Courtesy of Mike Newman
During spring break of his sophomore year at Ohio State, Mike Newman picked up a video camera to film his partying friends.
Newman hasn’t put down the camera since, and changed his major to media production to pursue a career as a filmmaker.
An avid OSU football fan, Newman sprung an idea to fuse these two loves into one project by making his own documentary titled “Nuts: The Best Damn Fans In The Land.” The film will be about his search to find the most passionate OSU football fans in Ohio. Operating as a one-man team, Newman is searching the state to find enthusiastic fans willing to share their love of OSU football with the nation.
“The inspiration for the movie comes from my experience as a Buckeye. I love character-driven documentaries and Buckeye Nation is full of interesting characters with great stories to tell,” Newman said.
Since graduating from OSU in 2004, Newman has made more than 100 short- and feature- length films and videos. In early 2012, he created his own production company, Mind Twin Media, which he will use to produce his current project.
Newman said the film, now in pre-production, will document the spirit of Buckeye Nation.
Johnny Ginter, a writer for the OSU sports blog Eleven Warriors, said in an interview in footage for the film, “It (OSU) is something where you kind of feel a part of it no matter who you are. There’s no standard Ohio State fan. It’s just an attitude and a group of people who, like a Mongol horde, want to take over everything. It’s non-stop.”
Newman won’t give away too many details about the film, but said any self-proclaimed OSU super fan can get involved.
Bobby Kelly, a third-year in strategic communication and football fan, said he thinks the idea for the movie is a great one.
“I think others think we (OSU fans) are very pretentious, but that’s just because we are very proud of our team and their winning nature. I’ve gotten used to winning and I definitely feel that I go to the best university in the nation. I think the film would show this,” Kelly said.
Newman is funding the project with his own money. However, he created a campaign on UFunded.com to help raise money for production costs.
“I have found a few amazing fans to star in the movie and I’m looking for a few more. There are many big-name people I’d love to interview for the movie, such as Kirk Herbstreit and Eddie George,” Newman said.
He hopes to finish the film by August.
