Back on Board: Greg Louganis

(Documentary feature, 86 minutes, 2015)

Back on Board: Greg Louganis is an intimate portrait of the public triumphs and private struggles of trailblazing openly gay athlete Greg Louganis. A refreshingly candid documentary about this four-time Olympic champion, Back on Board follows Louganis for three years as he struggles with financial security and reunites with the sport he once dominated but did not feel welcome in. The threat of losing his house during the recent financial crisis forces Louganis to re-evaluate the choices, relationships, and missed opportunities of his career.

Anyone who doubts that documentaries can have the dramatic and emotional power of the best narrative films should see the Greg Louganis doc, Back on Board...

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter

Nominated for an Emmy Award and a Producer’s Guild of America award in 2016. Back on Board: Greg Louganis gained critical and audience acclaim on the film festival circuit, screening at over 40 festivals worldwide and picking up eight awards. The film was also selected for the American Film Showcase, a program of the U.S. State Department that brings award-winning contemporary American documentaries around the world offering a view of American society and culture as seen by independent filmmakers. Back on Board: Greg Louganis premiered on HBO in August 2015.

Inspired by our film’s HBO broadcast, a fan started a change.org petition that would change the face of breakfast tables forever! In 2016, Greg Louganis finally got his long-overdue Wheaties Box.

Awards

Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary – Outfest 2014
Best Editing – 2015 Salem Film Fest
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature – 2015 Annapolis Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary – 2015 Connecticut LGBT Film Festival
Directors Award – 2015 Connecticut LGBT Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Feature Film – 2015 Denver CinemaQ Film Festival
Jury Award for Best Documentary – 2015 Outflix Film Festival (Memphis, TN)
Audience Award for Best Documentary – 2016 Roze Filmgarden Amsterdam Film Festival

Nominations

Nominee: Outstanding Long Sports Documentary – 2016 Emmy Awards
Nominee: Outstanding Sports Programming – 2016 Producers Guild of America Award

Film Festival Screenings

AFI Docs 2014 (World Premiere)
Frameline 2014
Outfest 2014
Portland Queer Film Fest 2014 (Opening Night Film)
Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2014 (Opening Night Film)
2014 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
2014 Hamptons International Film Festival
2014 New Orleans Film Festival
2014 Long Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Opening Night Film)
DOC NYC 2014
2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival (LGBT Gala Screening Event)
2015 Desperado LGBT Film Festival (Opening Night Film)
2015 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
2015 “We Got Game: Sports on Film” Series at Jacob Burns Film Center (Closing Night Film)
2015 Salem Film Fest
2015 Pride of the Ocean – LGBT Film Festival at Sea
2015 Cleveland Film Festival
2015 Annapolis Film Festival
2015 Ashland Film Festival
2015 Boston LGBT Film Festival
2015 St. Louis Q Fest
2015 Miami LGBT Film Festival
2015 Berkshire International Film Festival
2015 Out on Film: Connecticut LGBT Film Festival (Centerpiece Film)
2015 Cinetopia International Film Festival (Detroit & Ann Arbor, MI) – (Opening Night Film)
2015 Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival (Centerpiece Film)
2015 Cinema-Q – Denver LGBT Film Festival (Opening Night Film)
2015 Port Townsend Film Festival
2015 Outflix Film Festival – Memphis, TN (Closing Night Film)
NewFest 2015 – NYC’s LGBT Film Festival
Frameline’s Encore Screening Series – 2015
2015 DocumentaQro – Mexico City
2016 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Film Festival
2016 Melbourne Queer Film Festival
2016 ROZE FILMDAGEN AMSTERDAM FILM FESTIVAL – Netherlands
2016 Outview Athens Film Festival
2016 Muestra Internacional de Cine Gay y Lesbico de Barcelona
2016 Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival
2016 Side By Side Film Festival – Russia
2016 Mostra FIRE!! Barcelona Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Campus & Special Screenings

2015-2016 American Film Showcase
2015 Acadiana Pride Celebration – Lafayette, LA
New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
University of Toronto –  Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
Indiana University Cinema
George Mason University
Colby-Sawyer College
Swarthmore College
Crefeld School
Montclair State University Film Institute
Special Screening @ Make the Road, NY
Center for Life screening at Thessaloniki Concert Hall
Florida State University
2018 American Film Showcase Screening – Kazakhstan

