Great Day Live TV Appearance

Early Tuesday morning (July 2nd) Red V. Blue producers Wade Smith and Adam Lefkoe appeared on Great Day Live in Louisville, Kentucky with the dueling barbers to promote The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.

Adam Lefkoe, the Wagners, Robert Boone and Wade Smith

This was the second television interview in less than a week for Wade Smith, who was previously a guest on Cn2 Sports last Wednesday.

To back The Rivalry: Red V. Blue on kickstarter, click here and then select the green “Back This Project” button to the right of our kickstarter video.

Thanks to Great Day Live for having us on their show; thanks to the barbers for their time; and thank you for supporting us along the way!

Producer Wade Smith on Cn2 TV

Producer Wade Smith went on Cn2 TV in Louisville with our rival barbers Robert Boone and Robert Wagner to promote Red V. Blue.

Boone looked dapper in his shirt and tie; Wagner looked regal in his new Cardinals swag; and Wade looked devil-may-care in his button-up. Yeah, baby!

In case you missed it, you can check out the video below!

To back our kickstarter campaign, please click on the green “Back This Project” button (seen below) to the right of our video.

The next page will ask you to “enter your pledge amount” and ask you to “select a reward.”

Every donor is entitled to a reward. And there are a ton of great ones to choose from, including stickers, dvds, blu-rays, t-shirts, hoodies, fleece jackets, tickets to the premiere, and one-of-a-kind life experiences like playing H-O-R-S-E with a former UofL or UK basketball standout.

Remember that unless we hit or exceed our goal of $40,000, we will not collect a penny. If we raise $39,999, it all gets refunded to our kickstarter donors.

Shout-out to Cn2 for bringing us on their show to promote our documentary and kickstarter campaign. And kudos to everyone who has already joined the Red V. Blue kickstarter family. Together, we are going to get this movie done before Christmas!

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?

Basketball Documentary 12/12 Rivalry Photos

Red V. Blue is the basketball documentary of basketball documentaries.

If you like college hoops, you will love Red V. Blue. It combines the passion of college hoops with the interesting history and ongoing current events in the Louisville—Lexington feud.

Although Duke-North Carolina has long been touted as the premier college basketball rivalry in America by the national media, the Louisville Cardinals-Kentucky Wildcats rivalry should be given equal consideration.

This is why we are making Red V. Blue: To make a college basketball documentary that puts Kentucky basketball on the map!

December was awesome. To kick the week off, we interviewed Oscar Combs at the former offices of Cats Paws Magazine. Inside there is UK memorabilia from wall-to-wall. Oscar gave us the tour and history behind his Kentucky basketball goodies. He even let his try on his 2012 championship!

After we visited Oscar in Lexington, we caught up with Tony Vanetti on the Afternoon Underdogs Show in Louisville at the Fan Outfitters in St. Matthews. Tony was giving away tickets to the basketball game at the Yum! Center, so the fans showed up in force to enter the contest and peruse the merch. Tony and Dave also featured a debate featuing obnoxious UofL fan and obnoxious UK fan, which was entertaining to say the least.

After the Afternoon Underdogs, we went to Anchorage to check out the Hardwood Classic, a basketball event featuring UK and UofL alumni that benefits “Crusade for Children.” We filmed some of the game and then interviewed former UofL player Luke Whitehead and former UK player Derek Anderson.

Saturday was the day of reckoning in Kentucky. Before the game, PG and Aaron were at PRIME Lounge in downtown Louisville conducting interviews. During the game, PG and Aaron operated in the upper levels, while Wade and Rory covered the action down on the court. The contest was close, but the Cardinals came out on top!

On Monday we sat down with the voice of the Wildcats Tom Leach at UK’s Memorial Coliseum. Tom talked about Cawood Ledford, Bill Keightley, and how cool it was to call his first UK championship game last year in New Orleans. Check out the slideshow below — more pictures are coming!

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

College Hoops Fans Must Watch Red V. Blue Teaser

College Hoops like you have never seen it before!

[iframe src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/55879103″ width=”100%” height=”480″]

Here it is, College Hoops fans: The first Red V. Blue teaser featuring Denny Crum, Joe B. Hall, Adam Lefkoe and many more. Red V. Blue is a documentary about the Louisville-Kentucky college basketball rivalry, two schools separated by less than 75 miles.

