Hatter’s World The Movie Storyline
A wizard and a visiting reporter wind up at a magical bar that becomes a portal to a world of entertainment and sports inside the tv. With the drunken Hatter obnoxiously boasting about his universal talents, pro pitcher Mark Leiter provides an opportunity for the braggart to prove his abilities.
After being dispatched into the tv world, Super Bowl Winner Randy Cross instructs Hatter on the challenges he must face to earn his way back home. Hatter proceeds to get channel surfed through sports challenges and other tv show ordeals. So will the Hatter’s fanciful talents serve him well? Or will a variety of real talents with the right stuff teach him a few painful lessons?
Randy Cross
Playing himself, Cross outlines the challenges the Hatter must face in order to escape from the television.
Three Super Bowl championships highlighted Randy Cross’s 13 years with the 49ers. The three rings were accented with three Pro Bowl selections. His playing years were followed by a career as broadcaster and analyst for CBS and later NBC and Sirius. His current projects can be followed at www.randycross.com
Jim Dowd
The Hatter learns that skating against a pro hockey veteran and Stanley Cup champ is a lot different from pond skating.
Not many hockey pros can claim a 17 year NHL career, much less one that includes a Stanley Cup championship. Dowd scored the winning goal in game 2 of the series that brought the ’95 Cup to his hometown New Jersey Devils. Dowd still holds the NCAA record for tournament high point scorer from his college days.
Dowd today serves as National Presidential Director with IDLife, a Health and Wellness company pioneering customized nutrition.
Mark Leiter
Stopping for lunch, Mark encounters the loudmouth rumified Hatter, who thinks he can do just about anything as well as the pros. Leiter sends him on his way to the world of tv.
Mark Leiter enjoyed an 11 year career pitching in Major League Baseball for teams of both leagues. From a true pro family, he is the brother of former Met and Yankee Al Leiter. Mark’s son, Mark Leiter Jr. shared his dad’s experience of pitching for the Phillies. Mark now runs Leiter Advantage Pitching Instruction in Ocean County, NJ.
John Luke
The Hatter winds up in New York City, and meets up with John for the apparent challenge of winning a storage room auction. Luke tries to prepare Hatter for the experience by sharing the finer points of not screwing up.
A New York native, John was introduced through a relative to the world of auctioneering. This led to the multi-year lead role on the reality show, Storage Wars: New York. Luke played a role in 2019’s Zombie with a Shotgun and continues his career as a professional auctioneer.
Darren “Checkmate” Maciunski
The (never been knocked down) Hatter thinks he can stand up to a pro in the ring. Darren has other thoughts on the subject.
A 3 time Golden Glove champ, Darren also garnered the IBF Inter-Continental title. He sent two other champs into retirement, scored 7 knockouts and finished his pro career with a 20 – 8 record. Darren founded and runs Checkmates Boxing and MMA Striking and Fitness Training in Toms River, NJ.
Tito Santana
The Hatter returns to ring sports in a Wizard vs. Santana wrestling match. Who prevails in the grueling battle? No spoiler here.
Tito Santana has held several WWF championships, both individually as Intercontinental Heavyweight Champ and twice as a Tag Team Champion. His long career includes nine Wrestlemania events and numerous other titles in contests throughout the world.
Kevin Prentice — The Hatter
It began with comedy. And 5th grade provided an early start by performing a self-written western themed skit. But then 6th grade enabled the young Hatter to go bold. “I was performing in front of about 300 people singing in 2 musicals as well as doing a comedy skit in my underwear at that age in front of my classmates in a 6th grade weekend at a camp.”
A visit to Disneyland sparked an interest in magic. And by 8th grade, magic was the focus of a school show. 9th grade brought on venturing into creative writing for pleasure in night school. High school years were rounded out by sports, Jr. ROTC and becoming President of his Indialantic Florida Police Explorers, where he led a team to a 3rd place finish in a national murder investigation competition.
The Hatter’s early sports interests included wrestling, Kung Fu and White Dragon. A stint in the US Army Infantry followed.
Performing re-entered the picture in 2010 with stand up comedy along the East Coast. Magic returned to the scene in the following years, highlighted by his first performance of the double levitation trick live at the Saw Mill in New Jersey. In 2016 Kevin appeared in his own magic show in a theatre.
“I’m an entertainer, not an actor” he offered. But why not round out his bucket list by writing and acting in his own magical movie? And you can come along on the challenges of his own magical world. Join the escape of Hatter’s World The Movie.
Share To Be Donated
Each year thousands of athletes from school age to the pros are victims of potentially debilitating concussions.
One of these athletes is the brother of the creator of Hatter’s World. Kevin’s brother, Lester, suffers the persistent effects of multiple concusssions. A percentage of film profits is pledged to aid in his on-going financial and medical expenses. This is Kevin and Lester’s story.
“My brother Lester played Pop Warner and high school football in Montville, New Jersey. He suffered eight concussions by graduation, three in the same year in Pop Warner. We didn’t know how bad Concussions were back then.”
When he was 50, Lester was living in Florida. He had a aneurysm. Then he started having 2 to 4 seizures a day. He didn’t want to go out – said he didn’t like it when he fell to the floor and people stopped and stared.
It wasn’t till 3 years after the aneurysm that I found out Florida denied him benefits. They said it was a was pre-existing illness and they denied him 4 times. Finally in the 4th year he received benefits. A little late. He already lost his house.
I felt bad. I was working on a different film project at the time. I knew I could help. I had the ground work of the film . So I changed the storyline, making it a magical story that involved sports, and reached out for help.
Then I called Lester and told him I wanted to help. I wanted to give him 25% of what I make on this movie. He cried and asked why. I said simple, I love you and you’re my brother. Let me help. And from there the sports centered Hatter’s World – The Movie was born. I can’t thank the Leiter family enough for helping out.”
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Other Key Players
Joe P
Joe attends and bids in the Hatter’s pursuit of auction riches.
Joseph Pauletich was a regular on Storage Wars: New York. He’s well known for decades as a pro in the NYC world of auctions, estates and antiques. He owns the antique store SoHo Treasures.
Rich Gentilcore
Rich Gentilcore is a man with perfect Pizza Pizza timing.
Rich Gentilcore is an actor and producer whose credits include Flatline Experience, Alone/Together and Howeds.
Gino Caruso
Gino referees in the Hatter vs. Santana challenge match.
Caruso, aka Mr Italy, is a veteran of thousands of matches in all the major pro wrestling promotions. He is the founder, owner and Head Trainer for East Coast Professional Wrestling in Lake Hiawatha, NJ. www.ecpw1.com