‘The Short Game’ director Frank Sanza, producer David Parks break down inspirational golf film

Frank Sanza and David Parks can’t wait for the entire country to see their new golf film, The Short Game, which hits theatres nationwide on Friday (Aug. 29). On3 recently spoke to Sanza and Parks about the film, and they explained what made them want to work on this project together.

“Well, about 10 years ago, I had the kernel of an idea, and I wrote some things down and fleshed out some characters and then put it on the shelf for a while, then pull it back off,” Frank Sanza, the director of The Short Game, told On3. “And I wrote some more. One of the characters is an autistic young man, and I had an autistic child. And so that was the impetus for that character.”

As Sanza mentioned, The Short Game features an autistic character named Ethan (Owen Himfar). His brother, Jeremy (Ben Krieger), is a high school golf star looking to win a state championship. However, Jeremy is feeling the family pressures related to taking care of Ethan and his mother’s recovery from cancer. This leads to Jeremy taking a step back and bringing in Ethan to help him succeed on the golf course. Along with Kreiger and Himfar, The Short Game also stars Mackenzie Astin, Katherine Cunningham, Glenn Moreshower, Tyler Lofton, Aydn Alexander, Brandon Potter and Emma Parks, who is the daughter of David Parks.

‘The Short Game’ is already a successful film

Sanza mentioned that when we wrote the script for The Short Game, he sent it to David Parks, who didn’t read it at first. “I didn’t want to read a script from a good friend and find out it was not good, but it actually was, it was a great story,” Parks, a producer on the film, admitted. “It’s gone through a lot of rewrites, of course. Mainly in part because we wanted to make it as an independent film, which was kind of Frank’s dream to do that.”

The Short Game has seen its share of success despite not being seen by the entire country yet. The film has been showcased at numerous film festivals and has wo multiple awards, including Best Picture at Reedy Reels, Film Fest International: Edinburgh and the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival. Sanza also won an award for his work, as he was named Best Director at Myrtle Beach.

Why moviegoers should see the new golf movie

“It’s very rewarding,” Sanza said. “It’s something that no one person could take responsibility for, credit for. You always talk about it’s a team, it’s a family that puts this together, and it really is, it’s really not one person, and they deserve the credit as much as Dave and I and anybody else for the awards we got. They really did an incredible job.”

It’s likely that The Short Game is getting a lot of love is the fact family is the central focus of the flim. “This is a family-oriented film that was something that we really wanted to make and stress family values and the value of friendships and the value in faith that things are going to work out,” Parks said. “You just have to believe properly that the answers are around you, your friend, your parents. And so we hope that’s the point that strikes home for people.”