Final Draft 06/11/2012

"THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER YOU NEVER SAW"

A FILM ABOUT A REAL-LIFE, OUT-OF-CONTROL, SOCCER-PLAYING GENIUS, WHO GOT HIS KICKS WHEREVER HE COULD FIND THEM

A new British film, currently in pre-production, links an unlikely group of participants – rock group Oasis, City Football Club, the city of Los Angeles, the Funky Chicken, and animated hero Super Ted – combining to introduce the world to an extraordinary man.

...His name is Robin Friday.

LOS ANGELES/, AUG 28th: A few years ago, while on tour with Oasis in America, former bass player Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan came across an article about this wild man from Acton in West London, who had ridiculous talent and a shockingly entertaining life. A life of outrageous excess is soon to be celebrated on the big screen in THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER YOU NEVER SAW, based on the hit biography penned by McGuigan and celebrated author Paolo Hewitt - THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER YOU NEVER SAW: THE ROBIN FRIDAY STORY.

Robin Friday played professional football for just three years. But he wasn't only a footballer who scored the greatest goal that legendary international referee ever witnessed. He became the all-time cult hero for the fans that adored him – fans who weren't corporate executives or lazy armchair experts, but rather the folk he lived and drank with on the working class streets of Reading and Cardiff. His story wasn't just one of spectacular goals and outrageous skill, it was a story of the Seventies – of bell-bottoms, LPs, interracial marriage, social struggle, drugs, sex and the Funky Chicken.

Now, multiple Emmy-winning and BAFTA winning producer Mike Young (creator of another cultural icon...Super Ted) has partnered with Paolo Hewitt and Los Angeles-based British producers Marc Ambrose (Ambergreen Entertainment) and Marc Benardout and Julian Stone (Tasty Films) to bring this wild and brilliant story to the screen. And, with the generous and creative support of Film Agency for , the screenplay for THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER YOU NEVER SAW has been written by Stone and Hewitt.

On making the announcement Paolo Hewitt commented “When I was writing the book with Guigsy all those years ago, I kept saying to him this would make such a great film. The fact that this is now happening is the proverbial dream come true. Spurs will win the Premiership at this rate.” Los Angeles based Mike Young said “I have been a life-long Cardiff City fan (and have the lines to prove it) and saw John Charles, Trevor Ford play but the firefly that was Robin Friday’s career was both breathtaking and sadly incredible to behold.

The project is funded by the multi-Emmy® and IFTA award winning studio Telegael, one of Europe’s leading animation and television production houses, Film Agency Wales and Mike Final Draft 06/11/2012

Young, CEO of Moonscoop USA. An additional high profile financier is in final negotiations to be involved.

The ball is rolling...

Robin Friday lived a life of death or glory. After being impaled on a spike in a construction accident, he glimpsed death – and decided just to be brilliant and not give a damn. He dribbled mercurially through life – kissing policemen, shagging girls, breaking every social rule he tripped over. If football, as has been said, was the working man's ballet, then Robin was Nureyev. But he didn't dance to Tchaikovsky, he rock 'n' rolled through life like Keith Richards. Everyone said he had the world at his feet. But, hurtling through life at that pace, something had to break... and it did. It was his heart.

By then, though, he had taught the world that life is nothing if you don't live it.

Playing in an age before YouTube, little of his genius remains. The power of Robin’s legacy is in the myths and memories he left behind. So, with author Paolo Hewitt, Guigsy brought Robin back to us with The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw (a book repped by the same agency as Fifty Shades of Grey – Robin would have liked that!). Paolo has had a successful career, writing on British popular culture for iconic and essential publications like NME, Melody Maker and Vogue, but he could see that Robin was something special...

As Robin Friday walked down the streets of the Seventies, everyone wanted to be him. But, quite frankly, no one else had the balls...

######ENDS#####

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Contact: DDA Public Relations (UK): +44 (0) 20 7932 9800

The Film: Martin McNamara – [email protected] Lawrence Atkinson - [email protected]

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Final Draft 06/11/2012

COMPANY INFORMATION

Mike Young, CEO, MoonScoop, LLC: Mike Young is the co-founder and partner of the company that once bore his name. His first venture into animation came in 1980 when his children's books based on a crime fighting Teddy bear "SuperTed" were picked up by newly founded Welsh Language broadcaster . He founded Siriol Animation and produced SuperTed, followed by Wil Cwac Cwac, , and the Twentieth Century Fox feature film ONCE UPON A FOREST. Today Mike serves as CEO of the U.S. based MoonScoop, LLC. As such, Mike remains a leading producer of top-quality award-winning CGI and traditional 2D television animation around the globe.

Under Mike’s leadership and the leadership of his partners, Nicolas Atlan and his wife Liz Young, the studio maintains a 24/7 pipeline with its co-production partners throughout the world, including Australia, France, India, Germany and the UK. In addition to its own shows, "Hero 108", "Chloe's Closet", 'Dive Olly Dive", “Pet Alien”, “Todd World”, “Growing Up Creepie”, “I Got A Rocket” and "Twisted Whiskers" the studio also produces a number of highly successful work-for-hire programs like multi Emmy award winning “Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks” for UK based Entara, Ltd., "Zevo-3" for Skechers Entertainment, "Strawberry Shortcake" and “Care Bears” , for American Greetings, “Bratz” for based MGA and “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” and “Clifford’s Puppy Days,” for New York based Scholastic and ‘He-Man” for Mattel. Recently completed productions include three stereoscopic movies for Dream Garden and Universal studios based on the HIT toy brand “Zhu Zhu Pets” , “DaGeDar” webisodes series, “Wildgrinders”, second seasons of “Hero 108” and “Chloe’s Closet”, “Care Bears” and “Strawberry Shortcake”.

New shows include “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” “Gloe-Bear”, “LalaLoopsy” for Nickelodeon and MGA, “Little Archies: Junior High” in partnership with Corpernicus and Archies Comics and a series based on the sport Cricket with World Famous Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar with the title “Master Blasters”. Mike Young Productions (and later Moonscoop) was the first US studio to work in India and is credited with kick starting the multi-billion dollar animation and special effects business that now thrives there. Mike Young and his partners have shaped the company into one of the most prolific independent animation studios in Hollywood today. The studio has won multiple awards for its shows including, BAFTA Awards, fifteen Emmy Awards, Humanitas Prizes, Pulcinellas, Parents’ Choice Awards, the FICCI Frames Award, and the coveted Hugo Award.

Ambergreen Entertainment: Marc Ambrose has just served as co-producer on a Relativity production from Peter Farrelly entitled MOVIE 43 starring Kate Winslett, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and a host of other stars. Marc was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature on CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES. Marc served as a producer on two films selected for the Sundance Film Festival. Firstly w