The Hammer

The Hammer (2010)

Hamill

He knew he could be a champion. They knew he could be much more.

A coming of age drama following the life of Matt Hamill, the first deaf wrestler to win a National Collegiate Wrestling Championship.

Date of release
2010-10-26
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (39)
Runtime
1h 48m
Genres
Drama, History
Director
Oren Kaplan

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: New York City

The Hammer, previously titled Hamill, is a 2010 biographical film about Matt Hamill, a deaf wrestler and mixed martial artist. Oren Kaplan directs the film based on a screenplay co-written by Eben Kostbar and Joseph McKelheer, who are also the film's producers. Russell Harvard, a deaf actor, plays Hamill in the film. The Hammer screened at several film festivals throughout 2010 and 2011. The film was released in theaters on October 27, 2011.

Production

The Hammer is directed by Oren Kaplan based on a screenplay co-written by Eben Kostbar and Joseph McKelheer, who are also the film's producers. Matt Hamill is played by Russell Harvard, who is also deaf. The filmmakers spent over five years developing the project, and they sought out deaf cast and crew members for the film.

Kostbar and McKelheer produced the film with their independent film company Film Harvest. For the production, they sought financing and found it with Fifth Year Productions, which was founded by the Farrelly brothers, Jim Kelly, and Bob Bartosiewicz. Most of the film was shot in Rochester, New York, home of Hamill's college, Rochester Institute of Technology. Scenes at Purdue were actually shot at the University of Rochester.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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