Interview with David Boxerbaum, Senior Literary Agent

David Boxerbaum is a senior literary agent working at APA, where he represents writers and directors in the feature and TV world. Boxerbaum spoke with StoryLink about what he looks for in a sports screenplay.

“In a sports movie, everybody knows what will happen in the end,” Boxerbaum explains. “You know that the team will win or the team will find a way to persevere and come out ahead. The journey to that point is what speaks to me. What I tend to find that works so well - and what I look for - is the heart and relateability in these movies.

“It’s not just making sure the sport is in there - the great scenes of sports action,” he adds. “That to me is secondary.”

Writers beware: There are a lot of hybrid sports films. sports comedies, sports family films, sports bio pics. Some work, others don’t.

“You can’t sell a sports movie that [contains] too much sap drama,” he advises, citing We Are Marshall, which, while a sad story, just doesn’t get the job done. The box office returns for We are Marshall are testament that these elements didn’t work for audiences.

“If I read a movie like that,” Boxerbaum says, “I would pass. I don’t think I could sell a movie like that,”

On the other hand, Major League, the straight comedy that it is, still has heart. Intertwined with the humor is an inspirational story. “There’s still a journey, and you really pull for these guys in the end.”

Boxerbaum recently sold a family sports screenplay to FOX, called Gamebreakers, which is now in development.

“It’s basically a fantasy about kids who control their favorite sports team through a Sony Playstation,” he elaborates.

Again, the themes of heart and relateability come up. It’s as much about a mother, father, and a son coming together as it is about football, even if it’s the electronic kind, “Besides,” he says, “every boy has played Madden’s football.”

And Boxerbaum’s favorite sports movie?

Field of Dreams, he says. “It’s every man’s favorite. It has the greatest heart of all - the father/son story. What son hasn’t thrown a ball with his dad?

“It’s the perfect story of a man who has lost his way, and finds it through building the most absurd thing you can imagine in the middle of Iowa – a baseball field. To me, it’s just such a relatable movie.”

Field of Dreams explores themes of confusion, stagnation. Kevin Costner’s character is burdened by life’s eternal questions: What am I doing with my life? Where am I going? Is this what my life’s going to be?

His answer is to change his life, to shake things up. So he builds his baseball field.

“This idea, the fantasy of it, it’s spectacular,” Boxerbaum adds. And, as a bonus, “It’s the perfect three-act structure.”

There’s so much more to sports movies than meets the eye.