In one sense, fanfiction has extended to college football.
In another, screenwriter Jason Ginsburg, who wrote a family-friendly comedy about the fictional first female quarterback in college history, is making the world of his script way too real—by recreating his fictional team’s entire season on Twitter and Tumblr in real time.
Meet the University of West Texas Jackrabbits, a pretend team in the real-life Big XII Conference. Looking for the Jackrabbits’ schedule, or post-game recaps (they just lost badly to Fresno State)? Check the Tumblr. Want real-time game updates, like of how the Jackrabbits’ last QB got injured? Follow the team on Twitter at @UWT_Jackrabbits.
“While only six games appear in the screenplay (some very briefly), I’ll have to make up scores and highlights for an entire season on Twitter, which should prove an interesting challenge,” he wrote in an email to the Daily Dot.
Ginsburg stated that the football in his screenplay is realistic, except for, well, the parts where a nerdy girl with no sports experience is able to play football in one of the toughest conferences in the country.
“As a lifelong fan, I can assure you the football in the film is very accurate…except for the crazy plays that Kelly, the main character, cooks up,” Ginsburg wrote. “She bases plays on the movements of herd animals, gravitational pull, battles of the Roman legions, sound waves, chess gambits, etc.”
“Occasionally, the players move in ways that might get them penalized for illegal formation,” he admitted.
Ginsburg hopes the social media stunt will help him sell his script, Ponytail, which hasn’t been picked up by a studio. Ginsburg thinks creating this fictional football season might get the studios’ attention, since creative social media use has crossed over into mainstream media in recent years.
“SHIT MY DAD SAYS was a Twitter; JULIE AND JULIA was a blog; and we’re all familiar with the Reddit thread that’s going to be a movie next year,” Ginsburg wrote.
Or maybe not.
“This experiment may be a huge failure (I only have 21 followers after two major story events) or a fantastic success ($$$). Either way, it will be over in December,” he wrote.
Photo via @UWT_Jackrabbits