From the storied 1983 Dream Game to the legislation passed in its wake that mandated the annual clash, Red V. Blue details the extraordinary circumstances that helped create one of the nation’s fiercest college hoops rivalries.

Red V. Blue will feature real fans, journalists, and former players as well as college and high school coaches. The documentary will pay equal tribute to both historic basketball programs.

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

Denny Crum, Joe B. Hall + Adam Lefkoe

Last week’s Red V Blue production shoot couldn’t have been more fruitful. The week started out with an interview with Coach Denny Crum, who led the Louisville Cardinals to two national championships. The next day we sat down with Coach Joe B. Hall, who led the Kentucky Wild Cat to a national championship both as a coach and a player. Then we were off to Paintsville in eastern Kentucky where we interviewed some local diehard fans. Friday night we finished off the trip by interviewing WHAS sports anchor Adam Lefkoe in Louisville, who rocked out some great stories in between his TV spots. Stay tuned for further developments.

Kentucky Basketball

Wade came across this cool compilation of facts about Kentucky basketball on ESPN Classic’s website. Here I have picked out some of my favorites. Did you know that the state of Kentucky is second only to California among states with NCAA championships? California has 15; Kentucky 9.

The Louisville List

1) Louisville is undefeated when it scores a 100 points or more. They are 88-0.

2) The Cardinals scored a school-record 132 points against George Mason in 1994, posting a 132-87 win.

3) Freedom Hall was named “Best floor to play on” by ESPN’s College Basketball magazine in 1995.

4) Did you know that Denny Crum is an avid reader and collector of Louis L’Amour westerns?

5) Pervis “Never Nervous” Ellison holds the school record for dunks in a game. He slammed it through seven times against South Alabama in 1988.

6) Louisville has had two players go in the first round of the NBA draft twice — in 1989 with Pervis Ellison (1st overall) and Kenny Payne (19th) and in 1994 with Clifford Rozier (16th) and Greg Minor, 25th.

The Kentucky List

1) Basketball at Kentucky reportedly started when W.W.H. Mustaine called together some students, took up a collection totaling $3 for a ball and told them to start playing. There was no official coach from 1903 until 1910. Managers ran the team.

2) The Wildcats have the unique distinction of having a tie on their all-time record. In 1918, a game was ruled a tie after a scorer’s error was discovered after the game.

3) Kentucky longest home-winning streak is 129 games. It started in 1943 and ended in 1955. Since then, the longest home streak has been a mere 33 games from 1992 to 1994.

4) The Wildcats have had just one losing record in 72 seasons. Kentucky went 13-19 in 1989, its first losing mark in 61 seasons.

5) Kentucky had five players selected in the first rounds of the 1996 and 1997 NBA drafts. Antoine Walker (6th), Tony Delk (16th) and Walter McCarty (19th) went in 1996 while Ron Mercer (6th) and Derek Anderson (13th) were selected in 1997.

6) Long-time Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp is second on the all-time win list with 876. Only North Carolina’s Dean Smith has more victories with 879.

Denny Crum Interview

Big News: We are interviewing the one and only Denny Crum this July! During his reign Coach Crum guided the Louisville Cardinals to 2 NCAA championships (1980, 1986) and 6 Final Fours. Do y’all have any questions for the legend?

Final Four Shoot

Our dream final four match-up between the Louisville Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats did not disappoint. And neither did the documentary shoot. We talked with a ton of Louisville and Kentucky fans and even a couple former players. Derwin Webb spoke to us outside of the Super Dome in New Orleans, and Matt Simms bumped into associate producer Aaron Mikel while he was filming in Louisville. In New Orleans we filmed interviews on both Friday and Saturday on Canal Street and throughout the French Quarter. 1 a.m. Friday night we hit Bourbon Street in the pouring rain to talk with some of the Final Four’s most devoted fans and party animals. The next day we hung outside the Super Dome on Loyola Avenue and spoke with fans en route to the historic final four match-up. And along with fan interviews we also documented some of New Orleans’ best street performers. In Shelbyville, KY, Aaron Mikel visited the Main Street Barbershop before heading to Louisville and filming around the city. Below are some production still photographs that producer P.G. Banker snapped on the big day in New Orleans. Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to the University of Kentucky for polishing off the Kansas Jayhawks and winning the national championship!