Girls

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SYNOPSIS:

Although it's been called America's national pastime, the game of baseball has largely been reserved for boys and men. But the WBL Sparks, a team of elite girls who just want to play ball, are hoping to change that fact one game at a time. In Girls of Summer: The WBL Sparks in Cooperstown, N.Y., director Max Tash focuses his lens on the struggle of one team to make it in a world where most people think girls don't belong. He follows the Sparks as they juggle the joys of being the first all-girls team at the prestigious Dreams Park tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y., with the realities of growing up wanting to play hardball—not softball, as others would have them play.

During this journey, Girls of Summer  shines a spotlight on Sparks head coach Justine Siegal, a longtime women's baseball player and the first female coach at the men's professional level. The sense of drama is palpable as she attempts to mold her players' dreams into reality, all the while navigating the pitfalls that can befall a young team competing at the national level. Viewers also get to hear from individual Sparks players, their parents, and others supporters, as well as competitors and detractors of the girls' baseball movement.

In addition to the history unfolding at Dreams Park, Tash weaves a detailed narrative of the evolution of women's baseball, which traces all the way back to the sport's beginnings in the mid-1800s. Viewers are treated to stories of extraordinary women in history who challenged the status quo, not just as players on the ballfield, but as umpires behind the plate and managers in baseball's front offices.

Overall, Girls of Summer is a feel-good film about following your dreams and not giving up on what you love, no matter what the odds.



FILMMAKERS:

Max Tash (Executive Producer / Director):   Max Tash has worked in the entertainment industry for 30 years. As a writer, producer, and director he has accumulated more than 150 hours of network and feature film experience on a wide range of productions: drama, comedy and documentary; single and multi-camera; digital, tape and film. Among his credits are WKRP in Cincinnati, Cheers, Fame, Frank's Place, L.A. Law, Northern Exposure, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space, and The Chris Isaak Show. Tash wrote, produced, and directed Girls of Summer, and is post-production on Umps, a film on baseball from the umpire's unique point of view.

David Kates (Original Music):   After completing the film composers program at UCLA Extensions, under the mentoring of Don Ray, Kates composed and orchestrated the score for The Disney Story, a documentary of the Walt Disney Company. After several years of scoring children’s animated videos, Kates composed for the series Sing Me a Story with Belle. He wrote new orchestral scores for classic Disney cartoons like Ferdinand the Bull, The Ugly Duckling, The Brave Engineer, The Flying Mouse, and Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Pigs. Kates worked with producer Michael Greenfeld at Universal Pictures and Bob Israel at Aspect Ratio scoring feature film trailers. He composed original scores for Clockers, Dragonheart, Ed, Jerry Maguire, Goldiggers, Out of Sight, and Casino. He also orchestrated for Sesame Street Live, Happily Ever After (HBO), Rimba's Island (Dic), Pinocchio (New Line), and written additional underscore for A Very Brady Sequel (Paramount).