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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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

Governor John Y. Brown Jr. to be Interviewed

Former Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown Jr. has agreed to be interviewed for The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.

Given his pivotal role in creating the annual UK-Louisville game, Governor Brown’s insights will be invaluable to the documentary. Most of all, we can’t wait to ask the Governor about his legendary half-red, half-blue blazer that he wore to the 1983 Dream Game in Knoxville, TN!

Red V. Blue is the first movie to document college basketball’s hottest rivalry: Louisville vs. Kentucky. To help make Kentucky film history, preorder our DVD on Kickstarter today!

Kentucky Pride

Last night we surged past $10,000 in kickstarter pledges thanks to Kentucky Pride and the generosity of “Red V. Blue” nation!

To say thank you, we released a new video “Kentucky Pride,” featuring one of our favorite UK fans, Doug Young.

Doug Young owns the Finishing Touch frame shop in Paintsville, KY. In this clip he explains what Kentucky basketball means to him and so many others in the state.

But Doug’s message of the importance of tradition is as applicable to Louisville fans as it is to Kentucky fans. Just as Doug is a lifelong Wildcats supporter because UK was his dad’s team, there are thousands of Louisville Cardinal fans with similar stories whose love for the Cards grew out of their love for a family member or good friend.

“Red V. Blue” isn’t just a basketball documentary. It’s a movie about the rich traditions of Kentucky and their meaning to generations of Kentuckians.

Today producer Adam Lefkoe was a guest on the Leach Report with the Voice of the Wildcats, Tom Leach.

This weekend we will be featured in the Lexington Herald and the Appalachian News-Express.

Additionally, director Rory Owen Delaney was interviewed by Surreelfilm. The interview will air Sunday at 1 pm EST on Crescent Hill Radio in Louisville and will be simulcast on crescenthillradio.com!

To back us on kickstarter, click here and hit the green “back this project” button!

Thank you for your support so far. We have come a long way and owe it all to you!

Kentucky Pride from Rory Owen Delaney on Vimeo.

Red V Blue Kickstarter is Live

The Red V Blue Kickstarter Campaign is live. It’s official. “The Rivalry: Red V. Blue” is the FIRST movie to document the Louisville-Kentucky basketball feud, college basketball’s most heated rivalry!

The documentary has been in production for over two and a half years and has been funded entirely out-of-pocket by the filmmakers. Now we need your help to finish “The Rivalry: Red V. Blue”!

We have completed 80 percent of the production, but there are a few more players, coaches, and personalities who need to be interviewed. Your Kickstarter dollars will cover the completion of principal photography as well as the post-production and distribution expenses of Red V. Blue. These costs include but are not limited to:

• Equipment rental
• Crew stipends
• Editing stipends
• Archival footage
• Animation / graphics
• Sound editing
• Sound design
• Licensing agreements
• Merchandise manufacturing

Below is the official video for the Red V Blue kickstarter campaign. If you like what we are doing and want to see Kentucky recognized for its excellence in college basketball, share “The Rivalry: Red V. Blue” with your family, friends, teammates and rivals alike!

Kevin Ware Cuts Down Nets, ending Louisville’s 27 Year Title Drought

When Kevin Ware cut down the nets in Atlanta, ending Louisville’s 27 year title drought, it was an emotional conclusion to a tournament and story that captured America’s imagination.

On the heels of the Kentucky Wildcats 2012 championship run in New Orleans, Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals came out swinging in 2013 and knocked out all competitors.

But it wasn’t easy. Or pretty. No one who watched the Sweet Sixteen Easter Sunday game against Duke will ever forget it. When Kevin Ware went down with one of the most gruesome, freakish sports injuries ever captured on camera, something special happened.

A team was galvanized, a leader was born, and one of the dramatic sports stories of the year captured the imagination of millions of people around the world.

Heck, even Matt Jones was rooting for Louisville after Kevin Ware’s injury, you can’t write that stuff! The Kevin Ware story was once-in-a-lifetime Hollywood magic. Except it actually happened. And I’ll never forget it.

The Cardinals clawed their past the Blue Devils, Ducks, Shockers, and finally, the Wolverines. In the process Luke Hancock emerged as an improbable hero, becoming the first reserve player to ever win the Most Outstanding Player award.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that Louisville won the championship in Atlanta, Kevin Ware‘s home city?!

It was an incredible true story, and Red V. Blue was there to capture it all, just like we were in New Orleans in 2012 to capture John Calapari and UK’s championship.

Red V. Blue set out to equally portray both sides of the greatest college basketball rivalry in the world, and the Cardinals and Wildcats delivered! With back-to-back championships claimed for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, it has been a dream for Kentuckians, as well as for us as documentary filmmakers — you can’t get more equal than back-to-back bling!

Get ready for a big announcement coming soon! Have you watched our trailer yet?

2013 NCAA Tournament Predictions

The last few weeks have been extremely eventful with U of L clinching the number one seed in the 2013 NCAA tournament and UK failing to make the Big Dance, then losing to Robert Morris in the opening round of the NIT!

If the early rounds of the 2013 NCAA Tournament are as crazy as the opening round of the NIT, things are about to get crazy. UK losing to Robert Who?! Louisville fans are NEVER going to let Big Blue Nation forget about that defeat, considering the hell that was dished out following Louisville’s loss to Morehead State in the 2011 tournament!

Trash talk aside, here at Red V. Blue we are buzzing about the prospect of back-to-back championships: 2012 for UK and 2013 for U of L (fingers crossed). Last year we were in the Big Easy for the Final Four, and this year we will be in ATL, provided that the Cards keep up their end of the bargain!

And if Louisville does cut down the nets this year at the 2013 NCAA tournament, imagine the drama of the next rivalry game at Rupp Arena this December. It would be one of the biggest clashes ever, hands down. Also, considering the talent of UK’s incoming class, there could potentially be back-to-back-to-back championships at stake!

Below is Red V. Blue director Rory Owen Delaney’s picks for the 2013 NCAA tournament. What are your predictions? To subscribe to the newsletter for our one-of-a-kind basketball movie, please visit our homepage.

Part Basketball Movie, Part Cultural Warfare

RED V. BLUE is a one-of-a-kind basketball movie about the Louisville Cardinals—Kentucky Wildcats college hoops rivalry, one of the hottest rivalries in sports today.

RED V. BLUE producers Adam Lefkoe and Wade Smith presented the basketball movie business plan to the Louisville Venture Connectors today. For the occasion, we released “Red V. Blue: Cultural Warfare,” a new promotional teaser for the documentary, featuring Pat Forde, Mike Rutherford, Matt Jones, and more.

Red V. Blue: Cultural Warfare from Rory Owen Delaney on Vimeo.

The new RED V. BLUE trailer was so well received, that Louisville Business First elected to interview producer Adam Lefkoe for their publication.

Among the day’s other highlights, Adam and Wade hooked up with B. Stille, an original member of the Nappy Roots and founder of Birdgang Clothing. B agreed to an interview and offered to make some music for us. Thanks, B!

Wade also showed off our exclusive line of RED V. BLUE merchandise, including t-shirts, ballcaps, fleece jackets, golf shirts, umbrellas, and more.

Adam Lefkoe, B. Stille and Wade Smith

In other news, Forbes Magazine named the Louisville Cardinals the most valuable college basketball  team with an estimated value of 36 million dollars. Expect this number to rise after Louisville joins the ACC. Fifth on the list was the Kentucky Wildcats, valued at $24.4 million dollars. Expect this number to rise once the Wildcats finally get luxury corporate boxes in Rupp Arena.

To subscribe to the newsletter for our one-of-a-kind basketball movie, please visit our homepage.