G-Prep football film headed to Hollywood

“Pups,” the documentary about the football careers of Gonzaga Prep’s Class of 2009, is beginning to gain a little momentum.

Denise Bennett, a Prep alum and journalism professor at the University of Idaho, recently returned from the DocuWest Film Festival in Golden, Colo., and is headed for the All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival in Hollywood this week.

“That was cool,” Bennett said of the Colorado trip. “There are only a few festivals in the nation that focus on documentaries. It was an honor to be accepted to that.”

Bennett’s slot was near the end, by which time she felt a little uneasy because most of the shorts were pretty serious topics such as homelessness, war and AIDS.

“It was fun to watch the reaction of the audience watching high school boys after all that serious stuff,” she said.

The next trip is intriguing.

“It should be an exciting crowd since it’s all sports,” she said. “It should be complementary to my film.”

The 29-minute documentary follows the Bullpups – four players in particular, including Bennett’s nephew – from freshman football to the end of their senior season.

It’s profane, irreverent and politically incorrect – in other words, a real slice of life when teenagers, males and athletics, football in particular, come together.

“Pups” debuted at the Spokane Film Festival in January.

“It went really well,” Bennett said. “It sold out the two theaters at the Magic Lantern. I ended up giving up my seat and unfortunately didn’t get to see it with the audience.”

Her impression from the Filmmakers’ Forum was that it was generally well received.

She did receive a letter from a mother of a player who wasn’t thrilled, although her son was barely a blip in the film.

“She said I misrepresented my intentions,” Bennett said.

As a result, Bennett cut about a second of the film out and tweaked the credits at the end.

The reaction from Prep was subdued.

“There was a little buzz that week,” athletic director Paul Manfred said. “We haven’t heard a word since January or February.

“Denise’s film did have some good points but it had a little bit of attention-getting from the boys.”

He said The Spokesman-Review story by John Blanchette with a photography slide show by Dan Pelle when freshman coach Ron Long retired (Nov. 5, 2008) “tells a much better story of the Gonzaga Prep football experience and tradition. Denise hit on some of that but a little bit of the focus was taken away.”

“The stuff from Prep was indirect,” Bennett said.

“(One) said after reading the story, ‘I hope it’s not as bad as it sounds,’ ” she said. “I never said it was a PR film.”

The feedback from the main characters was positive.

“All of them except one said it was real, that’s the way it is,” she said. “They thought it was kind of sad. It made them reminisce a little bit.”

Bennett is editing a documentary for a colleague about wastewater treatment at Lake Mead in Las Vegas.

“My documentary was more fun, not so serious,” she said. “I’m still on hiatus. After five years working on this one I need a break. I need a good idea.”