Award-winning filmmakers, director Cheryl Furjanic (Sync or Swim) and producer Will Sweeney (The Royal Tenenbaums), today announced they will film Olympic legend Greg Louganis in London during the 2012 Olympic Games to continue documenting his return to the sport of diving after a twenty-year absence.

This footage will become part of a feature-length independent documentary titled BACK ON BOARD GREG LOUGANIS about the diving champion’s inspiring personal story, due to be released in 2013.

The film reveals Louganis’ evolution from childhood diving prodigy to Olympic champion, and from pioneering openly gay athlete with HIV to a sometimes forgotten sports icon.  BACK ON BOARD GREG LOUGANIS is an engrossing story about an American hero on the cusp of a comeback.  His recent return to the sport (once synonymous with his name) as a mentor to USA Diving’s current Olympic team provides an exciting new chapter to his life-story.

“Greg’s story is so inspiring and his life is really extraordinary.  As a gay filmmaker, I’ve always admired Greg and I saw this film as an opportunity to reintroduce a true pioneer to the American public.   He has seen life’s high highs and low lows — we can all learn a lot from Greg’s story,” said director Cheryl Furjanic.

“His story is connected to so many important moments in American history including the Olympics, the AIDS epidemic, the gay rights movement, and even the recent housing crisis ” said producer Will Sweeney. “Greg’s return to diving after feeling unwelcome for so long gave us a natural way to tell his unique story and explore his enduring legacy.”

Louganis’ legacy will become even more powerful as this film travels throughout the world affecting the lives of the next generation.  While most people remember the four-time Olympic champion for winning one of his gold medals after hitting his head on the board at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, few realize how many of today’s important social issues have affected him: LGBT rights; HIV/AIDS; bullying; dyslexia; adoption; depression; domestic violence; and the housing crisis, to name a few.  The filmmakers are committed to using this film to do educational outreach in connection with the distribution of the film.

“What the public has seen is pretty powerful. But, what goes on behind the scenes, I think was even more incredible,” said Greg Louganis.

The filmmakers are utilizing the innovative crowd-funding website Kickstarter to help finance the production of BACK ON BOARD GREG LOUGANIS. Kickstarter connects the general public with filmmakers to provide maximum creative freedom by directly engaging with their audience during the production.

KICKSTARTER Campaign

For more information about BACK ON BOARD visit:

Web: LouganisDoc.com
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