Gridiron Gang Begins Filming in Los Angeles

Principal photography began today in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles on Gridiron Gang, a drama inspired by real-life events. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and MTV's "Pimp My Ride" host, Xzibit, star in a story based on actual events about the creation of a football team within the confines of a juvenile detention camp. The film, written by Jeff Maguire, is based on a documentary by Lee and Linda Stanley.

Gridiron Gang tells the uplifting story of detention camp probation officer Sean Porter (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), who creates a high-school-level football team from a ragtag group of dangerous teenage inmates as a means to teach them self-respect and social responsibility. He is joined in this experiment by co-worker, Malcolm Moore (Xzibit). But Porter must first overcome almost universal resistance from the powers that be — his skeptical bosses and coaches at rival high schools who don't want their players mixing it up with convicted criminals on the football field.

Based on the Emmy Award-winning 1993 television documentary by Lee and Linda Stanley, the film chronicles the rise of the Camp Kilpatrick Mustangs as they bond together to achieve the impossible: a chance to play in their league's championship game. Much of the film will be shot at Camp Kilpatrick, using the same playing fields and detention quarters of the original Mustangs.