Kuhn, Tauscher sign on for romantic comedy to film in Green Bay

If things go according to Ryan Churchill's wish list for "The Sixty Yard Line'' movie, filming in Green Bay this summer will include scenes featuring local Green Bay Packers fans and John Kuhn and Mark Tauscher.

And Justin Timberlake.

And Olivia Munn.

And Aaron Rodgers.

It might sound a little like the cinematic equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, but for co-writer and executive producer Churchill and his writing partner, Nick Greco, pieces of their big-screen game plan are falling into place. With filming tentatively scheduled to begin in June, Packers fullback Kuhn and former offensive tackle Tauscher have already signed on. Getting Rodgers, well, that will take a little more work, but there's a part waiting with his name on it.

"We wrote one little scene for him not to play himself,'' Churchill said. "I'm not giving it away, but it's a really funny scene with him."

The film was inspired by the Ashwaubenon house at the corner of Stadium Drive and Oneida Street — the one whose backyard is just feet from the Lambeau Field parking lot. It's the setting for a story about how a guy and his favorite sports team — the Packers, of course — come between him and his girl.

"It really is a sports fan movie," Churchill said. "It's kind of the age-old tale of the guy and his team, whether it be the Vikings or Bears or Lions or Red Sox, it's a guy and his team that comes between him and his girl."

The idea for the film was born when Churchill's best friend, Tim Lucke, bought the house in 2004 for the sole purpose of parking cars on the lawn and hosting backyard tailgating parties on Packers home game days. It was the same year that Churchill made the leap from being a theater actor in Chicago to a move to Los Angeles to pursue TV and film work.

"I immediately said, 'This is a movie. I don't know what the movie is, but this is a movie.' And I sat down and basically immersed myself from 2004 all the way until now in how to develop and get this movie made," Churchill said.

He went to Las Vegas last year to watch the Super Bowl with a group of friends that included Lucke, who is a partner in the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells, and Kuhn and Tauscher. It was during that "very manly, Hollywood-esque weekend'' that the two Packers agreed to be in the cast.

"The Sixty Yard Line" takes the true story of Lucke (even though the main character in the movie is nothing like him) buying the house and becoming friends with the Packers and uses it as the backdrop for a 90-minute fictitious romantic comedy. Scenes will resurrect what Churchill calls the "Lombardi cocktail hour," a Sunday night tradition that legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi hosted after games in the basement of his Green Bay home. The character who owns the Stadium Drive house does the same in the movie.

"On home games, the players come over after the games, because they find out he's a nice guy and it's kind of a secret place they can go and not be bothered by a ton of fans yet see the fans," Churchill said.

He's in talks with other Packers alums, including wide receiver Bill Schroeder, to join the cast. Once the $514,000 budget for the film is in place, Kuhn has said he'll reach out to players in the locker room, including Rodgers, to see if they're game.

"That's a long shot, because he is a busy man," Churchill said of Rodgers. "I'm sure he has plenty of other Hollywood offers out there on the table ... but it's fingers crossed. If Kuhn can get him, then we're good to go."

Churchill is just finishing up the final rewrite of the script. The next step will be to hire a casting director, with the hope of attaching at least one big-name actor to the project. "That's imperative for the success basically of any movie," he said. Among the names they have in mind as the antihero who tries to steal the girl is Timberlake.

"That's going to be a little bit of a long road, but I know he's a huge Packers fans," he said. "He would be a very good get for us."

Olivia Munn is tops on their list to play the female lead. Churchill says and his team of writers, who all happen to be men, had her in the mind for the role based on indie comedies she's done and her work on HBO's "The Newsroom."

"Then we found out she's dating Aaron Rodgers, and we're like, 'This was meant to be!'

"There's a pretty big list of people who we are targeting, but those two, Oliva Munn as the female lead and Justin Timberlake, are definitely at the top of our wish list. That is kind of the independent film strategy: Start at the tippie-top and then you work your way down from there."

As a Wisconsin native, Churchill's goal is to shoot all three weeks in Green Bay. Lucke is allowing them to use the house for free, and there will be additional scenes at a restaurant and offices in the city. There will also be opportunities for local extras to show off their tailgating expertise.

"We have so many tailgating scenes at the house in the yard, we really want authentic Green Bay native Packers fans that tailgate all the time," Churchill said. "We want to have them in the movie.''

Churchill, who graduated from University of Wisconsin-Stout with a degree in graphic communications management, started out doing standup at open mikes and parties while in college. He later studied at the renowned The Second City improv comedy theater in Chicago.

"I literally was drinking beers in a hot tub in my college apartment and the Chris Farley 'E! True Hollywood Story' came on, and there was a little segment in there about The Second City in Chicago. I immediately got on my dial-up Internet — that was 1989 — and I signed up for Second City classes."

Since moving to Los Angeles 10 years ago, he wrote for and performed on the "ACME Saturday Night'' live sketch comedy show with Greco, who, ironically, is a Chicago Bears fan, and wrote a short in 2008 called "Choke.Kick.Girl." that won the Santa Monica International Film Festival and opened doors for him elsewhere in the industry. He's currently working with actress Joelle Carter of TV's "Justified" to develop that film into an hour-long series for FX.

He's done countless commercials (that's him in bed with HGTV's Mike Holmes in the Allstate commercial), and he appeared recently in an episode of CBS' "The Mentalist."

"The Sixty Yard Line" has been his "blood, sweat and tears" for the last year, and he's excited to be able to bring the project back to his home state to be filmed and then eventually distributed as a full theatrical release.

"My kind of way to give back to my home state is I think it would be great for all you guys back there to have that happening in the town," he said. "Plus, once it's in the movie, it's in the movie forever. You see somebody's house in the background ... or you see Anduzzi's."

— kmeinert@pressgazettemedia.com and follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.

Help fund the film

To help get "The Sixty Yard Line'' made, writer-executive producer Ryan Churchill and his team have started a crowdfunding campaign at fundraising website Indiegogo.com. The 60-day campaign, which runs through Feb. 20, has a goal of raising $105,000 to help with start-up costs for the movie, which is scheduled to be filmed in Green Bay this summer.

Donation amounts come with perks, like being an extra in the film, getting your name in the credits or being invited to a tailgate party at the Ashwaubenon house at which the movie will be filmed.