LIGHTS, CAMERA, DANA!

Dana wasn't just a movie location, one alumnus took center stage

Jerry Green ’94 is a football coach, not a movie star. But the Fort Calhoun (Neb.) High coach has done what many aspiring actors have not: spoken lines in a motion picture.

Green’s chance came with the filming of “Full Ride,” a feature film shot almost entirely on Dana’s campus. Shot more than a year ago, the movie premiered on the WB television network on Aug. 28.

The movie’s producers first approached Green as a supplier for an opening shot they needed of a high school game.

“They needed a place to do their filming.,” he said. “They also needed our (football) equipment and uniforms, and I’m the one who knows where that stuff is.”

But when an actor set to play a coach scouting the game didn’t show, Green was asked if he wanted to fill in.

“It was a spur-of-the-moment type deal,” Green said. “But it was probably something I’ll never have the chance to do again.”

The shoot took around five hours for just 10 minutes of finished film, but Green said it was well worth the time and effort, even the teasing he took from other teachers and students at Fort Calhoun. Green had just two lines, but was the first character to speak in the movie.

“Full Ride,” was produced by Omaha-based Oberon Entertainment, with a production staff boasting some of Nebraska’s finest film-makers. Many of Dana’s students and coaches also helped with the filming.

Dana was chosen as the main setting of the film for its beautiful campus and sports facilities. The city of Blair was also used for its clean, small-town atmosphere, according to Robert Schmoll, Dana’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.

To celebrate “Full Ride’s” premiere, Dana hosted a watch party for about 80 students and community members in the E.C. Hunt Campus Center. Director Mark Hoeger and local actors watched along with the students at the party. A news crew from the Omaha Fox affiliate also came and interviewed a few students.

“Full Ride” is based on an original story by former Cornhusker football player George Mills. It follows the journey of an athletically talented, but misdirected, teen-age boy who is recruited to play football in a Nebraska all-star bowl game. His teammates, coaches and a strong-willed young woman change the direction of his life. A love story develops between the film’s two stars, Meredith Monroe (“Minority Report,” “Dawson’s Creek”) and Riley Smith (“Eight Legged Freaks,” “Raising Dad”).

“Full Ride” has also been sold to several foreign markets, including STARZ-Asia, British Sky Broadcasting and HBO-Poland.

Dana College Director of Marketing Carrie (Larkins ’94) Reed was excited about the exposure the film will give to Dana College. “We are always looking for ways to let area students know that a traditional, liberal-arts college experience is available to them just 30 miles from Omaha. We hope that area high school students who see our beautiful campus in ‘Full Ride’ will then make the short trip to come see it in person,” Reed said.