Braintree, MA -- (SBWire) -- 07/05/2013 --There is a new documentary in production featuring former 2 time NCAA champion Wayne Turner, his brother 'Tiny', and the public housing project where they grew up in Boston, MA.
The film is being written and directed by Brian Culkin a former executive in the financial industry who has some decent basketball credentials himself. A three time UCAA all star, all time leading scorer in the history of Skidmore college, and a brief professional basketball career overseas, Culkin played with the younger Turner in the summer basketball leagues of Boston.
"It's kind of funny, we were actually the starting backcourt. I played the point and he played the two. We had amazing chemistry on the court and I think that is probably the main reason why I decided to take this project on after we reconnected so many years later."
Tiny, a veritable 'streetball' legend in the basketball rich culture of Mission Hill, contacted his old friend after he had been released from prison last summer and Culkin saw a powerful story that needed to be told.
"It's not necessarily about the Turner brothers. I feel a better way to describe it would be they are representing some of the factors, both social and historical, that define this seeming binary within the basketball culture of Mission Hill."
The binary as Culkin refers to is a dividing line within the basketball culture that saw equal measures of its talent succeed, at everything from the high school level to the NBA, to the other side that beset by the various social ills inherent in a community like Mission Hill.
"The story of basketball in Mission Hill in many ways helps tell the story of the community itself. I would say, basketball became simultaneously one of the chief means of personal and creative expression as well as the capacity to transcend the limitations that Mission Hill presented to many of its youth, " said Culkin. "With the Turners you have this dichotomy so vivid and real. One one hand you have Wayne, one of the best high school basketball players in the history of Massachusetts and possibly even Kentucky whereas his brother, who possibly had even more natural talent and gifts, never really played organized basketball and spent most of his life in prison. It's tragic in some respect but it's also inspiring."
The film will be a mix of interviews and a sense of aesthetic that Culkin characterizes as 'raw and abigouos' which he hopes will translate into a unique experience. "We are going to look at the nature of public housing, historical factors such as 'The Great Migration', and of course basketball.'
The film will be ready in early 2014.
Media Contact:
Brian Culkin
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216 elm street
Braintree, ma 02184
Email ID: Brian@brianculkin.com
New Documentary Featuring Former Kentucky Star Wayne Turner
The film is being written and directed by Brian Culkin a former executive in the financial industry who has some decent basketball credentials himself