"Prayer for a Perfect Season" premiered in primetime on HBO, October 25th, 2011.
High school basketball is the last pure platform of the sport. Where the NBA and even college ball are “just a business,” high school basketball is played for school, community, family, friends and love of the game.
Directed by Marc Levin (the 1998 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “Slam”), "Prayer for a Perfect Season" is a gripping account of the 2010-11 boys’ basketball season at St. Patrick High School, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of Elizabeth, NJ. This feature-length documentary chronicles the extraordinary effort of coach Kevin Boyle, his players, and their families, whose journey ends in a winner-take-all showdown for the mythical national championship with archrival St. Anthony of Jersey City.
"Prayer for a Perfect Season" captures the intersection of two forces – the soaring media interest in the big game, and the closing of Catholic school programs – while illuminating the real-life issues players and coaches confront during the season.
"Prayer for a Perfect Season" follows the roller-coaster ride of a team on the brink of history, at a school fighting to stay open, where the journey to the top of the polls is inspiring, but the future is filled with uncertainty. The quest for the perfect season comes down to the March 9 title game, a prime-time match-up or the mythical national championship on the campus of Rutgers University before an overflow crowd, as St. Patrick (26-0) confronts arch-nemesis St. Anthony (29-0), led by Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley.
"Prayer for a Perfect Season" is a Blowback Production in association with Overbrook Entertainment; written and directed by Marc Levin; produced by Karl Hollandt, Ben Selkow and R. Binky Brown; editor, James Lester; director of photography, Daniel B. Levin. For HBO: executive producer Rick Bernstein; senior producer Joe Lavine.
Music by the composer, Khari Mateen
Watch on HBO GO until 12/21/2012.
Purchase from the Tribeca Film Institute's Reframe Collection
CREDITS:
Written and Directed by: Marc Levin
Executive Producer: Marc Levin
Produced by: Karl Hollandt, Ben Selkow & R. Binky Brown
Edited by: James Lester
Director of Photography: Daniel B. Levin
Line Producer: Kara Rozansky
Associate Producers: Michael Beach Nichols, Adam Schleifer & Rose Schlossberg
Consulting Producer: Daphne Pinkerson
Original Music by: Khari Mateen
For Overbrook Entertainment: Executive Producer: James Lassiter
For HBO - Senior Producer: Joe Lavine
For HBO - Executive Producer: Rick Bernstein
Additional Editing: Daniel Praid
Associate Editor: Michael Beach Nichols
Assistant Editors: Adam Schleifer & Rose Schlossberg
Production Associate: Teresa Gabry
Festivals: 2012 Garden State Film Festival
Awards: Home Grown Award for Best Feature Documentary - 2012 Garden State Film Festival