Catch 22 Entertainment and National High School Coaches Association Team Up to Promote Beyond the Mat

Catch 22 Entertainment and National High School Coaches Association Team Up to Promote Beyond the Mat

Film Production and Distribution Company and NHSCA Devise Game Plan to Promote Coming-of-Age Feature Film to Nationwide High School Wrestling Community

LOS ANGELES, March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Catch 22 Entertainment, LLC, a full-service film production, distribution and marketing company, and sister company to C22 Capital, Inc., will partner with the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) in the creation of a nationwide cross-promotions campaign to promote the feature film Beyond the Mat to the high school wrestling community, a key demographic of the film's potential audience, announced Catch 22 Entertainment co-founder and CEO Anthony Millan. Millan, together with company co-founder and president Mack Machen, is executive producing the film.

Under the terms of the agreement, the NHSCA, which has already offered an official endorsement of the film for its accurate, positive portrayal of the sport, will push Beyond the Mat via a carefully calibrated mix of live event promotions, an integrated web presence and peer-to-peer networking, select broadcasting opportunities and print advertising in sports events collateral materials.

Since the coming-of-age drama, which features an ensemble cast, is set against the backdrop of the high school wrestling world and focuses on the rivalry between arch-opponents vying to advance to the state competition, the promotions campaign is customized to tap this sector of the audience where they "live": on the high school wrestling competition circuit.

Amplifying the buzz and raising the visibility of Beyond the Mat even further is the presence of Kurt Angle, Olympic Gold medalist, six-time WWF champ and TNA Triple Crown winner, and Ken Shamrock, a UFC Hall of Famer and four-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, both of whom have supporting roles in the film. Angle, who plays the flinty, take-no-prisoners Coach Kamen - mentor to the main rival of the film's protagonist - is also collaborating in cross-promotions for the film by authoring a series of nutrition and fitness columns for the bi-weekly Beyond the Mat subscription newsletter.

Angle also hosted Beyond the Mat co-star Mark Hapka - known to daytime TV fans as Dr. Nate Horton on NBC's long-running series Days of Our Lives - at his first-ever Teen Challenge at the Arnold Fitness Expo in Columbus, Ohio earlier this month. The two collaborated in advocating for youth fitness and nutrition, while also promoting Beyond the Mat, and conducted a joint autograph-signing that was mobbed by eager fans. This year's Arnold Expo, the 22nd annual, was attended by more than 18,000 athletes and more than 100,000 sports enthusiasts.

"The NHSCA is proud to partner with Beyond the Mat. Beyond the Mat is making a tremendous positive contribution to the sport of wrestling by bringing the sport to the big screen in such a professional and entertaining manner. The wrestling community will enjoy the movie and be proud the sport is being portrayed in such a positive light," notes NHSCA founder and CEO Robert Ferraro.

Catch 22's Head of Marketing, Susan Wrenn, will oversee the campaign and partnership with the NHSCA. Wrenn, a 20-plus-year veteran of Paramount Pictures, has steered the media campaigns for 300+ feature films, including Titanic, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Runaway Bride, What Women Want, Wayne's World, Save the Last Dance, Jackass, Rugrats, Kings of Comedy, Juice, Mission Impossible, and Beavis and Butthead.

"Joining with the NHSCA to bring Beyond the Mat to student athletes, their families, coaches and their schools is a wonderful opportunity. One of the key issues addressed in Beyond the Mat is the significant role coaches can play in the lives of their students and we are grateful to the NHSCA for their support in bringing this wonderful and powerful film to its community," commented Wrenn.

Founded in 1989, the National High School Coaches Association is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) service organization providing support and leadership programs for the nation's 500,000 high school coaches and 10 million high school athletes.

To sign up for the newsletter or for more information please visit the following websites:

http://www.beyondthematthemovie.com

http://www.nhsca.com

PICTURE: Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle promoted BEYOND THE MAT, a feature film in which he co-stars, at the Teen Challenge at the Arnold Fitness Expo: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/2011-Beyond-the-Mat.jpg

PICTURE: Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle and Mark Hapka promoted BEYOND THE MAT, a feature film in which they co-star, at the Teen Challenge at the Arnold Fitness Expo: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/2011-Beyond-the-Mat-2.jpg

Contact:

Rita Hollingsworth/RMH Media
(323) 934-9248
rita@rmhmedia.net

This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Catch 22 Entertainment, LLC

Catch 22 Entertainment, LLC

Web Site: http://beyondthematthemovie.com

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