TORCHED, A Film by Hoag Kepner
Athletes break barriers as one of the first women’s/nonbinary professional ultimate frisbee team in the U.S. in the award-winning documentary TORCHED
Available to rent/own on all North American digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms, starting on August 20, 2024, through Freestyle Digital Media.
Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has acquired North American VOD rights to the sports documentary TORCHED–THE STORY OF THE AUSTIN TORCH, which will be available to rent/own on all North American digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms, starting on August 20, 2024, through Freestyle Digital Media.
TORCHED–THE STORY OF THE AUSTIN TORCH is the award-winning feature documentary directorial debut of Austin-based musician-turned-filmmaker Hoag Kepner. The film received top honors at the 2023 Reel East Texas Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film and Best Director (Documentary), and also the Audience Award at Dances With Films New York in 2023. The film tells the story of the Austin Torch, a fiery group of female and non-binary athletes in Austin, Texas who try to professionalize their fringe sport of Ultimate Frisbee in a historically male-dominated sports industry. This documentary follows several members of the Austin Torch team from its inception in 2018 through its 2022 comeback season. These team members include an overextended team president and player struggling to balance the demands of her dream with her new marriage; a corporate sales manager frustrated by her mundane job who seeks thrills in the do-it-yourself nature of growing a team and a sport; a fourth grade teacher intent on popularizing the Torch with her theatrical, brash playing style; and an unlikely male ally named "Bonesaw" whose past career as the frontman of a touring band positions him perfectly for a role as Torch co-founder and an advocate for women's/non-binary sports. As we follow the Torch during an entire season, one thing becomes clear: the Austin Torch might not always win, but somehow, they never lose. It's more than a team; it's a movement.
Written and directed by Hoag Kepner, TORCHED–THE STORY OF THE AUSTIN TORCH was produced by Taylor Lukof, Philip Lee, Steffan Stroud, Kim Walker, Mark Udis, Bonesaw Kepner, and Megan Hart. The featured ultimate frisbee principles include Annie Ortiz, Rachel Yeager, Elise Bjork, Jaime Estes, and Tim “Bonesaw” Kepner.
"Like the team itself, the film’s goal is simple: to take a crowbar and pry open the doors of opportunity for girls and women the world over; in any industry, not just sports,” said director Hoag Kepner. “The people that inspire me the most, not just as a filmmaker but as a human being, are the people that decide to do something even though there are so many 'reasons not to'. I hope people watch this film and it encourages them to go for it; do that thing you've always wanted to do but thought was impossible."
Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire TORCHED–THE STORY OF THE AUSTIN TORCH directly with the filmmakers.
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