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Boston, MA November 10, 2016 — The Kennedy/Marshall Company is joining a team ofcelebrated filmmakers to produce BOSTON, the first-ever documentary film about the legendary Boston Marathon. Acclaimed producer Frank Marshall will serve as executive producer and Ryan Suffern, head of documentaries for The Kennedy/Marshall Company, will serve as co-producer.
Presented by John Hancock, BOSTON is directed by award winning filmmaker Jon Dunham, well known for his Spirit of the Marathon films, and produced by Academy Award nominee Megan Williams. The film records the celebrated history of the Boston Marathon, from its origins in 1897 through the present day. The film portrays the growth of the legendary race, including the triumphs and tragedies, and features many of the greatest marathoners ever to have raced over the Hopkinton to Boston route.
The filmmakers have spent the last three years recording interviews with champions and amateur runners from around the world, as well as the stories of members of the Boston Marathon communities. The production was granted exclusive documentary rights from the Boston Athletic Association to produce the film and to use the Association’s extensive archive of video, photos and memorabilia.
“We are incredibly honored to have The Kennedy/Marshall Company join the BOSTON team,” said Jon Dunham, “They have produced some of the most memorable films of a generation. Their commitment to documentary films will help us find the needed support to complete BOSTON.”
BOSTON Film Trailer from Jon Dunham on Vimeo.
Established in 1991 by award-winning producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, The Kennedy/Marshall Company is one of the most respected production companies in the entertainment industry. With more than seventy films to his credit, Frank Marshall is a visionary producer who has helped shape American cinema. His movies have been nominated for a multitude of Academy Awards, including Best Picture nominations for such films as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, Seabiscuit and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Marshall has garnered wide acclaim as a film director, having brought to the screen such memorable movies as Arachnophobia, Alive and Eight Below. Recent projects include Jurassic World, Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, Jason Bourne and Clint Eastwood’s Sully. In the documentary space, Marshall has produced such projects as Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz, Alex Gibney’s critically acclaimed The Armstrong Lie and the Frank Sinatra documentary miniseries for HBO.
Also a runner, Frank Marshall ran Boston in 1980, experiencing all that the race has to offer. “Boston was everything I had hoped it to be, kind of the Olympics of marathoning for me,” said Marshall. “Boston, the people, the setting, the history, Bill Rodgers’ 4th victory, a PR of 2:45, and even Rosie [Ruiz], just made it the best and most memorable race of my career.”
Ryan Suffern has collaborated on numerous projects with Marshall, including twodocumentaries for ESPN Films’ critically acclaimed 30 for 30 series. Suffern and Marshall were executive producers on Transcend, a documentary about 2012 Boston Marathon winner Wesley Korir and his run for parliament in his home country of Kenya. Suffern recently directed Finding Oscar, a feature-length documentary about the search for justice in the case of the Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala, which he and Marshall produced together. The film is a co-production with the USC Shoah Foundation, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, and is currently on the festival circuit.
“We are excited about joining the BOSTON team and helping to tell the story of the race, the runners and the community that embraces a marathon like no other city,” said Frank Marshall. “The legacy of this event has helped to shape the story of many champion runners. These are the stories that need to be told and preserved for generations to come.”
BOSTON is slated to premiere in April 2017, in conjunction with the 121st Boston Marathon. The documentary will mark the first time that this remarkable story will be told on film, and it is the exclusive feature length documentary endorsed by the Boston Athletic Association (BAA).