reports of a fire nearby. A remote town on the crest of a hill, Paradise had always been protected from fire at all costs. However, this fire was different. After driving to where she could see the fire, she quickly returned to the nursing home and began to help evacuate the 91 elderly residents, despite officials advising people to stay put. By 8:30 a.m. the skies were dark, the whole town was on fire, and Sheila was stuck in traffic with three elderly residents in her car. After suffering a flat tire and believing that she wasn’t going to make it she started calling her family to say goodbye. They all managed to somehow miraculously escape when a man (an “angel”) drove up and loaded all of them into his car. This was the start of the Camp Fire and it burned for 17 days straight.
Within days, coach Sheila was in a borrowed gym with the remnants of her team. Every player and coach had lost their home, barring one, and the team was already starting to shrink in numbers. Determined, Sheila felt a drive to maintain some hope and normalcy for all of the kids, through all the trauma and chaos and disruption. The team had dwindled to just 14 players as the season began, therefore fielding just one Varsity team with only two seniors playing. Through perseverance and personality, Coach Sheila created a team united in their ambition to survive. As young athletes, as a team, they came together to create a bond to support each other on and off the court.
A triumphant season through some of the most difficult moments is a legacy that will never be forgotten. It is the story of triumph of will over adversity, of positivity over loss, of strength over pity. It is an inspiring story of resilience, courage and basketball.
PRODUCTION
ALISON TAUPIER – DIRECTOR
Bobcats On Three is Alison Taupier’s directorial debut. Alison began her career as a fashion designer before moving to Los Angeles. She worked as a stylist and costume designer in film and television before producing the award winning short ‘Big Wheel’. Subsequent credits include, as a producer, ‘The Big Empty’, ‘Tripping’, a documentary on Ken Kesey, the F1 documentary ‘1: Life on the Limit’ and ‘Mosley’, on the life of Max Mosley.
PRODUCTION COMPANIES
FLAT-OUT FILMS
Flat-Out Films is an award-winning film and documentary production company founded by Alison Taupier and Michael Shevloff. Recent documentaries include 1: Life on the Limit, Mosley, and Bobcats On Three.
DIAMOND DOCS
Diamond Docs is an Oscar®-winning documentary film production company. Diamond Docs has collaborated on dozens of award-winning, high-profile documentary projects, including Ron Howard’s Grammy and BAFTA nominated, The Beatles: Eight Days a
Week – The Touring Years, the recent Pavarotti, Big Little Farm, One Child Nation, the Oscar-winning, The Cove, Leonardo DiCaprio’s, Before the Flood, as well as Steven Spielberg’s award-winning doc, Finding Oscar. The 2018 doc, Icarus, won an Academy Award for “Best Documentary.” Diamond Docs has produced over forty documentaries including Once In A Lifetime: The Story of the New York Cosmos and 1: Life on The Limit and MOSLEY, both set in the world of Formula 1. They are proud to be working with Alison Taupier and to have been a part of this award-winning film that continues its tradition of powerful and timely storytelling.
PRODUCERS
MICHAEL SHEVLOFF - Producer
Michael Shevloff is an award-winning television, film and documentary producer. Michael began his career in England working on feature films such as Empire of the Sun, and Full Metal Jacket. After moving to Los Angeles, Michael produced a series of independent films including the Sundance hit, Bandwagon, The Big Empty and La Cucaracha.
As EIC of Production for Rocket Science Laboratories, Michael served as a producer on documentaries such as Dial H For Hitchcock, It’s A Wonderful Life, Tripping, a documentary on Ken Kesey, the Emmy nominated Assassinated: Last Days of King & Kennedy, and Images of Life: Photographs That Changed The World, for which he won an Emmy.
Michael served as Executive Producer on the TV series, Temptation Island and Nanny 911, as well as Expedition: Africa and Top Gear USA, and produced the Formula 1 documentary, 1: Life On The Limit. Michael has recently directed MOSLEY, a documentary on the life of Max Mosley.
JEFF TAUPIER – Producer
Writer/Producer Jeff Taupier has worked as a Supervising Producer and Co-EP for various docu-series for Discovery, NatGeo, History, Bravo, and Netflix. Recently, he was Consulting Producer on the independent documentary “Spears All Around” and a Producer on Bobcats On Three.
EMILY KRETZER – Co Producer
Emily Kretzer is a Los Angeles based Producer, Director, and Documentary Filmmaker. In addition to Co-Producing Bobcats On Three, she has directed and produced dozens of music videos and mini docs. Emily is currently directing a documentary about mental health and ableism in sports.
PAUL CROWDER – Executive Producer
Paul Crowder is a former UK musician turned superstar editor and director. Following the critical success of Stacy Peralta’s documentary Dogtown and Z Boys (Audience Favorite and Best Director at Sundance 2001, and Best Documentary at the 2002 Independent Spirit Awards), Crowder edited Peralta’s Riding Giants, garnering the 2004 A.C.E. Eddie for Best Edited Documentary.
He made his directorial debut with Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (written by Mark Monroe) and co-directed and edited the Grammy-nominated Amazing Journey: Story of the WHO. He directed & edited the acclaimed films, Last Play at Shea (2009) and 1:Life On The Limit (2013). He also edited Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Dave Grohl’s directorial debut Sound City. Paul was executive producer and editor on Ron Howard’s documentaries, Eight Days A Week and Pavarotti.
ABOUT RUGGED ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
A full-service film and media production company was founded in 2007 by Academy Award® and Emmy Award® nominated Director Peter Spirer. Rugged Entertainment secured multi-picture documentary and narrative deals with distribution companies such as Image Entertainment/RLJ and XLrator Media. Rugged has successfully worked with noteworthy filmmakers, guiding them through the process of production and distribution. Releases currently On Demand have received critical and viewer accolades: The War at Home (4K restored rerelease of the 1979 Academy Award-nominated documentary), Michael Des Barres: Who Do You Want Me to Be; Disarm Hate; Who the F**k is that Guy?; Glitter Tribe; Feel Rich; Smash and The Legend of 420. Rugged Entertainment
Additional materials, including a press link to screen the full-length film, are available upon request.
Contact: Kelly Bevan
kbevan@ruggedentertainment.com | (424) 354-3835