Metcalf vs Puskás - My Upcoming Documentary Film

My grandad and Ferenc Puskás

So, for those of you who have known me since a while back when I was a lot more active on here... you may remember my attempt to make a short film back in 2016 with The Job Hunt. It was great fun and you lot all supported me really well, but I can't bare to watch it back now... it's... bad.

Eight years have passed, I'm older and wiser, I now have a son who's nearly one - most of you probably don't know that. I'm still in love with films and have a couple of feature-length screenplays half-written (including one with TheUsualSuspect which will hopefully come to something in the future) but I have decided that in the meantime I am committing to a pretty feasible documentary idea that's close to my heart.

I've set up this basic website with some key info: https://www.metcalfvspuskas.com/

Any thoughts or feedback appreciated. Any questions, fire away. Please let me know what you think of the website and if you would change/add anything.

As of now I have someone who will shoot and edit the film for me, and a couple of people who will help for no immediate cost - which is always a good start. I've got the blessing of key family members who will support me too and potentially have some biggish names in the film and sports industries (respectively) coming on board. I'm starting to send out emails to people to get involved, plan everything out and so on. I've got some ideas for private investment, some of my own money and I may crowdfund a realistic small portion of the production once I have everything organised as I believe it's a good way to get people involved in a community sense.

If anyone thinks they can help me in any way possible, I'm open to offers

Looking back at my 2016 short film experience, the main thing I've taken away from that was just how difficult it is to make a quality film. I wrote a 50 page script with lots of funny ideas in my head, I thought we would capture loads of impromptu/improvised footage that we'd mixed with the scripted stuff and create a hilarious film. We had two weeks of solid filming with 4/5 of us, but in the end we barely had any useable footage, maybe about 30 minutes worth which we cut down to 20. Almost every scene I was unhappy with, knowing it could have done better and the whole sound wasn't great. The trailer we made before the film was complete was the best thing about it.

I'm hoping this film will work on multiple levels, as a love letter to my grandad but also as an exploration of sporting and societal change, how memories work, how we share stories etc.

I want to give this a proper go, get as much money and resources together as possible. I'm feeling confident but know the challenges that lie ahead. I will keep you all in the loop on how this progresses and share my experiences

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How exciting!

Best of luck to you. A friend of mine produced a documentary a few years back and it's a lot of work!

Good luck!

Good luck.

My tip is to shoot a lot of stuff. If you're doing digital, you're in luck as it's free: Don't ever stop the camera rolling.

Never settle for conventional ideas or execution - the modern Netflix type of documentary filmmaking is some of the most rote, unimaginable and boring out there. Never do anything like this.

Watch a lot of films - old favorites and new promising ones - documentary and fiction. This is to inspire you and to make you continuously strive for the best. I cannot stress enough for important it is to expose yourself to quality art when you engage in a creative process.

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San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

Definitely. Part of the reason I wanted to revive this idea (I initially had it a few years ago) is because I'm watching so many films now.

One of the inspirations behind what I plan is Corneliu Porumboiu. I watched The Second Game recently, a very simple concept. What I enjoyed was how from just this one single static shot and conversation he was able to touch on all sorts of observations on sport and wider society. I'm hoping that through having many conversations with all sorts of different people that I can achieve a similar result.

Whilst the story will definitely appeal to sports and football fans, I think that more importantly it give me a lot of artistic potential. I want to explore the power of storytelling, how film can be used to investigate, to recreate. I want to look at how society has changed, how football has changed, the power of memory and so on. That to me is what many great documentaries do, although they have some sort of structure at the core, they use this as a vehicle to then explore great ideas/themes.

goodluck hopefully u reach ur goals

Good start. Chester FC are 100% on board and I'm liaising with their historian who has offered up tons of archival material including a never released before audio interview with my grandad from the 90s. Got responses from other football experts and clubs who are getting back to me with what they can provide. Potentially have an experienced film writer/producer coming on board to help too.

Also have an endorsement from Wales legend Neville Southall who took a look at the project...

“A fascinating footballing story which should make for a great film, I can’t wait to watch and learn more about it. Good luck Daniel and team!”

well done!!

Good luck Daniel. Look forward to it. Congratulations on your family as well. No better thing to be in this world than a dad. It’s the most amazing feeling.

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Letterboxd

#JusticeForHamilton

Congratulations on everything.
If you're wanting to make a quality documentary it will take years to put together as everything is research, research, and more research. If you wish to go off of the best and see how they do it there's one name that immediately comes to mind, Ken Burns. Check out Ken Burns: The Civil War as it put him on the map in the business. Also Ken Burns: Baseball. He's made many more.
Good for you Daniel.
One more thing, The Job Hunt was your first try. When we learn how to swim we first must sink. Not everyone's Mozart.

Website with a load of information on it: https://metcalfvspuskas.com/

Things are progressing nicely, got a few more people on board and interviews lined up. Going to get some press and social media out soon, then a sort of introduction video/pre-trailer.

Working poster



Article online

https://chesterfootballhistory.com/2...-legends-tale/

Wrexham & Chester. Began with the Toffees as well. That's a good career. Also he was a Scouser.


Anyways, good luck with the film man.

Got the news out to the local press

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/pem...050000141.html

https://www.purewestradio.com/pembro...l-documentary/

https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/n...match-created/

https://pembrokeshire-herald.com/100...l-documentary/

Got a couple more interviews agreed for the film including someone who was a young lad at the game in question. Chester's official fanzine are doing an article in their next edition about the film following an interview with me. I'm also gonna go up in March/April to give a talk with their "Senior Blues" club about the film project.

And got a few people on board locally who have offered their skills to help with the project, two youngsters who want to work in film and another friend of mine who wants to help out with marketing and graphics

And another one https://www.chesterstandard.co.uk/ne...ootball-match/

Plus I have an offer for narration/voiceover from a former professional sports commentator, so it continues to move along nicely

I've launched a Kickstarter to raise some funds for the film. I've set amount at what I believe to be a realistic and achievable target, it is the minimum we need to make a good film and I'd like to think between my friends, family, people following this project, we'll get to it comfortably.

I set it up Friday night and have just started getting the word out, a handful of generous friends have got it going really nicely.

Please have a read of it, as it has a lot of details about the film...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...orgotten-game/

And if you would like to support and help make my dream project a reality, that would be amazing

Thank you Yoda and Swan for your kind donations Nearly reached a third of my target already so really happy with that. Got some important updates coming up regarding animation and also more interviews lined up.

A little look at the some of the animation we have come up with to be used in the documentary to bring key moments back to life...

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCbiMcEtgXS/