The Brooks brothers know the meaning of the phrase “do it yourself.”
After 14 years of work, 18 versions of their screenplay and countless obstacles, brothers Zev and David Brooks are finally releasing their movie, “The Yankles.”
They tell the story of Charlie Jones, a has-been major league center fielder who, in order to fulfill court-ordered community service for multiple instances of driving under the influence, must coach an orthodox Jewish rabbinical school’s baseball team into the college world series.
“The Yankles” will be screening on Sunday at the James Bridges Theater as part of the lineup of the Bel Air Film Festival, but getting the film shown was no easy feat.
In 1995, David Brooks, a film alumnus from San Diego State University, was approached by a baseball manager who was also his neighbor. He asked David Brooks if he would be interested in doing a movie based on one of his clients, which, after a family Sabbath dinner including his brother and UCLA alumnus Zev Brooks, turned into the first inklings of “The Yankles.”
But when the baseball manager and his players dropped out, the Brooks were truly on their own. With no backing money and only their family and friends for support, the project became a constant labor of love for the two inexperienced filmmakers.
“Our friends and family investing in “˜The Yankles’ allowed us to get our foot in the doors,” David Brooks said.
Finally, in 2000, after reworking the screenplay many times over, Michael Morhaime, UCLA alumnus, co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment (now Activision Blizzard) and longtime friend of Zev Brooks, whom he met while both were Bruins, became involved with “The Yankles.”
Morhaime ended up giving the Brooks their first real seed money for the continued progress of the script. Despite attempts by a hired agent to shop the work-in-progress movie to Hollywood, the Brooks knew “The Yankles” wasn’t fully ready for the big screen.
“It was important for us to stick to our vision,” Zev Brooks said. “We knew we couldn’t trust what other people would let “˜The Yankles’ become.”
So after a few years and a fruitless foray into Hollywood studios, they made the decision to make the movie themselves from start to finish. They founded DZB Productions in 2005 and, after two years of raising money, began shooting in Utah during the summer of 2007. With the movie in the can, Zev Brooks, the executive producer, and David Brooks, the director, raised the money for post-production.
This year, “The Yankles” is a tangible realization of a dream so many years in the making. But perhaps the most stirring part of their story is the intensely personal nature of “The Yankles” for the Jewish brothers. It’s a true “slice of life” story, as put by David Brooks, that allows audiences a glimpse into the world of orthodox Jews without excluding the non-Jewish community.
“We wanted to straddle that fine line between comedy and drama, without taking it somewhere too campy or creating the next “˜Schindler’s List,'” David Brooks said.
Zev Brooks said “The Yankles” is meant to be an uplifting family film that stays true to the Jewish faith. By keeping it in the family, literally and figuratively, the Brooks brothers were able to achieve their goal.
The next chapter in this saga will be just as challenging as the first. With no distribution deal and few industry connections, David and Zev Brooks must create their own buzz around “The Yankles” through private screenings and film festivals. And it appears that buzz is already spreading.
“I think it will be really refreshing to see a Jewish film that focuses on the positive aspects of Judaism in present day,” said Sam Lieberstein, a first-year ethnomusicology student.
The Brooks brothers are preparing for a slew of festivals and private screenings, including the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, in addition to the Bel Air Film Festival. They continue to look to the future as “The Yankles” takes its first steps outside the family.