Pitching for the Island
Writer-director Gardner Grady Hall’s debut film, Winter Ball, premiers at SBIFF
Written by Josef Woodard | Portrait by John Russo
Baseball may be the centerpiece of writer-director Gardner Grady Hall’s debut film Winter Ball, a highlight of SBIFF’s “Santa Barbara Features” and sports film categories this year. But this is not your father's formula baseball movie outing.
The Santa Ynez Valley-based Hall takes “America's pastime” to the Dominican Republic, along with protagonist Gordie (Drew Roy), a rookie pitcher whose path to the Major Leagues is routed through a season in DR, the famously baseball-passionate island. He goes begrudgingly, a semi-Ugly American who speaks no Spanish, plays ball lazily and alienates locals, but undergoes an emotional warm-up, learning Spanish from a love interest (Stephany Liriano) and upping his game—as player and compassionate human in “baseball paradise.”
Winter Ball is a colorful and characterful portrayal of Dominican life—the place, people, communal spirit, music, dancing, and, yes, deep love of baseball. It's a different brand of sports film; an unpretentious character study and a feel-good film, in a good way.
Not to be confused with the other Grady Hall, who has worked extensively in television and music videos, the 805 Grady Hall—who moved here from Los Angeles 8 years ago—knows from whence he tale-spins, as a Chicago White Sox draft pick who once played “winter ball” in the DR. Hollywood work became his subsequent field of dreams, including developing TV’s Major League through Morgan Creek Productions.
“Every pitch, every play is a celebration”
For his debut, Hall says that “the motivation was sparked by the impact the culture and the people had on me. A lot of baseball fans knew the names of the players (including Sammy Sosa) but they knew little to nothing of where they were from. The people of the Dominican know how to celebrate, and somehow that gets into the DNA of the players and takes their love of the game to a higher level. Every pitch, every play is a celebration. It wasn't a goal to break with the formulas of the sports genre: sports was simply a lens through which to try and tell a different story.”
That story, and Hall’s official directorial filmography, hits the SBIFF big screen on March 6 and 7, which Hall says he “wasn't sure would happen given the past couple of years. That makes it even more special.”
