Famous Kentuckians Interviewed for RVB

In September we were fortunate to interview some incredibly famous Kentuckians for “The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.”

We got the low-down on college basketball’s ultimate rivalry from Governor John Y. Brown, Jim Host, Jerry Tipton, Billy Reed, Van Vance, Jock Sutherland, and Rob Bromley to name a few. We also sat down with Louisville mayor Greg Fisher and Lexington mayor Jim Gray and got their perspective on what the future may hold for the U of L – UK basketball rivalry.

Editing and post-production are currently in high gear in order to get the documentary done in time for a December release. Stay tuned for more details.

Kickstarter Success!

In case you hadn’t heard, The Rivalry: Red V. Blue is officially a Kickstarter success story!

Our friend Albrecht Stahmer at Insider Louisville wrote this cool congratulatory story: “The Rivalry: Red V. Blue movie about UK/U of L rivalry meets funding goals.”

We told you last Thursday about the guys using Kickstarter to finish funding their documentary on the UK-UofL basketball rivalry, “The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.”

After a whirlwind weekend that included a block party in St. Matthews with Cards and Carts fans yelling at one another across Shelbyville Road, we’re happy to report the film has been fully funded after raising $20,445 over the final four days of the campaign.

Their Kickstarter fundraising drive officially closed at 8:18 p.m. last night with 335 backers donating a total of $42,945 concluding the project at 107 percent of its original goal. The goal was actually reached with three hours to spare and the final hours were used to try and boost pledges past $40,000 to offset the five-percent commission fee charged by Kickstarter.

From Director Rory Delaney:

Like all the best UK-Louisville basketball games, the “Red V. Blue” Kickstarter campaign came down to the final moments! This time, however, it was an incredible come-from-behind win for BOTH Louisville and Kentucky fans! As a result of the generosity, support and perseverance of our fans, we have raised over $40,000 to finish the first movie about college basketball’s greatest rivalry: UK-UofL. The 40-day crowdfunding campaign was a roller coaster ride for the ages…From $1 donations to $7,500 pledges, folks gave what they could afford to and we are forever in their debt. It wasn’t easy, but it feels fantastic.

As you can see, local basketball fans were very generous as the average contribution came in at $128.19, including a noteworthy $7,500 pledge approximately twelve hours before the deadline that provided a tremendous boost in momentum.

To read the rest of Albrecht’s story, click here.

Surreel Films Interview

Director Rory Owen Delaney talked with Surreel Films Chris Ritter about The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.

Here is the podcast in case you missed its original broadcast on Crescent Hill Radio in Louisville, KY a couple weeks back. Rory talks about the movie, the kickstarter campaign and the chance at making Kentucky film history! For more info on Surreel Films click here.

Kentucky Rivalry: Why Red V. Blue Must Be Made

Kentucky rivalry… To celebrate getting to 63% of our funding goal, we are releasing a new video featuring some of our favorite UK and UofL fans, including the barbers R. Boone and R. Wagner, plus boxing trainer James Doolin!

It’s officially time to get on the Red V. Blue bandwagon, folks. There are only 2 days left to make Kentucky film history, and we need your help if we are going to get to our goal of $40,000! To back The Rivalry: Red V. Blue head to our kickstarter page and click the green “Back This Project” button! To pay via PayPal, email mbdfilms@gmail.com.

Foxy 94.3 FM Interview

Thursday morning director Rory Owen Delaney and producer Wade Smith talked The Rivalry: Red V. Blue on the Foxy 94.3 FM morning show with Tia Fletcher.

Tia Fletcher

In case you missed it, you can listen below on our Soundcloud page. WIFX Foxy 94.3 FM is a Gearheart Broadcasting station transmitting 50,000 Watts of Hits power from Jenkins ( Letcher County ), KY with studios at Fox Bottom in Harold ( Floyd County ), KY. It is Letcher County’s largest commercial station!

To help make Kentucky film history (and finish the first documentary about the epic UK-Louisville hoops rivalry), please back us on kickstarter! Your kickstarter donations are paying for licensing the university logos and archival footage, in addition to covering various post-production finishing expenses. So far we have raised more than $25,000, but we only have two days left to raise $15,000, so we can hit our goal of $40,000. If we don’t hit the goal and only raise $38,000 or $39,000, we don’t keep a penny and all your awesome pledges will be returned!

So tell your brother, sister, mother, aunt, uncle, grandpa, grandma, nephew, niece, cousin, blood brother, librarian, postal worker, gym teacher, coach and local police officer about this one-of-a-kind movie that celebrates one of Kentucky’s greatest annual traditions: the UK-UofL basketball game!

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Insider Louisville Profile

Today The Rivalry: Red V. Blue was profiled by Insider Louisville.

The story by Albrecht Stahmer details the filmmaking team’s diverse backgrounds and sheds more light on the origin of the original idea for the documentary. Read all about it below.

