Jenks High School Alum Brian Presley stars with Kurt Russell in Touchback
Touchback, an inspirational drama produced by and starring Brian Presley (Home of the Brave, Borderland) opens in theatres April 13, 2012 from Anchor Bay Films. The film also stars Kurt Russell (Grindhouse, Escape from New York, the upcoming Django Unchained), Melanie Lynskey (Up in the Air, Sweet Home Alabama, “Two and a Half Men”), Academy-Award® and Golden Globe™ winner Christine Lahti (Obsessed, Smart People), Drew Powell (Straw Dogs, 1408) and Marc Blucas (Knight and Day, The Jane Austin Book Club). Don Handfield wrote the script and Touchback is his feature-directorial debut.
“Touchback is a heartwarming drama that combines The Blind Side with a touch of It’s a Wonderful Life and I am thrilled that Anchor Bay acquired the movie,” said Presley. “It’s a very special film and they’re the perfect distribution partner for this kind of handmade and heartfelt project. It was fun getting the chance to relive my high-school football days and it brought back great memories of Jenks High School.”
Presley graduated from Jenks High School (Jenks, Oklahoma) in 1996 where he was the quarterback for the State Championship winning football team. That same year Presley was named the Fellowship of Christian Athletes () Oklahoma Athlete of the Year. Presley got a chance to use his football skills while filming the high-school scenes in Touchback, where the character he plays was the quarterback.
In Touchback, Scott Murphy (Presley) is a struggling farmer who bitterly wonders how his life might have been different if he had not scored the winning touchdown in the Ohio State High School Championship game over a decade ago. In scoring the winning goal, he irreparably damaged his knee, losing any opportunity of a pro football career. Murphy suddenly finds himself back in time, on the week of the championship game. Faced with an opportunity to reclaim his destiny, he seeks counsel from Coach Hand (Russell), his mentor on and off the field. He struggles with many choices – should he call a different play in the big game and not injure his knee? — Should he marry his high-school sweetheart instead of Macy (Lynskey)? On the outside he looks like he did in high school, years ago, but inside he has the memories and experiences of his “past” and possible future. Will he let his destiny unfold, or will he change his future?
Brian Presley will be available in person for interviews in Tulsa, OK the week prior to opening night and is available now through April 12 for phone interviews. Attached photo credit — Photo by Wallace Michael Chrouch © 2012 Anchor Bay Films. More photos available upon request. david@robersonpr.com www.Touchback-themovie.com
Brian Presley launched Freedom Films, in 2004 producing indie films with big-budget production values and great scripts. Attracting A-list writers and actors, Freedom Films acquired Don Handfield’s “Touchback” in 2009 and quickly went into production on the high-profile project with Presley and stars Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti and Melanie Lynskey attached. In 2010, Presley announced Freedom Films’ partnership with Palo Verde Hedge Fund’s Paul Ross and Tony Stacy financing Freedom’s projects. “Touchback” was the first of a slate of films to be made under the Palo Verde deal. Freedom Films is in production on an all-CG, facial motion capture film, “Thunder Run,” starring Gerard Butler, Sam Worthington and Matthew McConaughey and Presley, directed by Simon West.
Contact: David Roberson david@robersonpr.com 310-925-8786 www.Touchback-themovie.com
BRIAN PRESLEY
Actor/Producer Biography
Brian Presley is a talented and award-winning actor who attended the University Of Southern California School Of Business and moved into producing in 2004, when he formed Freedom Films. Freedom’s first film was Guarding Eddy, where he played the role of “Eddy Patterson,” an adult living with autism. Presley won Best Actor at the Boston International Film Festival for his portrayal of “Eddy” and the film won Best Film.
In his next four films Presley worked with some of Hollywood’s most talented and respected actors, including: Irwin Winkler’s Home of the Brave for with Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Chad Michael Murray, Christina Ricci and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson; Streets of Blood with Val Kilmer and Sharon Stone; End Game with Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Woods; and Lions Gate Films’ Borderland alongside Sean Astin; and most recently opposite Ed Harris, Amy Madigan and Taraji P. Henson in Once Fallen.
In 2010, Presley announced Freedom Films’ partnership with Palo Verde Hedge Fund’s Paul Ross and Tony Stacy financing Freedom’s projects. Their first project under the deal is writer/director Don Handfield’s feature-directorial debut, Touchback, which will arrive in theaters in April 2012 from Anchor Bay.
In Touchback, “Scott Murphy,” played by Brian Presley, is a down-on-his-luck small town farmer and volunteer fireman whose glorious high school football days were cut short when he was critically injured during a playoff game. He often wonders “what if” and then is unexpectedly thrust from the present day back to that fateful instant that changed his life forever. But this time around he has the choice to decide if he wants the life he has or the life that could have been. Touchback also stars, Melanie Lynskey, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Marc Blucas, Drew Powell, Sarah Wright, Sianoa Smit-McPhee and Kevin Covais.
Currently in production on his next project, Presley stars alongside three of
Hollywood’s biggest male stars, Gerard Butler, Sam Worthington and Matthew McConaughey in Thunder Run which Simon West set to direct. Thunder Run, is an all CG 3-D action thriller based on the non-fiction book “Thunder Run – The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent David Zucchino. Adapting the story for the screen are Academy Award-winner Robert Port and Ken Nolan, screenwriter of Black Hawk Down.
Updated 01-27-2012
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