Selected Press

THE ADVOCATE (7/7/14): The Advocate’s 27 Favorite Films of Outfest 2014

QUEERTY.COM (7/14/14): Greg Louganis Tells How He Went From Hearthrob to Activist With Candid New Film

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER (7/23/14): ‘Back on Board: Greg Louganis’: Outfest Review

HAMPTONSFILMFEST.ORG (10/6/14): Q&A: CHERYL FURJANIC & WILL SWEENEY ON DIVING IN WITH GREG LOUGANIS ON ‘BACK ON BOARD’

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (7/26/15): Greg Louganis gets ‘Back on Board’ on HBO

LOS ANGELES TIMES (7/31/15): Greg Louganis dives into the spotlight with HBO’s ‘Back on Board’

CHICAGO TIMES POST (8/2/15): For ‘Back On Board,’ Greg Louganis Looks Back On His Legacy, LGBT Rights

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (8/3/15): HBO documentary ‘Greg Louganis: Back On Board’ explores Olympic diver’s troubled waters

INDIEWIRE /BENT (8/4/15): Why We Made A Documentary Film About Greg Louganis

PLUS MAGAZINE (8/4/15): Exclusive Interview: Greg Louganis Talks About Being Back on Board

UPWORTHY (8/11/15): Years ago Wheaties refused this gay Olympian a spot on the cereal box. They can still make it right.

NEW YORK TIMES (8/22/15): Movement Builds to Honor Greg Louganis on a Wheaties Box

NPR: ONLY A GAME (8/29/15): Is It Time To Put Diver Greg Louganis On The Wheaties Box?

ESPN.COM (4/5/16): Wheaties to feature Greg Louganis in wake of documentary, petition

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW (4/5/16): The Wheaties Box and the Why of Celebrity Endorsements

OUT.COM (4/5/16): Gay Olympian Greg Louganis Finally Gets His Wheaties Box

FORTUNE.COM (4/5/16): Greg Louganis is On a Wheaties Box After Thousands of Petitions

LOS ANGELES TIMES (4/5/16): Olympians Greg Louganis and Janet Evans finally make the Wheaties box

NPR (4/5/16): Better Late Than Never: Olympic Champion Greg Louganis Gets His Wheaties Box

MSNBC.COM (4/5/16): After petition, Olympic diver Greg Louganis get Wheaties box

UPWORTHY (4/5/16): After 30 years, this gay Olympian is getting the recognition he deserves

PEOPLE MAGAZINE (4/15/16): Olympic Diver Greg Louganis to Appear on Wheaties Box Decades After Winning Gold: ‘It Means More Today Than It Would Have Back Then’

HUFFINGTON POST (5/10/16): Olympic Legend Greg Louganis Heads to the Emmys

Other projects

Sync or Swim

(Documentary feature, 90 minutes, 2008)

A splashy look at a marginal sport: U.S.A.’s top synchronized swimmers endure rigorous training and overcome unthinkable obstacles to compete for Olympic glory.

Bar Talk

(Comedy short, 8 minutes, 2002)

A humorous look at what women are REALLY saying when they lock eyes across a crowded bar. Find out why some lesbians are too cool for words. (In Lesbian with English subtitles).

A Good Uplift

(Documentary short, 13 minutes, 2003)

A light-hearted glimpse into a Lower East Side lingerie shop, where owner and Jewish grandmother, Magda, embraces and enhances women of all shapes and sizes in pursuit of the prefect bra. Behold as Orthodox Jewish Culture meets – and embraces – modern day struggles with sexuality, body image and women’s roles.

P.R.I.I.D.E. (People Really Interested in Dating Etiquette). P.S.A.s

(3 comedy shorts, 40 seconds each, 2005)

A series of short comedic public service announcements about dating brought to you by P.R.I.I.D.E. (People Really Interested in Dating Etiquette). P.R.I.I.D.E. would like to take this opportunity to demonstrate a few simple things YOU can do to make dating a more enjoyable experience…for all of us. Pride…keep yours