Undrafted-Director Joseph Mazzello

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=38876

Joseph Mazzello Gets Undrafted
Baseball film is his directing debut

26 September 2013 | Written by Owen Williams | Source: Deadline

Joseph Mazzello, the artist formerly known as Jurassic Park's Tim Murphy, has not been idle since reaching adulthood. He made his grown-up breathrough in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' HBO mini-series The Pacific, and he's now heading behind the camera to direct the baseball drama Undrafted. He also wrote the screenplay, making sure to include a role for himself. Tyler Hoechlin, himself no stranger to child acting (he was Hanks Jr. in Road To Perdition) also stars.

The story, based on the real experiences of Mazzello's brother, revolves around a college baseball star who doesn't get picked in the Major League draft. As he comes to terms with the disappointment, an impending local game with his "misfit teammates" becomes his obsessive focus.

"I watched for fifteen years as my brother worked tirelessly to make his dream come true only to see it never happen and it was heartbreaking,” says Mazzello. “During that time I saw the love he and his teammates had for each other and for the game that is the heart of our story."

Aside from The Pacific, Mazzello made appearances in GI Joe: Retaliation and David Fincher's The Social Network, and has worked on short films - not least the half-hour project with which he graduated from USC. When Empire spoke to him in 2009 for our Where Are They Now column, he told us he had ambitions to direct again, but on "a grander scale. I'm writing a script, and of course there's a part for me in it!" It's been a few years developing then, but it's great to see it finally coming to fruition.

Aaron Tveit (Les Miserables), Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl), Philip Winchester (Camelot) and James Belushi are also among the cast. Eric Fischer, who himself had something of a baseball career before defecting to film, is producing with Brianna Johnson under his Dead Fish Films banner. Shooting is already underway, with an expected release sometime next year.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/jurassic-park-star-joseph-mazzello-moves-to-directing-with-undrafted/

'Jurassic Park' Star Joseph Mazzello Moves to Directing with 'Undrafted'

by Ethan Anderton
September 26, 2013
Joseph Mazzello

Following his turn in Jurassic Park, young Joseph Mazzello continued acting in films like Star Kid, Simon Birch, The River Wild and of course, a small cameo in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. As he's grown up, Mazzello has taken on roles in "The Pacific" and films like The Social Network and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Now he's looking to get behind the camera for the first time with Undrafted, a baseball drama starring a young cast including Aaron Tveit, Matt Barr, Chase Crawford, Tyler Hoechlin, Manny Montana, Philip Winchester, Billy Gardell and James Belushi (son of comedian Jim Belushi). More below!

Deadline says Mazzello will also star in produce the film along with Crawford executive producing, and he wrote the script based on his brother's experiences as a college baseball player who ended up being skipped over for a chance to play in the major leagues. Following his disappointment, an intramural game with his teammates turns out to mean a lot more to him than he thought.

Mazzello says, "I watched for 15 years as my brother worked tirelessly to make his dream come true only to see it never happen and it was heartbreaking. During that time I saw the love he and his teammates had for each other and for the game that is the heart of our story." Sounds like it'll hit with the sports crowd pretty well, and at the very least, it'll be a dream come true for the actor who went to USC’s Film Production Program to follow his child acting days. Interested?