Doc - The Grass Ceiling

Documentary Feature

Title: The Grass Ceiling

Project Status: In Postproduction

Logline 

Filmmaker Sarah Strauss looks back, wistfully, on her aborted career as a youth baseball player and her lost connection to the father who taught her the game. Over the course of five years, she follows Darby, Gigi, and Sabrina, and then joins with them as they become part of a nascent girls’ baseball community, battling obstacles intended to keep them from their dreams of playing America's National Pastime.

Synopsis

Filmmaker Sarah Strauss looks back, wistfully, on her aborted career as a youth baseball player and a lost connection with her father, John, who taught her the game. Sarah follows Darby, Gigi, and Sabrina, as they battle to achieve their baseball dreams. Sabrina, the oldest of the girls, is good enough to play high school baseball, but gets pushed into softball. The girls discover Baseball For All (BFA), an advocate for girls in baseball and BFA’s 2018 Nationals brings together many with stories like Sarah’s. In 2019, the Wonders, Darby and Gigi’s team, asks Sarah to be their head coach. Sarah’s Wonders lose Game 1 badly, but Nationals goes well. In 2021, Gigi’s gregariousness emerges and Darby leads the Wonders to the fall tournament championship. Weeks later, Darby quits baseball and the Wonders tell Sarah they will replace her with a younger woman who is “closer to the game;” instead, a father reclaims the coaching post. Sabrina starts a women’s club baseball team at her university and Gigi makes her high school’s JV baseball team. Fearing potential harassment, Gigi asks Sarah not to bring the “big camera.” The only record of Gigi’s dominant pitching is iPhone footage. A constant (phone) companion on Sarah’s baseball trips, John helps Sarah see that her journey with these girls is almost over. As production ends, John (now 89) and Sarah attempt to play catch for the first time in decades; thankfully, no one gets hurt, and they find themselves together again because of baseball.

Additional Project Information

The Grass Ceiling was accepted into and Sarah Strauss participated in the 2020 DCTV Docu Work-in-Progress Short Lab. (Note: The film was originally conceived as a short).

Team

Directed and Co-edited by: Sarah Strauss

Co-edited by: Tanya Glebova

Seeking

Producing Partners, Production Company, Distribution, Online Distribution

Rights Available

All rights available

Contact

Sarah Strauss

grassceilingproductions@gmail.com