Andy Griffith and Doris Roberts star in our independent film called PLAY THE GAME, which is coming to a number of cities on the Gulf Coast on October 30^th.  Plans are in the works to  expand to additional cities along the coast through December.

PLAY THE GAME is a romantic comedy made especially for boomers and seniors, a group largely ignored by big Hollywood studios.  The movie is about a young ladies’ man who decides to teach all his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed grandfather.  When “Grandpa Joe” (Andy Griffith) becomes the Don Juan of his retirement community, he must teach his grandson that the best way to win the game of love is not to play games at all.

“PLAY THE GAME”, Fienberg’s feature film debut, received its World Premiere at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival and walked away with the Audience Favorite Award. The film went on to its second film festival in Santa Fe and won the Audience Award again. The movie opened in a test market in Florida this winter and became an enormous success, earning more than $370,000 in box office, playing for more than 60,000 people, and running in theaters for an unbelievable 3 months!
Also starring BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Paul Campbell and Marla Sokoloff of THE PRACTICE, this award-winning film shines a heartwarming and surprisingly honest light on seniors as they go through the same excitement, jitters, and challenges as their 20-something grandchildren when it comes to romance, love and sex. In PLAY THE GAME, ladies’ man David (Campbell) teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed grandfather Joe (Griffith), while using those same tricks to meet Julie (Sokoloff), the woman of his dreams. While David’s foolproof techniques prove to be anything but, the same techniques quickly transform Joe into the Don Juan of the retirement community. But soon, it’s up to Joe to teach David that sometimes the best way to win the game of love is not to play games at all.

Andy Griffith (Grandpa Joe) and Doris Roberts (Rose) in "Play The Game"

PLAY THE GAME was a special and very personal experience for writer/director Marc Fienberg, whose own grandfather was the basis for the character Grandpa Joe, played to tender perfection by television legend Andy Griffith. Years after the death of his wife, Marc’s grandfather confided a secret he just couldn’t hold back: “I kissed a woman last week,” he said. Fienberg remembers, “My grandfather was devastated after his wife of 56 years died. When he asked for my advice on reentering the dating world after six decades, it was incredibly touching and emotional. Watching an 89-year-old man experience all the uncertainty, anxiety, and insecurity of a young schoolboy – when to call her, what to say, whether to ask her out – was both moving and uplifting…I knew this was a universal story!”

Story Films Presents “Play The Game,” starring Andy Griffith, Paul Campbell, Marla Sokoloff, Liz Sheridan and Doris Roberts. Written and directed by Marc Fienberg, the film also features Clint Howard, Rance Howard, Geoffrey Owens and Juliette Jeffers. PLAY THE GAME is rated PG-13 for sexual content and language. For more information visit the website at www.playthegamemovie.com