“I am more than just a serious basketball fan. I am a life-long addict. I was addicted from birth, in fact, because I was born in Kentucky,” claimed Louisville native Hunter S. Thompson.

He may have been talking about his allegiance to his beloved Kentucky Wildcats, but he no doubt came across Louisville Cardinals fans of like mind in his hometown. March Madness television ratings consistently paint Louisville as the nation’s capital of college basketball fandom.

While the Hatfields and McCoys may be relegated to the history books, the Cats and Cards rivalry continues to inflame, especially here in Louisville — ground zero of red versus blue. Louisville fans may make up the majority, but Kentucky fans are a boisterous minority.

The story has been covered extensively locally and even nationally, but it’s never been told on the big screen.

That will soon change when the documentary film “The Rivalry: Red v, Blue” premiers in December.

If you’ve spent any amount of time in Kentucky, you get it: You’re either a fan of the Cats or of the Cards, but never of both.

State motto be damned, divided we cheer.

To read the rest of the Insider Louisville story, click here.

Tom Leach on Cawood Ledford

The Voice of the Wildcats Tom Leach reflects on the legacy of Cawood Ledford before retelling his favorite Cawood eastern Kentucky story.

“The Rivalry: Red V. Blue” is the first movie to document the UK-Louisville basketball rivalry. Become a part of Kentucky film history and back this project today!

Tom Leach on Cawood Ledford from Rory Owen Delaney on Vimeo.

Kickstarter Bloopers

Running a 40 day kickstarter campaign is serious work.

To celebrate being over 52% funded (and to prove we are not robots), we decided to lighten the mood and have some fun! That’s why we are giving y’all a behind-the-scenes look at some of on-the-set antics during the filming of the official kickstarter video for THE RIVALRY: RED V. BLUE in Atlanta. Here the 2013 AP Kentucky TV Sportscaster of the Year, Adam Lefkoe schools director Rory Delaney and producer Wade Smith on how to talk to camera!

Bring the Heat: Kickstarter Bloopers from Rory Owen Delaney on Vimeo.

Donation Options

It’s been a promising week for The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.

So far Cats fans have been leading the way with several big donations as they claw their way back into the second half of our Kickstarter campaign. But Card Nation isn’t going anywhere and has been steadily pledging away, cutting into the UK come-back.

To date, we have raised $17,002 toward our goal of $40,000 with 10 days remaining in our campaign.

To celebrate going over $17,000, we released a new video featuring Matt Jones from Kentucky Sports Radio going toe-to-toe with Mike Rutherford from the Card Chronicle. Pacquaio and Mayweather got nothing on these two guys!

More donation options… We have heard from a lot of folks that the kickstarter registration process is too complicated for our older fans.

To accommodate, we are encouraging them to send a check payable to Red V. Blue Film LTD CO to:

Red V. Blue Film LTD CO
PO Box 399
Paintsville, KY 42240

If you know someone who wants to go this route, just remind them that the campaign ends on August 5th, so all checks need to be received and deposited in advance of that date to help us get over the top!

Additionally, we have a PayPal account set up for Man Bites Dog Films (mbdfilms@gmail.com) for fans who would prefer to donate that way. Man Bites Dog Films is the production company established by director Rory Owen Delaney and producer Wade Smith, which is producing The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.

Finally, if you have a friend who wants to donate cash to the documentary, we recommend that you collect the money and then increase your pledge to reflect their gift by managing your pledge.

Pledges made by check or PayPal will be eligible for our Kickstarter rewards, so please specify which reward you are claiming if you go with one of our alternate payment options. If we are unable to make our $40,000 Kickstarter goal, your check or PayPal pledge will be refunded.

Thanks again for all your help so far and PLEASE remember to tell all of your family, friends and rivals about Red V. Blue. RVB is the first movie to document one of Kentucky’s greatest annual traditions, the UK-UofL basketball game, and we want to include as many people as possible in this historic moment!

Although we have less than 13 days to reach our goal of $40,000, don’t panic. A lot of good things are happening, and the buzz is definitely building, so stay tuned for further announcements! To quote one of Kentucky’s greatest athletes:

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count!” – Muhammad Ali

Afternoon Underdogs: Kentucky Got Remarried Video

Back in December before the UK-UofL game at the Yum! Center, we stopped by the Afternoon Underdogs show on Louisville’s Sports Radio as they were broadcasting live from Fan Outfitters in St. Matthews and raffling off tickets to the basketball game.

After the show was over, we interviewed hosts Tony Vanetti and Dave Jennings. Here Tony Vanetti explains why he thinks many Kentucky fans have finally let go of their Rick Pitino resentment. Red V. Blue is the first movie to document the UK-Louisville basketball rivalry, one of Kentucky’s greatest annual traditions. Help make Kentucky film history by preordering the DVD from Kickstarter today!

Kentucky Got Remarried from Rory Owen Delaney on Vimeo.