This article was originally written by Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu, for Grady College.

“Signing Tony Raymond,” a football film written, directed and produced by Glen Owen (ABJ ’90), a UGA alumnus and current Low-Residency MFA in Screenwriting student, will have its national premiere on Jan. 16, 2026.

Set with a script he originally drafted nearly 15 years ago, Owen is proud of this independent film that was funded, filmed and edited in the state of Georgia, with a Georgia-based team of producers and crew. The filmmaker originally pitched the project in LA where he got close to a deal, but it did not go through. His perseverance and faith in the script paid off.

“I started getting frustrated and decided to bring the film back to Georgia to try to raise the money on my own instead of trying to go through the Hollywood system, and that’s what we did,” Owen said.

“Signing Tony Raymond” tells the story of a young coach recruiting a top high school football player from a small, rural town and the crazy misadventures that ensue. In the process, the coach and the player discover their true callings. The movie features Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and former NFL star Marshawn Lynch.

Owen was also fortunate to partner with UGA football stand-out and NFL Hall of Famer Champ Bailey, who joined the project as an executive producer, and Grady College alumnus Rob Kremer (ABJ ’91), who helped introduce Bailey to the film and supported the project.

One of the key elements of the film is how Name Image Likeness (NIL) is used to recruit the player. Owen, who knows about collegiate athletics since he was a basketball team walk-on as a UGA student, said the plot points involving NIL make it relevant to today’s competitive recruiting environment.

“I think it’s a blessing that it took so long for it to get made because now the subject matter is more an everyday conversation than it was back then,” Owen continued.

Following his graduation from Grady College with what was then a telecommunications degree, Owen worked for several years at Turner Broadcasting before opening his own production company, State Line Films. For the past several years, he has been producing commercials for brand name clients and occasional documentary features, and writing at night.

In 2025, Owen enrolled in the screenwriting track of the Low-Residency MFA in Screenwriting. As a self-described self-taught screenwriter, he wanted to formalize his education, but also wanted to earn a degree that would allow him to teach in the future.

“It’s been a very beneficial experience for me,” Owen said of of the MFA program. “I’ve really enjoyed it.”

The film, which had its first screening at the Austin Film Festival last October, will open in nearly 120 theaters nationwide and in several Georgia cities including Atlanta and Athens, Georgia.

“Hopefully, people will come out and go to the theater and support independent film,” Owen concluded.