Meriwether coach’s inspirational story to become Hollywood movie filmed in Columbus
The inspiring story of Jeremy Williams, the former Kendrick High School football star and Greenville coach diagnosed with ALS in 2008, will be told in a faith-based movie by Hollywood producers — and it will be filmed in the Columbus area.
Steven Camp, executive producer of “The Jeremy Williams Story,” told the Ledger-Enquirer that the feature film is scheduled to have 11 weeks of preproduction work in Columbus this summer and start five weeks of shooting in September.
The producers are seeking investors beyond the typical sources in the movie industry to increase the $4.8 million budget so it could secure the “A-list talent” they envision for this film, Camp told the L-E Tuesday.
“We’re doing well,” he said of the fundraising. “It’s still early in the process, so I can’t put a number out, but we’re engaged with a lot of high net-worth Christians.”
The goal is to release the film in the fall of 2021 to coincide with football season, Camp said, but he emphasized the movie will focus on more than the sport.
“The story is not just about Jeremy and the football team,” he said. “It’s also about the love story of Jennifer and Jeremy.”
In fact, Camp said, the target audience is Southern Baptist women, ages 35-50, and the producers want to hire women to write the screenplay and direct the movie.
Jeremy was diagnosed in July 2008 with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and his condition deteriorated while trying to still lead his team and family. Despite suffering from a terminal disease that eventually stole his ability to walk and talk, he led Greenville High School in Meriwether County to an undefeated regular season in 2009.
Jeremy, who also served as a father figure for many of his underprivileged players, was named the 2009 National High School Football Coach of the Year by the National High School Coaches Association. Known as the “Georgia Assassin” for his hard-hitting style as a defensive back for the University of Memphis, he was inducted into the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Why Columbus?
The producers chose the Columbus area as the location, Camp said, for three reasons:
- In addition to the 30% tax credit offered by Georgia for film project expenditures in the state, Columbus offers producers a grant through the Columbus Film Fund for qualified local spending that meet the criteria for the grant.
- Filming in the area where this story happened gives the movie more authenticity and more of a chance for support, including local extras for crowd scenes and church groups providing meals for the crew.
- Producers of projects filmed in the Columbus area have said they’ve had a “great experience,” Camp said.
“We intend to use people from Columbus as much as possible actually in the movie, not just from the (Georgia Film) Academy,” he said.
The GFA includes students from Columbus State University who work on movie sets in the region to gain experience in the industry. Columbus also is home to the Springer Theatre Academy, the Springer Film Institute, and the Georgia Repertory Theatre, which have provided talent and resources for productions shot in the area.
Through a public-private partnership, the Columbus Film Commission launched last year a $5 million fund providing incentives to attract film and video productions to the Chattahoochee Valley.
Since then, two feature films have been shot in the Columbus, generating $1.1 million in direct local spending, according to the commission. The first one, an action thriller starring Bruce Willis, initially was known as “The Long Night” but has “Survive the Night” as its title now and is scheduled to be released May 22. The second one, a coming-of-age rock ‘n’ roll comedy called “Electric Jesus” with Vanna White as an executive producer, doesn’t have a release date.
The commission also has signed contracts with producers for three more film projects — combined budgets of around $21 million, commission president and CEO Peter Bowden told the L-E. They are scheduled to be shot here this year, but he declined to discuss those projects because the producers haven’t announced them.
And now, there’s another movie crew coming to town.
“Having this filmed in Columbus is great news,” Bowden said. “We look forward to working with everyone attached to the project.”
Understanding stay-at-home restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic have mostly shut down the movie industry along with the rest of the economy, Camp insisted this project will come to fruition, even if the filming is delayed until next year.
“We trust in God that it’s going to happen the way it’s going to happen,” he said. “… There are few opportunities in life to do well while doing good, and this story is exactly that opportunity.”
Other producers on the project are two-time Emmy nominee Sam Sokolow, Sheila Hawkins and Richard Cohen. They will base the film on Williams’ 2013 autobiography, “Tenacious,” co-authored by his wife, Jennifer.
Cohen directed and wrote the documentary about Jeremy. “Season of a Lifetime” premiered in Columbus at Edgewood Baptist Church in 2011.
“We feel like God has put together a perfect team to get this feature film done and that it will represent our savior beautifully,” Jennifer told the L-E Wednesday. “We’re just thankful for the opportunity. … For the enhancement and the advancement of the kingdom, that’s our sole purpose in doing this.”
And to have the movie filmed here, Jennifer said, “is a perfect idea. What better way to do a film than to do it where that story actually occurred? We both grew up in Columbus. We have so many friends and family in Columbus. Then to have access to places in Meriwether County that are part of this story and places in Harris County that are part of this story, we couldn’t be more thrilled.”
‘They know this family’
Jeremy’s story went national in 2010, when the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” built the Williams family of four a new home in Harris County, enabling Jeremy and son Jacob, born with spina bifida, to get around more easily in their wheelchairs.
Having such a feel-good local story filmed in the Columbus area, Bowden noted, is an added benefit to the economy and the experience.
“There’s good value in the sense that it connects the community, the citizens directly to a project because they know these people, they know this family, they know people that were touched by this family,” he said.
Although he can’t coach football anymore, Jeremy still teaches life lessons by providing his testimony at churches and hosting Bible study groups in his home. He also advises coaches and participates in Fellowship of Christian Athletes events. He eats through a feeding tube and communicates by using a laser machine that follows the path of his eyes as he spells words.
The producers are seeking investors in this film project. To contact them, call 312-858-9009 or email info@NiceMediaStudios.com. More info is available at CoachJeremyWilliams.com.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
