Lefty O' Doul: America's Forgotten Hero
Lefty O' Doul: America's Forgotten Hero is a feature documentary highlighting the life story of former SF Giants baseball player Lefty O' Doul. He holds the fourth highest batting average in MLB history (.349), and is credited with popularizing baseball in Japan with the many tours he took to Japan alongside well known baseball players such as Babe Ruth in the 1940s.
I was connected with the Producer/Director of the project Jon Leonoudakis last year (2024) through his Director of Photography Karl Mondon, who is a long time photography mentor of mine. Hired as a Production Associate/Grip/Mentee of Jon Leonoudakis, all three of us traveled all over the Bay Area interviewing baseball scholars, baseball legends, and those that have had the unique opportunity to have met Lefty.
This year, we are completing the last bits of filming for the project. Our team was able to receive a grant from the Society For American Baseball Research to restore Lefty O'Doul's grave monument located in Colma, CA. Me and the DP Karl Mondon were able to film its restoration, and on August 9th, alongside director Jon held a community event unveiling the newly restored monument. We also filmed the raising of the infamous Lefty O'Doul bridge.
Never had I had the opportunity to work on such an important project for such an extended amount of time. I was honored to join this project, and working alongside Karl and Jon who I both admire very much was a dream! Currently, the film will enter its post-production stage and I am so incredibly proud and excited to see the film completed.