Courage, talent of Wayman Tisdale inspires documentary

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Wayman Tisdale was an accomplished jazz musician.

Chicago Northshore Film Festival

7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11: short films and music videos plus Q & A with local filmmakers

7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12: “The Wayman Tisdale Story” followed by Q & A with producer Hunter Seamons

Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie

$10

(847) 677-7761 or www.skokietheatre.com

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Updated: November 9, 2011 5:55PM

A documentary about an extraordinary athlete and musician, and the courage with which he faced a deadly disease, is the main attraction at this year’s Chicago Northshore Film Festival. “The Wayman Tisdale Story” will be screened on the second day of the festival, Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Skokie Theatre.

The film was written and directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Brian Schodorf. Although Schodorf is originally from Kansas, he has local roots as the nephew of Chicago journalist Bill Kurtis.

Tisdale, the first three-time All American college basketball player, who was on the University of Oklahoma team, won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics. He played professional basketball for a dozen years with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns.

Music carreer

As his basketball career wound down, the self-taught bass guitarist then focused on his musical interest, releasing nine jazz albums and earning acclaim for his playing. Then, in 2007, Tinsdale was diagnosed with bone cancer. Part of his right leg was amputated.

“It was the way that he dealt with his condition and what he was going through that inspired me,” said filmmaker Schodorf. He was impressed by Tisdale’s courage, faith and attitude.

Schodorf knew of Tisdale both as a basketball player and as “a fabulous musician in the smooth jazz genre. He was one of the best-selling artists in the genre after a couple of years.”

The filmmaker began working on the documentary in March of 2009, interviewing Tisdale four times before he died in May of that year at the age of 44. Schodorf and producer Hunter Seamons debated whether they should continue working on the documentary after Tisdale passed away. With the approval of Tisdale’s family, they decided to resume the project.

They interviewed Tisdale’s family and his best friends, including basketball legend Michael Jordan and singer/songwriter Toby Keith, who wrote the 2010 Grammy winning song, “Cryin’ for Me” in memory of Tisdale. Keith’s song is one of the 13 selections on the soundtrack CD.

“The guy touched everybody,” Schodorf said. “Everybody has a Wayman Tisdale story.”

What most impressed Schodorf about Tisdale is that he was so humble, despite all his fame and money. “He never let anything get to his head,” the filmmaker said, adding, “There’s not one person that has anything bad to say about the guy.”

Inspiring story

Producer Seamons has been involved in the documentary project from the beginning, and the primary editing of the film was done at his Chicago home studio. He wanted to be part of this project because he saw Tisdale’s story as “a means of inspiring courage for other people who are going through similar physical ailments or battling cancer. We saw him as being a real source of hope and inspiration for other people.” Seamons noted that, throughout his life, Tisdale, who was the son of a minister, encouraged people to have faith.

“He was a larger than life individual and we thought his story should be shared,” Seamons said.

Independent filmmaker Kamelya Alexan, who founded the Chicago Northshore Film Festival two years ago, received a copy of “The Wayman Tisdale Story” from a good friend who was a co-producer. “As soon as I saw ten minutes of it, I was blown away,” she said.

The documentary has been screened at a variety of places, including in the Sacramento Kings’ arena; Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Norman, Oklahoma; Wichita, Kansas; Los Angeles, California; and at a variety of film festivals. It was rated Best Sports Documentary at the Los Angeles Sports Film Festival and Best Documentary at both the Park City Film and Music Festival and the International Christian Film Festival.

A CD/DVD of “The Wayman Tisdale Story” is scheduled for release on Nov. 22 by Rendezvous Music/Mack Avenue.