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George Francisco has just finished post-production on the feature length documentary "The Big Shootout" about the fabled 1969 Texas-Arkansas football game. He is also in post-production on the feature-length documentary "The League." A story of athletics and academics, the film chronicles the birth of football in the Ivy League. Featuring never-before seen footage and exclusive interviews with luminaries such as Tommy Lee Jones, the late Senator Edward Kennedy, Matthew Fox, Brian Dennehy, Dean Cain, Kip Pardue, NFL legend Chuck Bednarik and many, many more, the film promises to finally unearth the real connection between athletics and academics in American colleges. Along with Miami-based Access Marketing Group, Francisco is also in partnership with the NFL to produce the first-ever IMAX interpretation of the sport of football.
Francisco first made his mark as a multi-talented producer by writing, directing and producing the A&E special presentation American Veteran Awards show for half a decade. Described as "The Golden Globes for the Military, the show featured our nation's highest profile veterans such as Dennis Franz, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Chuck Norris, the show received numerous awards and national recognition. Over the course of the show, Francisco has worked with and directed performances by stars such as Gary Sinise, Eric Roberts, Jim Belushi, Catherine Bell, Ernest Borgnine, the late Steve Allen, Red Skelton, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, plus live music performances by Brian Setzer, Michael Bolton, Travis Tritt, Daveigh Chase and MC Hammer. An official Department of Defense recognized event, the show allowed Francisco to collaborate with high-ranking officials such as former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and current National Security Advisor James Jones during its run. It received the United State's government's highest civilian honor: the Secretary's Award.
As a feature screenwriter, Francisco received industry-wide praise for his work on the crime drama WhistleBlower, about the undercover police career of NBA ref Bob Delaney. He also has written the actioneer Stringer for A Man Apart and Red Dawn producer Vincent Newman and the comedy Blue Balls, for former Lois & Clark star Dean Cain. His latest project "Kashmir" - an "Expendables-esque" take on "The Magnificent Seven" was profiled on The Wrap.
Francisco also has a long career as a producer for hire, working with a variety of cable networks, national charitable foundations, local and federal government agencies, and top politicians and even Olympians. These efforts often involved important public messages, but a good portion focused on helping organizations and companies create brand identity or rebrand themselves. These include CNBC, NASA, the Disabled American Veterans, Michael Phelp's PureSport sports drink company, NBA Entertainment (for which his work was nominated for an Emmy) and the Yanks Air Museum Foundation, The Texas Mile, and the Inde MotorSports Ranch, with new clients the new website JoyRide and Hennessey Performance & Engineering coming online soon. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Veterans Foundation Inc and the Be The Ball Foundation where he is creating a national PSA campaign using sports stars to raise awareness about the dangers of childhood obesity. After 9/11 Francisco was fortunate to be able to go to the White House to direct public service announcements for First Lady Laura Bush's literacy initiative in South America and her Troop For Teachers program.
Before that Francisco was a free-lance journalist, covering independent film for Vencie Magazine and working for publications such as the DGA Magazine, Razor, Los Angeles, and Military Spouse. To his credit are some of the first written profiles of performers such as Charlize Theron, Denise Richards, Shooter Jennings, Donnie Wahlberg, Tom Sizemore, and Michael Jai White.
Francisco was a collegiate football player at Columbia University during their infamous losing streak of the 1980s and wrote an unpublished memoir of the experience. He received his law degree from Fordham Law School where he was selected to write on the prestigious Fordham International Law Journal. Francisco also received an MFA from USC's legendary School Of Cinema Television. He has coached NBA prospects in Nike's annual pro development league in Los Angeles for several years, helping lead a team of future pros to the league championship. His uncle was famed boxer Tony Zale and his aunt was one of the founding players of the AAGPL, lovingly memorialized in the hit film "A League of Their Own."
