NEW YORK – Like anyone who has watched a movie awards show, Todd Zeile has listened as recipients talk about the years of blood, sweat and toil it took to get their project finished. Like most observers, he would shake his head in disbelief. As a longtime veteran of the instant-gratification world of professional baseball, Zeile couldn’t imagine those stories being true.
And then he started making movies.
“Now, I understand what they meant,” Zeile said.
The first movie Zeile produced, “Dirty Deeds,” was completed during his playing days, which ended in 2004 when he retired following a second stint with the Mets. His second project, titled, “I AM,” had a limited release Oct. 10 (10/10/10) and became available on DVD on Nov. 4, the climax of a more than two-year process that began with a small video project for a local church.
The film (get info at www.iamthemovie.com) is described as a modern-day telling of the Ten Commandments in the style of the Oscar-winning “Crash,” in which 10 different stories set in Los Angeles intersect with each other through the prism of the commandments. Though it falls under the banner of faith-based entertainment, Zeile, mindful of the negative connotation or divisive potential associated with the category, is more hopeful the movie will open discussion for people who watch it.
“It’s not a two-hour sermon. We don’t try to answer all the questions, we leave that up to the audience,” he said. “If people are looking to have a conversation about God, this is a good way to start. The project creates a distinction between faith and church and that was important to me.”
Zeile, 45, was in New York recently to attend Joe Torre’s charity event. As he sat outside a midtown Starbucks talking about his many post-baseball ventures, he reflected on how the seeds were planted during a baseball career that brought him to 11 teams across 16 seasons.
“Even when I was playing, my mind was always onto something creative. My world was never about baseball 24/7,” he said. “And when I retired, the last thing I could imagine doing was going home to play golf all day.”
Zeile was reunited with many former teammates, including Al Leiter, John Franco and Derek Jeter, on Thursday at Chelsea Piers, where Torre’s event to benefit his Safe at Home Foundation was also billed as a 10th anniversary celebration of the 2000 Subway Series.
Zeile made two stops with the Mets, including on the 2000 World Series runners-up, as well as one with the Yankees. Unlike so many professional athletes, however, Zeile has had little trouble moving on, likely because he is busier than ever.
In addition to owning the production company, Green Diamond Entertainment, Zeile is the co-owner of a successful private corporate jet company, established a film institute for students in inner-city Los Angeles, works with a website (www.bluenoselive.com) that provides free middle school lesson plans that combine film, sports and music, and does occasional television work as a commentator. He also wears many hats in the production company, writing, developing and acting in both films.
While he can laugh at a joke that the only career left to him is perhaps as a hand model, Zeile and his wife, Olympic medal winning gymnast Julianne McNamara, are also busy keeping up with their four children. Though Zeile couldn’t persuade McNamara to make a cameo in the film, son Garrett, 16, plays opposite his dad in one of the parables that follows an aging rock star’s inability to handle the rising stardom of his rock star son. Garrett’s own song with his RCA-signed band Jetstream is in the movie as well.
Zeile’s other children, Hannah, 13, Ian, 8, and Aaron, 6, appear in the movie, too. “That’s been an awesome part of this, really, to have my family so involved,” said Zeile, who is also very active in raising money for research for juvenile diabetes, which Hannah has. “After so many years on the road, that’s been great.”
With another project complete, Zeile isn’t slowing down. He and John Ward, who co-produced “I AM,” are working on their next movie, a Nicholas Sparks-type drama called, “Heart of the Country.”
“We’re trying to get this audience to believe in us and track with us on the next project,” he said. “I’m ready to jump in.”
E-mail: sullivan@northjersey.com
And then he started making movies.
“Now, I understand what they meant,” Zeile said.
The first movie Zeile produced, “Dirty Deeds,” was completed during his playing days, which ended in 2004 when he retired following a second stint with the Mets. His second project, titled, “I AM,” had a limited release Oct. 10 (10/10/10) and became available on DVD on Nov. 4, the climax of a more than two-year process that began with a small video project for a local church.
The film (get info at www.iamthemovie.com) is described as a modern-day telling of the Ten Commandments in the style of the Oscar-winning “Crash,” in which 10 different stories set in Los Angeles intersect with each other through the prism of the commandments. Though it falls under the banner of faith-based entertainment, Zeile, mindful of the negative connotation or divisive potential associated with the category, is more hopeful the movie will open discussion for people who watch it.
“It’s not a two-hour sermon. We don’t try to answer all the questions, we leave that up to the audience,” he said. “If people are looking to have a conversation about God, this is a good way to start. The project creates a distinction between faith and church and that was important to me.”
Zeile, 45, was in New York recently to attend Joe Torre’s charity event. As he sat outside a midtown Starbucks talking about his many post-baseball ventures, he reflected on how the seeds were planted during a baseball career that brought him to 11 teams across 16 seasons.
“Even when I was playing, my mind was always onto something creative. My world was never about baseball 24/7,” he said. “And when I retired, the last thing I could imagine doing was going home to play golf all day.”
Zeile was reunited with many former teammates, including Al Leiter, John Franco and Derek Jeter, on Thursday at Chelsea Piers, where Torre’s event to benefit his Safe at Home Foundation was also billed as a 10th anniversary celebration of the 2000 Subway Series.
Zeile made two stops with the Mets, including on the 2000 World Series runners-up, as well as one with the Yankees. Unlike so many professional athletes, however, Zeile has had little trouble moving on, likely because he is busier than ever.
In addition to owning the production company, Green Diamond Entertainment, Zeile is the co-owner of a successful private corporate jet company, established a film institute for students in inner-city Los Angeles, works with a website (www.bluenoselive.com) that provides free middle school lesson plans that combine film, sports and music, and does occasional television work as a commentator. He also wears many hats in the production company, writing, developing and acting in both films.
While he can laugh at a joke that the only career left to him is perhaps as a hand model, Zeile and his wife, Olympic medal winning gymnast Julianne McNamara, are also busy keeping up with their four children. Though Zeile couldn’t persuade McNamara to make a cameo in the film, son Garrett, 16, plays opposite his dad in one of the parables that follows an aging rock star’s inability to handle the rising stardom of his rock star son. Garrett’s own song with his RCA-signed band Jetstream is in the movie as well.
Zeile’s other children, Hannah, 13, Ian, 8, and Aaron, 6, appear in the movie, too. “That’s been an awesome part of this, really, to have my family so involved,” said Zeile, who is also very active in raising money for research for juvenile diabetes, which Hannah has. “After so many years on the road, that’s been great.”
With another project complete, Zeile isn’t slowing down. He and John Ward, who co-produced “I AM,” are working on their next movie, a Nicholas Sparks-type drama called, “Heart of the Country.”
“We’re trying to get this audience to believe in us and track with us on the next project,” he said. “I’m ready to jump in.”
E-mail: sullivan@northjersey.com
NEW YORK – Like anyone who has watched a movie awards show, Todd Zeile has listened as recipients talk about the years of blood, sweat and toil it took to get their project finished. Like most observers, he would shake his head in disbelief. As a longtime veteran of the instant-gratification world of professional baseball, Zeile couldn’t imagine those stories being true.
