Feature Film Pitch Deck
THE BACKSTOP
Where the city learned to play together.
A Coming-of-Age Sports Drama
Set in Davenport, Iowa – 1970s
ONE-PAGE SYNOPSIS
In 1970s Davenport, Iowa, a forgotten dirt baseball field behind a rusted chain-link fence becomes the unlikely meeting ground for a group of kids who were never supposed to play together.
Reggie Johnson throws harder than anyone his age but carries the weight of being watched everywhere he goes. Tommy Wilkes knows every baseball statistic ever recorded but struggles to fit in anywhere. Luis Martinez balances two languages and two worlds. Rosa Delgado refuses to accept that girls don’t belong on the field. Mudcat Peterson pitches like a storm but grew up hearing that some teammates shouldn’t exist. Little Marcus Green steals bases like he’s running from life itself.
They come from different neighborhoods, cultures, and family struggles—but they all find their way to the same place: The Backstop.
At first, they fight more than they play. Old prejudices and inherited fears show up in the dugout long before teamwork does. But as the ragtag team begins to win games against organized, well-funded leagues that never wanted them to exist, the kids discover something bigger than baseball.
Their victories start pulling families into the stands. Neighbors who never spoke begin cheering side by side. A city divided by invisible lines slowly begins to see itself differently.
But as the team rises, so does resistance. League officials threaten to shut them down. Parents argue. A moment of violence forces the town to confront the tension it has long ignored.
The final championship game becomes more than a contest—it becomes a moment of truth for an entire community.
The Backstop is a heartfelt, nostalgic, and powerful story about childhood, identity, and the way kids can unite a world adults struggle to fix.