Alix Neenan ’12
Graphics Editor
Mike Friedson ’10 really likes Rec Basketball. Wait. Mike Friedson really likes Rec Basketball.
“Rec is the quintessential essence of existence. It is the light,” said the obviously Rec–obsessed senior.
Friedson’s fascination with Rec could possibly explain why he has decided to take on the arduous task of making a documentary, recently christened “Recumentary,” about the activity he so loves.
Although the documentary is not finished yet, Friedson has a general idea of what it will be about.
The basic storyline follows the “journey” of Friedson, who had been on the same team for the past two years until this year, when he unexpectedly got switched to a team that was the worst of the league.
Friedson planned to follow his former team. His transfer to a new team presented a challenge to him.
Friedson said though, that he realized that he could salvage the situation.
“I’ll make it about my new team and my old team,” said Friedson.
However, the movie is not supposed to be completely about Friedson. “It’s a feature on all the teams,” he said.
Justin Honigstein ’10, a member of Friedson’s old team, plays a key role in the documentary.
“It is pretty well known that I am the vocal leader of my team,” said Honigstein. “Therefore a lot of the documentary is interviews of me and footage of my team playing.”
So far, Friedson has about nine or 10 hours of game footage and he also plans on doing interviews with what he called “key people,” including players and coaches.
Friedson also plans to focus on March Madness, the play-off and final games between the best teams in the league.
Friedson’s inspiration for the “Recumentary” is the ten-minute YouTube documentary “Year of the Bull,” which chronicles the life of a high school football player in Miami.
This documentary has inspired Friedson so much that he is considering titling the final documentary “Year of the Monkey,” because 1992, the year when seniors, who make up a majority of the players in Rec, were born, was the year of the monkey in the Chinese calendar.
Other inspirations for the “Recumentary” include “The Contender,” a series on ESPN narrating the lives of boxers, along with the AND1 Mixtape series about “street ballers.”
Friedson isn’t sure yet whether the “Recumentary” will be a mini–series or a regular movie.
“I’m thinking it will be full–length feature,” said Friedson.
Despite some uncertanties about the film, there is one thing Friedson is certain about.
“Rec is perhaps without a doubt the greatest thing known to mankind,” he said. “Its legend must be shared with those less fortunate, those unfortunately without Rec.”
“It will be fun to see the final production and to watch myself play b-ball,” said Honigstein.
As soon as the “Recumentary” is completed, it will be released into the public domain.
“This is for posterity,” said Friedson.
