Production
J. P. Davis was inspired to write the script after observing an older trainer working with a young boxer in a Brooklyn gym: "I watched the guy spar. You could tell he wasn't going anywhere, but you could never convince the trainer. He's almost a caretaker. He's watching out for you completely. You could see the devotion involved." Drawing upon material originally created for his critically acclaimed one-man off-Broadway show "Dreamer Awakens," Davis completed the script in 1999 and moved to Los Angeles.
Unrepresented by management, Davis sent his script out unsolicited to agents and studios over the course of the next three years. Davis secured representation through his efforts and received a number of studio offers, but, in a story reminiscent of Sylvester Stallone's experience with Rocky, he refused to sell the script unless he was signed to play the title role. He also resisted demands that Marty be made heterosexual. While Davis and director O'Flaherty honed the script, Davis trained as a boxer to add to the film's authenticity. The film was shot in Los Angeles on high-definition digital video on a budget of $200,000 and was O'Flaherty's feature debut.
The part of Marty was originally to be played by Rod Steiger, but Steiger died in 2002, before filming could begin.
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