Director: Mark Hayes Producers: Gabriele Hayes, Doug
Blush
Description:
A
criminal court judge starts a running club on L.A.'s skid row, where
he trains a motley group of homeless people to run international
marathons. When a criminal court judge starts a running club
on LA’s notorious skid row and begins training a motley group of
addicts and criminals to run marathons, lives begin to change. Skid
Row Marathon follows four runners as they rise from the mean
streets of LA to run marathons around the world, fighting the pull of
homelessness and addiction at every turn.
Biography: Mark Hayes traveled extensively through East Germany during the period leading
up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. During that time, he picked up his
future wife (and producer Gabriele Hayes) hitchhiking. They were
married but were not permitted to leave East Germany until the fall
of the wall in 1989. Over the years, he has directed several
documentaries related to the Cold War, which have aired on public
television in the US, Europe and Australia. His recent projects
include From Red State to Golden State, and One Germany,
the Other Side of the Wall.
Gabriele Hayes produced the documentary film One Germany, The Other Side of the
Wall in 2011. It examines the reunification of Germany after 20
years. It features interviews with the former President of Germany,
political prisoners, Stasi (East German secret police) officers, rock
musicians, and comedians. She has been running with the Skid Row
Running Club since 2013.
Doug Blush is an
award-winning producer, editor, and director whose credits include
2012 Academy Award Best Documentary nominee The Invisible War and the 2013 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary 20 Feet
from Stardom. Other documentary work includes Wordplay, Outrage, Freakonomics, The Amazing Shadows, Of Two Minds and the recent CNN feature film The Hunting Ground and
Sundance 2016 Audience Award winner Jim: The James Foley Story on HBO.
