Walking around The Village Player’s Theatre, Brett Leonard’s face lights up. He goes upstage left, reminiscing on the moment when he made his first theatrical appearance as the genie in the play “Aladdin and His Lamp” at seven years old.
“Literally, like nothing has changed,” said
Leonard, a film director and a proud Toledo native. He has worked on films all over the world, with big-name actors like Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Pierce Brosnan. In 1992, he made his big break with The Lawnmower Man, a film that introduced virtual reality to the indie film world, a cult classic that is still being talked about and referenced today.
On Thursday, September 25, Leonard led Toledo Museum of Art’s Masters Series, where he discussed The Lawnmower Man as well as other advances in virtual reality with TMA Director Brian Kennedy. Leonard credits TMA along with the Children’s Theatre Workshop for his visual arts upbringing.
“That training has served me very well to this day, directing people like Anthony Hopkins,” said Leonard at the event. “You can get great training in Toledo, Ohio.”
Toledo Troopers
Leonard came home to shoot his newest film, Perfect Season. It’s about the Toledo Troopers, a professional women’s football team in the 1970s.
Last year, Guy Stout, son of Toledo Troopers coach Bill Stout, pitched his script to Leonard via Twitter. With one read, Leonard was hooked.
“It’s about women’s empowerment at a time when that was barely thought of,” said Leonard, also citing the fact that the Toledo Troopers were an interracial team, a fact that enhanced the importance of their achievements.
Like many Toledoans, Leonard remembered the Toledo Troopers growing up, but didn’t realize at the time just how pioneering and successful the team truly was. As members of the National Women’s Football League, the Toledo Troopers were World Champions for seven years running (1971-1977), earning more consecutive wins than any other team in the history of professional football.
Linda Jefferson, who played halfback for the Toledo Troopers, scored 35 touchdowns in one season, and had a career average of 13 yards per carry, more than any other player in the history of the game.
“Here’s a model of women who had a passion for the game,” said Leonard. “They played hard too [ . . . ] The football action in this movie is going to be incredibly gritty and tough.”
Toledo’s creativity
As an artist, working in Toledo has been a breath of fresh air from the restrictive boundaries of Hollywood. Leonard says that telling unique stories, such as the Toledo Troopers’, has to originate from a new perspective.
“There is a creative boon to me to do it here, as a storyteller,” said Leonard. “The creative community’s always strong.”
Leonard is laying the foundation for a new initiative called The Center for Transmedia Innovation, which will make Toledo the hub for digital content writing, a growing field that the city can capitalize on. “[Toledo] can take advantage of the fact that there are literally new businesses being created around digital content and media all the time,” said Leonard. “Because we have talent here and we have a fresh slate.”
As for future film projects, he already has another one in progress, and is going through the history pages to find more deserving Toledo stories that have not yet been told.
For more information on the upcoming film Perfect Season, visit perfectseasonthemovie.com. To read about the Toledo Troopers, see toledotroopers.com.
