Sportsbook: In Theatres Soon

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Another Day, Another Dollar
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Mark Lugo, a screenwriter living in Palm Beach, Florida, has created a movie about offshore gambling called Sportsbook.

Lugo visited Costa Rica and lived there for a period of time in order to capture what is increasingly becoming a major part of sports in North America.

In Sportsbook, Lugo tries to show how bookies head offshore in order to keep certain forms of gambling legal. "I am delighted to finally have finished such a delicate piece that uncovers, in an artistic way, a very real part of American life. Everybody bets on sports, from college professors to surgeons to policemen. Everybody bets on sports. This film will, without a doubt, cause much controversy among the sports industry, from the NFL, NCAA and Major League Baseball," said Lugo in a release.

"It has a hint of horse racing. There are a few scenes. Some with dog racing as well. I live in Palm Beach and actually went to the dog track out by the airport and did some research with guys who bet on the dog track. We are touching upon racing, but it is mainly concerned with football and basketball," Lugo told the TROT Insider today.

As for how realistic the movie is: "The same way there may be another side to horse racing not shown in Seabiscuit, there are some things not shown in Sportsbook. I lived in Costa Rica for a while, while I was writing the script, and I was able to sit down with a lot of the guys that own these operations. But a lot of the time it would be ‘I’ll tell you this much, but I’m not going to tell you this much.’ There were conditions. So if most of the guys who bet are going to say it’s not realistic, that’s okay. Because I like my life and if they tell me not to say something, I’m not going to say it."

The film was developed by Mark Lugo and First Flight Out Films, an entertainment company in the US that develops films about topics which are part of American life, but rarely discussed.

Although, First Flight Out Films is still seeking a partnership with a major production house, according to the release it is confident that audiences will have a chance to see the other side of the sports world by no later than early next year. "We are willing to produce the film independently, if no major production house comes forward with reasonable offers," said Lugo. "A few years ago Bryant Gumbel, HBO Real Sports, did a segment on sports gambling that totally fascinated me. I had to write a movie about this. And I did."

Sportsbook production updates will be available on the company's website, FirstFlightOut-Films.com, starting February 20.

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