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March 10, 2015

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Jessica Rustad

(402) 472-8607, jkinser@netad.unl.edu

The Medicine Game Traces the Challenges & Triumphs of North America's

Top Lacrosse Players from the Onondaga Nation

Distributed by American Public Television on Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Jeremy & Jerome "Hiana" Thompson (Onondaga).
Photo by Erik Korver.

Lincoln, Neb: Tucked away in central New York State is the Onondaga Nation, a sovereign Native American community known to produce some of the top lacrosse players in the world. Yet, the fear of leaving their community, substance abuse, and poverty have kept far too many of these players from venturing off the "Rez" and into collegiate or professional ranks.

Enter the Thompson brothers--Jerome "Hiana" and Jeremy--who are driven by a single goal of beating the odds against them and playing lacrosse for national powerhouse Syracuse University. During the brothers' freshman and junior years of high school, they led their school's lacrosse team to state championships. Based on this success, many people, including the film's director/producer Lukas Korver, assumed they would compete for the state championship again.

"Lacrosse is more than just a game--it's a way of life, it's a heritage. It's being Iroquois. It's being Native American. It's a part of their culture, their religion, who they are," Korver said.

During the playoffs of their senior year, the undeniably close brothers had a shockingly out-of-character fight in the school parking lot, leaving Hiana hospitalized and unable to play lacrosse during his recovery from a broken jaw. Without Hiana on the field in the school's next playoff game, Jeremy's play suffered. The team lost, ending their chances at a third state championship. It would take two years before the brothers' relationship healed to what it had been.

Hiana and Jeremy's father, Jerome "Ji" Thompson commented, "They started school late and they've come from so far behind to catch up and do as well as they're doing now. And, just to get that degree to show everybody, because I know there are people out there that actually know them that don't think they can do it."

"A lot of people say that it's bad around here. But myself, I don't know. I think it's just like any other child growing up anywhere else," said Jeremy.

With their now unfulfilled dream of winning a third state championship, the brothers heavily pursued their ongoing, shared vision of playing lacrosse for Syracuse University. Athletically, the brothers were standouts, but academically, they struggled. The obstacles in their way were frequent and daunting, but their love for the game, each other, and their family's unyielding determination, helped propel these youth against the odds.

Ji, who doesn't want his sons to be ironworkers like himself and generations before, explained, "The greatest gift you can give your children is your time. I taught my boys to respect the game--the game of lacrosse. Respect means to play as hard as you can, you know. Go out there and give it everything you can because you're playing for the Creator."

"I titled the film The Medicine Game because the game has helped not only the Thompsons, but many families and communities to stay healthy both physically and mentally, to bond with one another, and to learn many powerful life lessons," said Korver.

To watch the film's trailer, visit www.visionmakermedia.org/medicine_game. The Medicine Game is distributed by American Public Television (APT) and will be available to Public Television stations nationwide Tuesday, April 28, 2015. For broadcast information in your area, please visit pbs.org/stations.

American Public Television (APT) has been a leading distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation's public television stations since 1961. In 2014, APT distributed one-third of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. Among its 300 new program titles per year, APT programs include prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramas, how-to programs, children's series and classic movies. America's Test Kitchen From Cook's Illustrated, Rick Steves' Europe, Live From the Artists Den, Doc Martin, Nightly Business Report, Midsomer Murders, Vera, NHK Newsline, Lidia's Kitchen, Globe Trekker, Simply Ming, and P. Allen Smith's Garden Home join numerous documentaries and performance programs popular with public television viewers. APT licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. Now in its 10th year, Create� TV--featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming--is distributed by APT. APT also distributes WORLD™, public television's premier news, science and documentary channel. To find out more about APT's programs and services, visit APTonline.org.

Vision Maker Media, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) which receives major funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, shares Native stories with the world by advancing media that represents the experiences, values, and cultures of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Founded in 1977, Vision Maker Media is your premier source for quality Native American and Pacific Islander educational and home videos. All aspects of our programs encourage the involvement of young people to learn more about careers in the media--to be the next generation of storytellers. www.visionmakermedia.org.

Additional Information Regarding The Medicine Game:

Broadcast Distributor/Feed Date/NOLA:

April 28, 2015 @ 11:00-12:00ET/HD03 | MEGA 000 Spot Revision 001 | APT

Run time: 56:46

Credits:

A film by Lukas Korver.

The Medicine Game is a co-production of Lukas Korver and Vision Maker Media.

Funding for The Medicine Game:

Major funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Vision Maker Media.

Broadcast History:

Previously televised in the U.S. on WORLD. Two-year exclusive for the series AmericaReFramed. Term: November 2012-2014, with one additional release on September 27, 2014.

Official Film Website: http://themedicinegame.com

Film Page: http://www.visionmakermedia.org/films/medicine-game

Distributed by:

Vision Maker Media

1800 N. 33rd Street; Lincoln, NE 68503

shopvisionmaker.org | 1-877-868-2250

Crew Bios:

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/CINEMATOGRAPHER/EDITOR
Lukas Korver has been fortunate to have spent the last ten years working on documentary, commercial, and television projects, shooting all over the United States as well as Europe, Australia, Africa, China, and the Middle East. After graduating from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Communications, Lukas has offered his cinematography talents to a variety of successful projects including Unfiltered, a feature length documentary starring Olympian Michael Phelps which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. That effort was followed up by his cinematographer role on Eliot Rausch's Last Minutes with Oden, which went on to win Vimeo's "Best Film" and "Best Documentary" awards for 2010. Lukas again teamed with Rausch for the acclaimed Vans series Pass the Bucket, a look into the humanitarian side of today's most celebrated action sports athletes and musicians. In his first crack at shooting commercials, Lukas filmed the Fox Sports campaign Strings, which won "Best On-Air Advertising" at the 2009 Imagen Awards. He has since gone on to shoot commercials for a wide-range of clients including Ford, Lincoln, Nike, and Under Armor.

Lukas' producing and directing debut, The Medicine Game, began in 2006 when he moved onto the Onondaga Nation in Upstate New York, and began documenting the lives of two young lacrosse phenoms. He would spend the next four months living on the reservation documenting their senior year of high school, an experience that proved life-changing. Lukas continues to direct, produce, and shoot various projects spanning various humanitarian causes all over the world.

CO-WRITER/CO-PRODUCER
Jason Halpin, currently an attorney in Syracuse, New York, graduated from Syracuse University in 2003 where he studied Television, Radio and Film at the Newhouse School. As a senior, Jason co-wrote, produced, and directed his first documentary film--a feature-length social and political piece on the impact the closing of the nation's oldest and largest chocolate plant would have on a town and the plant's workers. Upon graduation, Jason teamed with Lukas Korver and traveled to Florida to work as a field producer on a documentary about the questionable suicide of an African American man residing in a racially divided, impoverished community located deep in the Glades region of the state. Since finishing work on that film, Jason has worked as a director/producer on a number of other projects including working as program coordinator, writer, and associate producer for the CBS owned College Sports TV. He has also co-wrote and co-produced a public service announcement for the Fallen Heroes Fund airing nationally on NBC.

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