SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The anticipated basketball documentary "The Other Dream Team" will hit select theaters this weekend and the rest of the country in the coming weeks. Directed and produced by Marius Markevicius and Jon Weinbach, "The Other Dream Team" is a sports and political documentary about the national Lithuanian basketball team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606829/fullcredits#
It highlights Lithuanians’ experiences behind the Iron Curtain, where elite athletes were subjected to brutalities of Communist rule. As they hid from KGB agents and feared for their lives, Lithuania’s basketball stars always shared a common goal – to utilize their athletic gifts to help free their country.
Aside from the hardships on the road to the '92 Olympics, the film celebrates the infamous tie-dyed uniforms worn by the Lithuanian Olympic team that feature Speirs’ trademark design, the Slam Dunking Skeleton, now a historic piece of Lithuania’s basketball culture. http://www.gregspeirs.com
The Slam Dunking Skullman Skeleton Trademark design that you saw on Tie Dyed jerseys in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and in "The Other Dream Team" Documentary Film was created by New York sports artist Greg Speirs. The artist's Slam-Dunking Skeleton became a legendary icon for the team and for the country of Lithuania. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona the Men’s Lithuanian Olympic Basketball Team stepped up to the podium to receive their bronze medals and wore Speirs' design for the world to see. The New York artist's additional sponsorship and major part in this story remained in the background in lieu of the more important names involved until now. The documentary includes a 23 second clip of the artist describing the inspiration behind the shirt as more people begin to learn the whole story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ITlbG55ug
The meaning behind the image:
“The 1992 Lithuanian Basketball Team represents what happens in freedom…people excel. The struggle of the Lithuanian team struck a chord with me so I decided to come up with an image which I believed represented them. I came up with the Slam Dunking Skeleton because it symbolized a team coming up from nothing and the ashes, and rising up to overcome the obstacles, which are represented by the hands reaching up in the image. Instead of representing death, this skeleton represents a new life and rebirth. If you could condense this story down to just one phrase it wouldn’t just be Freedom but Freedom and Free Enterprise.”-Greg Speirs.
After seen on the 1992 Olympics podium the shirts started selling and became a most sought after collectible. The artist then acquired the status as the major sponsor of the team by donating 100% of his profits which were the major funds generated from the sales of the trademarked “Slam Dunking Skeleton” on those famous t-shirts to fund the team beyond the 1992 season to the 1996 Olympics. He donated all the rest to Lithuanian children’s charities and a Lithuanian basketball school which amounted to $450,000, and more.
About Greg Speirs: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3998173
Speirs,the former 1970′s Grooves Music Magazine Art Director, was also commissioned by Prince Albert of Monaco to create art for Monaco Olympic Bobsled Team sleds in 1995 for the World Cup Bobsled Championships, 1995-1997 and for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. http://www.skullman.com/bobsleigh.htm Sponsored the American Rugby League in 1996-1998. Created the American Eagle design for the American Bobsled team sleds in 2002 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Other projects in the 1970's with RCA Records, Record World Magazine and album cover for 1970's rock band Max Damian and projects with record producer Artie Kornfeld of Woodstock fame.
Greg may be appearing at selected upcoming events. Go to the website: www.gregspeirs.com for updates.
Shirts available at www.skullman.com
Official website: www.gregspeirs.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamskullman
Twitter: www.twitter.com/GregSpeirs
Youtube Link - Greg Speirs Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ITlbG55ug&feature=plcp
The Slam Dunking Skeleton and Lithuanian Tie Dye brand are 1992 copyright and registered trademarks of Greg Speirs.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50439090&lang=en