'Good Sport' gets 2 sold out showings at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - One of the largest celebrations of international cinema in the Upper Midwest is now underway. More than 200 films will be featured, including a "Bad News Bears" type comedy, by a trio of high school friends from Minnesota.

Passion project

Local perspective:

The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival shines a spotlight on stories from around the world.

But it will be a homecoming of sorts for one of those movies that was made right here in Minnesota.

"I'm very happy that they are including our movie. I've been wanting to be able to show a movie here for a while," said director Andrew Zuckerman.

Movie magic

The backstory:

FOX 9 was on the set as cameras rolled at Heritage E-Stem Magnet School in West St. Paul for "Good Sport," an R-rated spoof of crowd pleasers like Hoosiers and The Mighty Ducks.

Zuckerman wrote the script with producer Dillon Orth, who along with producer John Cronin are friends from their days at Two Rivers High School in Mendota Heights, and all three wanted to film close to home.

"I think it's a great place to shoot and we don't really have a reason to shoot anywhere else," Zuckerman said.

On the silver screen

Dig deeper:

Now a year later, Good Sport is finished and the tale inspired by its creators own experiences in youth sports will be shown in front of a hometown crowd.

The movie debuted in LA, but it will have its Minnesota premiere during two sold out screenings at the festival on Saturday and Monday nights.

"It's good to be able to sit in the theater and hear people's reactions and I hope to keep screening it and I hope people keep laughing at it," Zuckerman said.

Zuckerman says they plan to continue showing Good Sport in other cities, with the hope of a short theatrical run in the fall and a deal with a streaming service after that.