reported by Brian Scott, CyberScreenwriter.com

Sandlot Venture Group has partnered with Red Bird Cinema to fund a variety of future movie ventures. Founded in 2007, Sandlot Venture Group is focused on the financing and development of high profile film projects. Its first act in alliance with Red Bird Cinema will be to produce a feature film based on the life story of boxing legend, Sugar Ray Leonard, with Pulitzer Prize winning author H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger to write the screenplay.

Based in Silicon Valley, Sandlot Venture Group (SVG) is a $25 million private equity fund to procure, develop and package its high-profile film projects. Comprised of individual investors from technology, entertainment and professional sports as well as several successful business entrepreneurs, SVG will combine outstanding deal flow, great experience in optimizing investment terms and an investor base that is focused on developing outstanding feature films and a solid return on investment.

SVG has strategically partnered with Red Bird Cinema which is made up of recognized individuals with long successful track records structuring movie deals. Red Bird Cinema was founded by John Loar, producer and managing director, Kevin Pollak, producer and actor/writer/director, and Tony La Russa, producer and the St. Louis Cardinals manager, and currently has four film ventures in the works. With the new partnership, Sandlot Venture Group and Red Bird Cinema will produce a variety of Hollywood feature films and capitalize on the tremendous buzz that's already surrounding this entertainment and sports dream team.

In addition to creating film projects, SVG will be working with leaders in Silicon Valley to develop new and innovative means of profitable content distribution through technology applications. With the prospect of DVD sales, electronic distribution and licensing deals, SVG hopes to create an array of exceptional properties among its premium family of feature films.

Among the planned film ventures is the production of Sugar Ray Leonard's life story with the screenplay to be written by Pulitzer Prize winning author H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger. Also intended for production is "Three Nights In August," a screenplay written by actor/writer Kevin Pollak based on Bissinger's New York Times Bestseller about baseball and 2006 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinal manager Tony La Russa.