News > October 9, 2008

By Lauren Dayton | Staff writer

University faculty and students are accustomed to the occasional TV camera on campus reporting for a local news station, but soon they will be seeing a whole new echelon of filming equipment. Film crews will be shooting footage for The 5th Quarter, a movie about the inspirational story of the 2006 university football team. The film, which was written, directed and produced by Rick Bieber (Crazy, Radio Flyer, Illusion), follows both the team and the family of Jon Abbate as the football team rose from last place to ACC champions.

During the season, Abbate’s younger brother, Luke Abbate, was the victim of tragic car accident. Days after the accident, and four days before his 16th birthday Luke died of brain damage. The tragedy brought the university football team together and completely changed the direction of its season.

Ryan Merriman (Final Destination 3, The Ring Two, Halloween: Resurrection) will play the role of Jon Abbate.  His parents will be portrayed by Aidan Quinn (Desperately Seeking Susan, The Mission) and Andie MacDowell (Groundhog Day, Short Cuts). Doug Ames is Bieber’s co-producer and Alan Cohen is the executive producer of the film.

University students have the opportunity to get involved in the film’s production both on-camera and off-camera. The major roles have already been cast, but there are still openings for students as extras and stand-ins. Some extras having speaking roles but others do not. The job of an extra is to be a “background person.” 

An extra may be cast as a fan at a football game, a student on campus, a customer in a diner or pretty much any type of person you can imagine a movie needing. 

Stand-ins are people who have an uncanny resemblance to the actors portraying the primary characters. 

They are used prior to the actual filming to prepare things such as the lighting and camera angles. Both positions offer various levels of pay.

The crew is also looking for student production assistants to help the process move smoothly.  These people will help the director and producers, as well as the film crews, with anything that comes up during filming. Even if a student’s schedule does not coordinate with the filming schedule, he or she could still work in the production office. For more information on getting involved, contact Brent Lindley at lindbb7@wfu.edu or send an e-mail to Altair Casting & Production Services, LLC at altaircaps@gmail.com.

The filming will take place throughout October and November. Right now the crew is scheduled to be on and around campus and BB&T Field on Nov. 8, 13, 14, 15 and 16, but those dates are subject to change.

Bieber decided to use the university campus, stadium and the city of Winston-Salem to add authenticity to the film. “Areas in different cities would have sufficed for filming purposes, but this story is such an emotional part of the people here that it is just right to shoot it locally,” said Brent Lindley, a sophomore and the film’s extras and stand-ins coordinator.

Some scenes will be shot outside of Winston-Salem because those other places are where certain events occurred (UNC-Chapel Hill’s stadium, for instance).

The film’s theatrical release date is still undetermined.