The following appeared in the Daily Free Press and I saw it on UWire.
All credit goes to The Daily Free Press, Andy Matthews and UWire.
Former Boston U.
hockey player focus of
new movie
By Andy Matthews
The Daily Free Press (Boston U.)
12/08/98
(U-WIRE) BOSTON, Mass. -- Travis
Roy, a Boston University hockey player
who in 1995 was paralyzed after crashing
into the boards during his first collegiate
game, plans to turn his life story into a
movie.
Roy will announce at a media party in
Providence, R.I., Tuesday night an
agreement with Boston-based Mark
Campbell Productions to turn his
one-year-old autobiography "Eleven
Seconds" into a film at the Mass Media
Alliance Winter Wrap Party at the Westin
Hotel in Providence.
Roy crashed into the Walter Brown Arena
boards in October 1995, just 11 seconds
into his first shift as a freshman on BU's
hockey team. The accident left him a
quadriplegic and threw him into the national
spotlight.
"I really believe in the story," Roy said. "I
believe a lot of good has come from it
already. I feel like we're missing a lot of
good values in life, and a lot of good can
come from this."
Roy began toying with the idea of turning
his story into a movie seven months ago.
He shopped the idea around and received
five decent offers. He decided last Friday
on Mark Campbell Productions, an
independent film company.
Roy said others were interested in buying
the movie rights, including three companies
from Los Angeles that wanted to turn his
book into a made-for-TV movie. He
decided on Mark Campbell Productions
because he will be closely involved with
development.
"They're giving me a lot of control over the
movie to make sure it's done how I want it
done," Roy said.
Roy said he undertook the project in part
because he doesn't have any major
commitments besides schoolwork. He is
on track to graduate in May 2000.
The movie will be based on "Eleven
Seconds" with a few thematic changes,
Roy said.
"It will deal more with the characters and
emotions involved," he said. "The book
kind of goes from A to B to C, from the
accident to the hospital. I think a good
movie is more character-driven. It has
more to do with the relationships involved."
The film is still in the preliminary stages --
no screenwriter has been chosen and there
have been no decisions about cast. Roy
said they are still at least a year away from
shooting, with the film's release following a
year or two after that.
As for now, it's back to center stage for
Roy, who admits he grows tired of
answering the same questions about the
same issues day after day. Since the
publicity from his book died down, Roy
has enjoyed a vacation from the spotlight.
"Things have slowed down in between," he
said. "I haven't had as much contact with
the media. But we certainly use each other
when they need me and when I need
them."
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