Official rules, news, events and merchandise all available at:

http://www.prostaredown.com/links.html


ABOUT THE FILM:

"Unflinching Triumph” hilariously chronicles Philip Rockhammer’s inauspicious rise to become the Staredown Champion of the World; staredown is a fictional sport in which two opponents stare each other in the eyes for as long as humanly possible until someone blinks. Dry eyes and macho posturing-aplenty, the 80-minute parody maintains a humorous tone without trumping truths about the lives of professional athletes and those who love them. Websites and blogs such as prostaredown.com were created to fuel the illusion that the sport is real, a mockumentary device initially popularized with “The Blair Witch Project.”

Executive Producers Andrew O'Dell and Charlie Taylor, from the online agency AKQA, financed the concept that originated in-house so the agency could experiment with feature- length, broadcast quality content and distribute it on the web. AKQA brought in Decena and Kontent to develop and co-write the script, and then used their formidable skills with online viral marketing to launch the campaign and generate buzz.

Says Decena, "The film was posted online for free, with me assuming the pseudonym, J.R. McCord, to help create the illusion that “Triumph” was shot by a friend or fan of the competitors."

The film broke ground as the first full-length feature conceived entirely for an initial web release, generating 558,882 hits on YouTube and 68,000 hits on the film's dedicated site, unflinchingtriumph.com. Additionally, word-of- mouth generated over 12MM blogs, RSS feeds, news articles and files shared. In addition, Sports Illustrated named "Unflinching" The Most Amusing Parody of 2006, and The Wall Street Journal's weekend edition listed it number one on a list of "What to Watch" in new media content and most recently was nominated for a 2007 Webby Award.

"Triumph" opens with a series of documentary-style interviews that include Rockhammer, his archrival Tony Patterson, and several figureheads from the sport. Through these interviews, we're educated on the virtues and history of Staredown. "Staredown is, I think, the ultimate challenge of mind and body... that sounds probably a little arrogant considering all the sports out there, but when you get down to it, it requires complete focus, concentration and endurance," says an intensely focused Rockhammer, “you flinch and you’re done.”



SHORT SYNOPSIS:

Philip Rockhammer is an ordinary guy from Sacramento, California. He doesn’t look or talk like an athlete, but make no mistake, Rockhammer is a professional athlete. “Unflinching Triumph” immerses the audience into the life of Philip and the underground world of Professional Staredown. From Phlip’s breakout success, to his tense showdowns with Staredown legend Tony Patterson, and his confrontations with his personal demons, we’re with him all the way. Philip’s voyage is at times joyous, often nerve-racking and occasionally heart-breaking.

“Unflinching Triumph” provides an illuminating look at a man we never knew and a sport we never knew existed.






THE ALL-ENCOMPASSING WORLD OF PRO STAREDOWN:

Is Philip Rockhammer a real person? Is the NASP a real league? Is Pro Staredown a real sport?

By creating a world around Philip Rockhammer and Pro Staredown, we developed a deep back-story to make believers out of skeptics. More than 1200 people posted their opinions on YouTube. Countless more shared their opinions via blogs, YouTube “response videos”, movie reviews, and of course word of mouth. According to Google, 112,000 websites around the World mention “Unflinching Triumph”. Most recently Unflinching Triumph was also nominated for a 2007 Webby Award.

– NASP Website (prostaredown.com)
– Online petition to make Staredown and Olympic sport (petitionspot.com)
– Myspace profile for Philip Rockhammer (myspace.com)
– Fansite of Staredown Legend Tony Patterson (pattersonpack.com)
– Philip Rockhammer website hijacked by Tony Patterson (philiprockhammer.com)
– How to Win a Staring Contest (wikihow.com)
– NASP Merchandisc for sale on eBay (ebay.com)
– Tony Patterson’s Stare to Win Video (youtube.com)
– Phone numbers for Philip Rockhammer and his agent Cousin Donnie (seeded on the film and myspace)
– Responses to emails, interview requests and fan letters from the voice of NASP officials and the athletes
– Responses to emails, interview requests and fan letters from the voice of the director J.R. McCord


PRESS QUOTES FOR MARK DECENA
& “UNFLINCHING TRIUMPH”:

“the most amusing parody…hilarious…”
—Sports Illustrated “The year in sports media 2006”

“Unusually well-crafted and impressively funny”
—Jake Coyle, The Associated Press

“What to Watch” on the Web
—John Jurgensen, The Wall Street Journal

“Mr. Decena is a director with a future. He knows how to connect
with his actors”
—Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal


