DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The Diamond King is a feature length documentary that depicts the entire history of baseball, as told through the life and work of baseball’s most illustrious artist, Dick Perez.

As the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Official artist, Dick has painted the entire history of the game, from the origins in the late 1800s until now. He has painted every baseball Hall of Famer, a project he continues to this day at the age of 81.

Through Dick’s work you see how the game has changed; from the ballparks to the uniforms, the crowds, the signage and, of course, the ethnicity of the players.

Like Dick’s own personal story, baseball is an immigrant story. The sport was created and popularized when a flood of Eastern Europeans came to the United States looking for a better life. By 1947 Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby broke the color barrier, and the 1970s gave birth to the Latin explosion in the game. More recently, some of the sport’s marquee players have made their way from Japan. Dick’s own immigration story started when he came to the United States alone, at the age of 6, and fell in love with baseball.

The Diamond King hits on big themes: immigration, the intersection of art and baseball, and eternity. Baseball has the eternal built into it, from the circular nature of each player’s voyage around the base paths to its refusal to have the game limited by the constraints of time. In both time and space it’s technically infinite. It’s the only major team sport that’s not played against the clock. Baseball players, especially the ones Dick paints, are heroes. Heroes are eternal. Art, when done as well as the paintings of Dick Perez, is eternal.

Through this film, audiences will be presented with the incredible story of Dick Perez and enjoy the history of baseball through his eyes and work. But this story does not only take place in the past. We plan on presenting a custom painting to New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge in the film, and turning that painting into a limited edition baseball card. The baseball card collecting hobby has never been hotter, and this film will give an inside peek into what goes into creating a legendary card. We’ll also visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, where Dick’s work will be on display for a Lifetime Achievement exhibit.

Baseball is the greatest game ever created. The Diamond King will be a love letter to the sport unlike any that has ever been seen before.