Filmmaker Thomas Carter has a penchant for sports-related entertainment. As an actor, early in his career, he starred on the basketball-centric TV show The White Shadow. He segued from actor to director on the show for its final season – and since then he has directed a number of television programs from Hill Street Blues to Miami Vice. He returned to the high school basketball film-genre with the Samuel L Jackson headlining Coach Carter – and this Friday, he shifts sports to high-school football with the release of When The Game Stands Tall. In talking with Carter though, he is quick to point out that it isn’t necessarily sports that drew him to these films, but the choreography inherent in such activities (Carter also directed the dance-centric films Swing Kids and Save the Last Dance).

In the following interview with Carter, the candid filmmaker discusses his love for choreography, the differences in shooting a basketball vs. a football game and the deleted moment(s) from When The Game Stands Tall he wished hadn’t been cut. For the full interview, hit the jump.

Time Index:

  • Carter on his affinity for sports films and the choreography inherent in such a genre
  • On the differences between directing a football scene vs. a basketball scene
  • On deleted scenes and studio interference

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