INSPIRATIONAL DRAG RACING FEATURE ‘SNAKE AND MONGOOSE’ MOVES FORWARD
Story of legendary racing rivals adds Wayne Holloway to direct, casting underway
Rhino Films and newly formed shingle, Storywise Productions, have acquired life-story rights from legendary drag racing rivals, Don “Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “Mongoose” McEwen and partnered with the National Hot Road Association (NHRA) to produce a motion picture about their years revolutionizing one of the world’s most dangerous and thrilling sports on and off the track.
Award-winning British commercial director Wayne Holloway will make his feature-film directing debut by telling the story of the Snake and Mongoose’s legendary rivalry, friendship, and accomplishments. Not only did the two men make drag racing history as champion drivers and owners of drag-racing teams, but they also modernized the sport in 1970 by shrewdly enticing toy giant, Mattel Inc. to make its then-new Hot Wheels line the sport’s first major corporate sponsor. When Mattel put logos on dragsters to make them 200 mph billboards for its toy line and put real-life drivers into its TV commercials, Mattel became the first non-automotive sponsor in a racing sport, and the industry’s first commercial tie-in was born. The Mattel sponsorship money and revenue from other sponsors that immediately followed, enabled Prudhomme and McEwen to produce remarkable innovations in their dragsters and funny cars and make drag racing a major sport globally.
The movie will be produced by Stephen Nemeth of Rhino Films and Robin Broidy of Storywise Productions, executive produced by Leslie Castanuela Barnes and screenwriter Alan Paradise, co-produced by Charlie Katz, Eddie Michaels and Betsy Stahl. The legends themselves, Prudhomme and McEwen, will also serve as producers. The project is the first fully financed feature from Storywise Productions, and the company has others in development that it expects to announce shortly.
Paradise is a longtime automotive industry journalist and broadcast producer who began developing the film after being commissioned by Mattel to work with Prudhomme and McEwen to write and direct a documentary celebrating the 35th anniversary of their historic partnership with Hot Wheels. Holloway joins to helm the project after an acclaimed career directing commercials and videos all over the world for major brands that include Samsung, the NFL, NASCAR, Adidas, and many others.
The filmmakers are enthused, to say the least, about bringing the story to the big screen.
“My husband has adored race cars his whole life, and I thought it would be fascinating to explore this remarkable period in drag-racing history,” said Broidy. “These guys were 20th century gladiators, and I was curious to know what drove them to be the best and how they accomplished it.”
Nemeth adds, “First and foremost, this is a terrific and historical buddy story, regardless of what world it’s set in. That the backdrop happens to be the high-octane, globally revered sport of drag racing makes it that much more exciting. I look forward to honoring Don and Tom, and the NHRA, with what we all hope will be a very special film.”
“We are going to make an awesome film about two extraordinary men who battled unflinchingly for supremacy in their sport, and yet supported each other wholeheartedly when tragedy struck,” the director, Holloway, elaborates.
Casting is currently underway, and the film is expected to draw significant promotional tie-in interest and partnership opportunities with the brands that supported Snake and Mongoose during their heyday. Additionally, the NHRA will provide archival footage of key races, which will be incorporated directly into the film.
Principal photography is expected to start by Fall 2011, with an anticipated theatrical release target date in 2012 commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Snake and Mongoose’s partnership with Mattel.
About Rhino Films
Rhino Films is an independent film company that originated as a division of the iconoclastic record label, Rhino Records. The company was founded and is headed by producer Stephen Nemeth, who has produced eight films and executive produced 15 others, and who also works closely with Amnesty International through the organization, Artists for Amnesty, to develop and produce human rights-related projects. His producing credits include FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE, DOGTOWN AND Z BOYS, WHAT WE DO IS SECRET, the upcoming RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH and YOU AND I. The company is also currently in pre-production on THE SURROGATE, starring Oscar nominee John Hawkes. Nemeth also has extensive experience producing documentaries, including the Academy Award-nominated WAR/DANCE and FUEL, which won the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, among others.
About Storywise Productions
Industry veterans Robin Broidy and Leslie Castanuela Barnes formed Storywise Productions in 2010 to develop, produce, and distribute motion pictures and television programming. The company is currently developing an action/thriller entitled MAYHEM, several other projects. Robin Broidy is a longtime entertainment industry attorney and senior business executive who previously worked at Cannon Films and Twentieth Century Fox. Leslie Castanuela Barnes is a Harvard graduate who spent 13 years as a motion picture literary agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), handling some of the industry’s top names.
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