Hello all, Mad Dashiell here and thanks for joining me today.
The FENCES producer Todd Black, Steve Tisch from Escape Artists Productions, Abraham Taylor, and Angelina Jolie are the team that will be producing BRIGHT PATH: THE JIM THORPE STORY, for a biopic of Native American athlete Jim Thorpe. Martin Sensmeier the Alaska Native actor of Tlingit, Koyukon-Athabascan descent has been chosen to play the legendary athlete. Abraham Taylor wrote the script with Alex Nibley and Sterlin Harjo. The executive producers are Sensmeier, Josh Aker, and Justine Hunt of Box of Daylight Productions and backed by UTA’s Independent Film Group for distribution. But more importantly, the producers are said to have involvement with Thorpe’s family in this telling of an authentic story.
“My brother Richard and I are the only surviving children of Jim Thorpe,” commented Bill Thorpe. “Our father’s accomplishments in life are a great source of pride to us. In the more than six decades since Burt Lancaster’s Jim Thorpe: All American, our family has heard of dozens of attempts to bring this story to modern audiences, but we have never shared the vision of a movie until the authentic portrayal in Bright Path: The Jim Thorpe Story.”
“I’m honored to be working on this project, mentioned Angelina Jolie. “I have had the privilege of spending time with Bill Thorpe, and will be listening to and guided by the Tribes and the Thorpe family in the making of this film.”
Thorpe's native name was, Wa-Tho-Huk, that translates as Bright Path. Thorpe was a member of the Sac and Fox Nation. Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for his home country. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he achieved Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon. Thorpe was the only Olympic athlete to ever participate in 17 events. In 1912, he won two Olympic gold track and field medals, representing the United States while his citizenship was unrecognized during a time of cultural genocide for Native Americans. Thorpe career spanned Major League Baseball, professional Football and eventually founded the organization that became known as the National Football League.
"I am no more proud of my career as an athlete than I am of the fact that I am a direct descendant of that noble warrior Blackhawk." -Jim Thorpe
-Back in 1951 Warner Bros released a Thorpe biopic, JIM THORPE--ALL-AMERICAN. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Burt Lancaster.
-Thanks for joining me today, Mad Dashiell signing off.
