A Reel Opportunity: Powell excited about movie about St. Marys football, plans to audition

ST. MARYS -- A county commissioner from Pleasants County hopes to be part of a movie about the faith and successes of two St. Marys High School football coaches.

"Yes, I'm going to audition," Commission President Jay Powell said.

Auditions are scheduled noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at the high school where JCFilms Studios is casting "Faith, Family and Football," a show about Coach Bill Hanlin, who coached the football team in 1963 to an undefeated and unscored season, and the contemporary Coach Jodi Mote.

St. Marys in 1963 under Hanlin was undefeated and unscored upon in 10 consecutive games. He became head football coach at Glenville State College, now university, in 1966, spending nine seasons there and leading the Glenville Pioneers to an undefeated regular season in 1973.

Hanlin, who died in April 2019, retired in 1988 as the executive secretary of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission and helped Mote coach St. Marys to its first state football championship in 2016.

Mote said he's followed the principles Hanlin taught him and to look at life in the order of faith, family and football.

"As far as my life personally, that's what I try to do," he said.

Mote has coached St. Marys for more than 20 years, including after a 2014 stroke. Jason Campbell of JCFilms spoke to Mote about his career and faith and was interested in the stroke experiences, Mote said.

JCFilms has produced more than 70 faith-based movies. The company last year contacted representatives from all counties in West Virginia encouraging their help in producing positive films about the state, according to Campbell.

"Our goal through this new West Virginia film initiative is to help rewrite the narrative and eliminate unwarranted stereotypes about this state," he said.

"Although as Jason the producer has reminded me many times, lots of events in the movie will not be exactly like it happened in the past, it is still very special to Pleasants County we were chosen to share parts of our community's history to be presented to the world in this one-of-a-kind movie," Powell said.

Powell is excited about the movie and is leading the cheers for the show. He'll be among the pool of auditioners looking for a part in the cast.

"We are beyond excited to have this opportunity to showcase our community and honor some great times and great people," Powell said. "However, most importantly we are excited to share some of the incredible things God has done through the sport of football in St. Marys."

Dean Cain, who has been in the movies and who played Superman on TV, and former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon will be in the movie.

Open auditions will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Marys High School in St. Marys where appointments will not be required. The producers are casting actors 14 and older only.

The production company is requesting a resume and a current headshot. Solo auditions will be in private before a director and producer. Participants can audition for more than one part, read from a prepared monologue or will be provided.

Those who can not attend the casting call can email an audition to Jason@JCFilms.org.

Production on "Faith, Family and Football" will begin in October in Pleasants County. More information is available at https://www.jcfilms.org/faithfamilyfootball.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com.