MN filmmakers shoot comedy about youth basketball in east metro

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - At Heritage E-STEM Magnet School in West St. Paul, classes are done for the day. But cameras are still rolling outside the gymnasium for a feature film.

"It feels comfortable and exciting to shoot here. I refereed on that court. I played on that court. So it's some of the experiences that I had in those settings we definitely brought into this script a little bit. So it was full circle in that way," said producer Dillon Orth. 

For more than a week, a film crew has been shooting the movie "Good Sport", which is an R-rated spoof of classic crowd-pleasers like "Hoosiers" and "The Mighty Ducks", at the school. Orth co-wrote the script with director Andrew Zuckerman, who along with producer John Cronin, are all friends from their days at Two Rivers High School in Mendota Heights.

"We always had the mentality that we just have to make something and do it ourselves and hopefully Hollywood will come to us instead of us going to Hollywood," said Zuckerman.

All three filmmakers grew up playing youth sports in the east metro and wanted to make fun of the bad behavior they witnessed by parents other than their own. While some of the actors are from Los Angeles and New York City, the rest of the cast and crew are Minnesotans because the filmmakers wanted to make their movie close to home.

"We're very intentional about shooting here because we believe in this community and the crew and creatives here in town. So we want to kind of help put Minnesota on the map and get more here," said Cronin.

Principal photography may be over, but the filmmakers believe their future making movies in Minnesota is just beginning.

"I'm excited for people to see it. It's funny," said Zuckerman.

The filmmakers hope to edit "Good Sport" this summer and submit it for film festivals in the fall. They hope it will be available for the general public to see by the summer of 2025.