Corbin Bernsen to Direct 25 Hill

Corbin Bernsen to Direct 25 Hill

Corbin Bernsen to direct family film

Actor-turned-indie director Corbin Bernsen has signed on to direct 25 Hill, which centers on an 11-year-old boy whose derby dreams are left in pieces when his soldier father is killed in Afghanistan. The boy teams up with a father figure whose own son, a firefighter, died in the line of duty, and the two help each other find redemption and revive the derby.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the family-friendly production is budgeted for about $500,000. In September, Bernsen read an article in USA Today about how the derby had a debt of $623,000 with a local bank and was facing extinction. Bernsen aims to save the nearly 75-year-old racing league, the All-American Soap Box Derby.

"The derby used to be this huge event; 50,000 people used to show up, and Chevrolet was a huge sponsor," Bernsen said Monday from his production offices in Akron. "But the times, the economy, the kids got into other interests. Sponsorship has really dwindled. It's a nonprofit, and it needs money."

Bernsen helped the town raise the money for the shoot, which will be done in three segments. After an April shoot in Akron, there will be a June shoot in Taft, Calif., followed by a return to Akron in July for the big annual race.

The production also is counting on the community pitching in, and that has already begun: Goodyear is providing a blimp for the racing sequence, while 12 local restaurants are taking care of the movie's catering.

Bernsen will play the father figure in the film; Nathan Gamble plays the boy.

Production begins Wednesday in the town once nicknamed the Rubber City.

25 Hill was released in 2011 and stars Corbin Bernsen, Nathan Gamble, Michael Tucker, Maureen Flannigan, Meg Foster, Bailee Madison, Timothy Omundson, Ralph Waite. The film is directed by Corbin Bernsen.

Corbin Bernsen to Direct 25 Hill

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