And as soon as the screenings began, calls started rolling in. The actual photo Wallace received from 20th Century Fox.Īfter receiving the photo, the team didn’t hear from Fox Studios again until the film was set to begin industry screenings in LA. Little did they know, they had just gotten their first glimpse of Hanks’ co-star and soon-to-be pop culture sensation, Wilson the Volleyball. Together, they studied the photo and scratched their heads. Wallace shared the photo with Davenport and Kuehne. The photo (below) was of Tom Hanks on a beach, holding a Wilson volleyball. It contained a single photograph with no context or story. Wallace signed the NDA and about a week later, she received an envelope from Fox. Months later, Wallace got a call from Fox letting her know they would be sending her an NDA, along with some sort of preview of the product placement. And that’s all the information they would have for the better part of a year. “That's when we really started wondering, ‘Why do they need that? What could they be doing with one-sided balls?'” Wallace recalls.Īt this point, all Wallace, Davenport, and Kuehne knew was that a one-sided Wilson Volleyball was going to be in a Tom Hanks movie. We special-made 60 one-sided volleyballs and sent them off to Fox.” Says Davenport, “ We had no idea why they needed that, but we did it. “So they asked for some volleyballs instead.”Īt the time, Wilson volleyballs had “Wilson” printed on both sides of the ball, but Fox specifically requested volleyballs with one side blank. “They came back and said the soccer balls weren’t working, ’t adhere to the soccer ball material,” Wallace remembers. It wasn’t until several months later that the team heard back from 20th Century Fox. “Little known fact! The volleyballs didn’t come in until later,” Davenport says. It was a more vague request than Wilson usually received, but with the reassurance only Tom Hanks could provide, the team agreed to send Fox what it had asked for… which was actually soccer balls. Wallace consulted with Kuehne and Volleyball and Soccer Business Manager, Alan Davenport. “He told me it was Tom Hanks, and I think that’s what ultimately sealed the deal. But he did disclose the film’s leading man. The representative from Fox explained that the film would be a bit unusual because it wouldn’t have much of a supporting cast. “They were very vague about the film and how the product would be used,” Wallace remembers, “but they said it wouldn’t be used as a weapon or in any way that was damaging to the brand.”
But at the time, that wasn’t really the case,” explains Director of Basketball, Volleyball, and Soccer, Mike Kuehne. “Nowadays, production companies want big money for product placement.
#Volleyball in cast away movie#
He explained to Molly that the studio was about to start filming a movie and hoped Wilson could provide some balls to be used in the film. It was a representative from 20th Century Fox, one of the most prominent production companies in the world.
#Volleyball in cast away pro#
For over a century, the company has provided equipment for community organizations, fundraisers, youth sports leagues, pro teams, and everything in between.īut in 1998, a call came into Team Sports Communications Manager Molly Wallace that was unlike any she’d ever received. Wilson Sporting Goods is no stranger to product donation requests.
0 kommentar(er)
