by It seems to me that baseball and movies just go together. Maybe it’s the great underdog story that the sport so often provides and that great films usually embrace. Sitting in the stands at a ballgame and rooting for your favorite team isn’t all that different from sitting in a darkened theater and rooting for the hero. Living in New York City I have split my time between being a baseball writer and fan and being a filmmaker. In the latter, I came across Lori Martini, a native New Yorker who shares both of my biggest passions.
Lori’s love for baseball came from her father who in 1958, at the age of 12, immigrated to America from Italy. He used to watch Mickey Mantle hit home runs while he sat in the right field bleachers during doubleheaders. Even though her father is Yankees fan, Lori’s heart eventually fell for the boys in Flushing.
“My first game was in 1981. My dad didn’t take me to a game until 1986. It seems every time I went to a Mets game in 1986, Doc Gooden was pitching…so they won every game I went to that year,” says Lori.
Her love for the Mets and her desire to work in the film industry collided several years ago when a film was shooting at Shea Stadium. Shortly after, she became a member of the Screen Actors Guild and starting writing and producing her own films.
“You have to make your own opportunities in this business. You can’t wait for them to find you. It will never happen. They like to see that you’re pro-active and by nature I’ve always been a salesperson since the age of 4 or 5. Most of it is marketing and having a product you believe in to sell,” says Lori
The latest film to be added to her impressive filmography is the independent short film, Caught, written and produced by Lori and directed by six time Emmy Award winner Elizabeth Page.
Caught is a short film that explores the dysfunctional relationship one woman, Hannah, has with her mother and her brother, Robbie. It is unique because the action is literally played out on the softball field. The story poetically marries plays between Hannah’s team ‘Hollywood Screenprinting’ and Robbie’s team, ‘Damages Inc,’ with historical events in Hannah’s life and lessons in morality. Each play mimics a life altering event, which we see in flashback intercut with present day live action on the ballfield.
I acted in this film as the ‘Damages’ first baseman and it was a great experience, as always, working and talking baseball with Lori. Her next projects include a TV pilot called Break the Mold and a short film entitled Off Track.
“Nobody better to believe in you than yourself because as the Mets slogan will say, YA GOTTA BELIEVE!” – Lori Martini
For more information on Lori and her latest projects please visit: http://www.lorimartini.com
Jay Ferraro is the Executive Producer of Baseball Digest LIVE and Gotham Baseball LIVE. He is also the Fantasy Editor for Baseballdigest.com as well as a columnist for Baseball Digest Magazine and Gothambaseball.com. You can reach him at Jay_Ferraro@Juno.com , follow him on Twitter and add him on Facebook.