MARK DECENA
Director and Co-Writer

With his latest feature film, “Unflinching Triumph”, Mark Decena continues to embrace the digital paradigm in both production and distribution. Shot entirely without film or tape, “Unflinching Triumph” was highlighted by the Wall Street Journal as a new media “Top 5 What-to-watch”
Mark’s first feature film, “Dopamine”, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival’s Dramatic Competition. Having won the first Alfred P. Sloan Prize, “Dopamine” went on to close the San Francisco International Film Festival, and was picked up for theatrical distribution by the Sundance Channel’s Film Series.
Decena was then selected for Fox Television’s New Voices Program to develop a work place drama pilot, and secured a deal with 20th Century Fox, to write the script, attached as a Co-Executive Producer.
His two previous short films, “One of Those Days” and “A Fly by Shooting” were accepted at Sundance, Toronto, Mill Valley, Gen Art, as well as other domestic and international film festivals. His latest short film, “The Light” is in a current festival run that includes the San Francisco International and Riverrun. His 24-second film, “Dogs” was selected by Converse to run on national television, and was recently named by Adweek as a “Best Spot”.
Kontent, and its newly formed Kollective, based in San Francisco, firmly believe in format, duration and platform agnostic storytelling.



ROBERT LAMBRECHTS
Lead actor and co-writer

Currently Robert is co-starring in the film, “Unflinching Triumph”. He plays Philip Rockhammer, an unlikely hero with long hair and a stoic demeanor, Rockhammer is equal parts Rocky Balboa and Jeff Spicoli. His entourage consists of an overbearing girlfriend who's supporting him financially, a hapless agent and a T-shirt-making buddy who's in love with him. The rag-tag crew accompanies Rockhammer to competitions all across the country as he fights to dethrone current Staredown champ, Patterson.
This is Robert’s first time acting in any film, as co-creator of the character and co-writer of the script it became obvious that no one else could play Rockhammer, so Robert was tossed in the deep end and became Philip.
Originally from St. Louis he is currently living in New York with his girlfriend and their fat sausage “esque” English Bulldog, Gary.

BOB BRINDLEY
Lead actor

Currently Bob is co-starring in the film, “Unflinching Triumph”. He plays Tony Patterson, 5-time NASP Staredown Champ and creator of his own video series “Stare to Win – tips & tricks from 5-time national staredown champion Tony Patterson”. With his signature move “the crankshaft” Patterson is at the top of his game is looking forward to his sixth consecutive championship. Patterson’s arrogance and outlandish behavior are a stark contrast to Rockhammer’s low-key intensity.
Bob Brindley is an actor, improvisor, and stand up comic. Part of the comedy troupe SPF7, he performs around the Bay Area and has many of his comedy shorts on youtube.com. He has also been in national commercials for Saturn and Konami. Bob was a finalist at the San Jose Battle of the Bay stand up contest at the San Jose Improv and was awarded the Bullshitter of the Year award in '03.

NANRISA LEE
Lead actor

Currently Nanrisa is co-starring in the film, “Unflinching Triumph”. She plays Chrissy, Philips, long-standing and long-suffering girlfriend. Disturbed by her boyfriend’s lack of employment so that he can focus on “training for his sport,” she dutifully stands by her man in the up and down world of professional staredown.
Nanrisa Lee was born and raised in Oakland, CA. She made her acting debut at 13 as Blanche in a scene from “Brighton Beach Memoirs”. Since then she has worked with Thunderbird Theatre Company, appeared in several short and feature films including “Tall Trees”, “Ulysses The Great”, “The Jinx”, and “Tomorrow”. Television and commercial credits include Samsung, National Holistic Institute, and Pacific Fusion. She has studied under Jean Shelton and Louis Oropeza at Shelton Theatre and Bruce Williams and Francine Landes at ACT.

DEBBIE BRUBAKER
Producer

A seasoned line producer on numerous feature films and “godfather” of the San Francisco independent world, Debbie brings a wealth of experience to round out the team. She was the line producer on “Cherish” and Lynn Hershman’s “Teknolust”, and producer of Mark Decena’s first feature “Dopamine”, all which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. In addition, she line produced Jonathan Parker’s “Bartleby”, released nationwide in summer 2003. Debbie’s knowledge on both legal issues and hands-on production make her an invaluable asset to the team.

SVETLANA CVETKO
Director of Photography

Svetlana Cvetko is a Cinematographer who has been described as a “willowy live wire” in Variety, Paris. She takes a joyous approach to her craft and has been climbing her way up with each commercial and film she has shot over the last few years. She shot the short film “Birju” which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and was also an Academy Award Nominee. She also shot “Raw” which was at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and 2005 AFT Film Festival.



PRODUCTION STILLS FROM “UNFLINCHING TRIUMPH”: